Is running cardio? | Live Science

You may feel your heart beating during your session, but are you doing cardio? That it’s important to do cardio, strength training, and flexibility training in an average week. I know, sometimes it’s hard to tell which sports or activities fall into which category.

About 50 million Americans are fans of running, jogging and runwalking. If you’re looking to improve your cardio, there’s good news. Running is a great aerobic exercise. Not only that, he’s one of the best aerobic exercises when it comes to lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, improving sleep quality, and boosting cognitive function.

Line up a lot Benefits of running (opens in new tab)it’s also a relatively inexpensive way to get your daily dose of exercise. best treadmill (opens in new tab) As long as you have decent sneakers so you can train in the comfort of your own home, you can lace up and run anywhere and anytime.

What is aerobic exercise?

“What makes aerobic exercise different from other exercises is that it relies on the body’s ability to use oxygen during exercise,” explains Jack McNamara, a strength coach and lecturer in clinical exercise physiology. . “This use of oxygen, also called aerobic metabolism, allows our bodies to extract energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from amino acids, carbohydrates, and fatty acids, which is usually stored in muscles for longer periods of activity. It helps to fuel you.

“The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) defines aerobic exercise as “any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be sustained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature.” So technically, any type of physical activity counts as aerobic exercise, regardless of intensity. : cycling, dancing, hiking, swimming and even walking.”

Jack McNamara (opens in new tab) He is an experienced strength coach and lecturer in clinical exercise physiology. Since beginning his career in 2005, McNamara has coached thousands of athletes, worked as a clinical exercise physiologist, and taught degree-level exercise science courses. His extensive expertise was recognized last year when he became the first person to be awarded the Master Trainer (Europe) and Certified Practitioner (UK) qualifications.

Most experts agree that you should aim for moderate-to-high intensity exercise to get the most benefits from aerobic exercise. If you’ve reached “moderate” intensity, you can speak, but not sing, while exercising.

Benefits of aerobic exercise include improving heart health, preventing or managing cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, and reducing symptoms of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

A man in a blue shirt runs in front of graffiti-covered store shutters

(Image credit: Getty)

Is running an aerobic exercise?

Yes, running definitely counts as cardio.

“Running not only continuously and rhythmically uses large muscle groups, it also makes the heart work harder and needs more oxygen to sustain it,” says McNamara.

“Unless you are exercising at very high intensity, such as sprinting, running usually puts more, or at least as much, stress on your heart and lungs than it does on your muscles.At least when you start running!”

How to improve your cardio fitness

Working on technique is one of the best ways to help you work harder and safer while running.

“For most of us, running has been ‘just done’ since childhood, so we don’t actively pay attention to posture, technique, or the rhythm of running,” says McNamara.

“By shortening your stride and increasing your cadence (total number of steps taken per minute), you will not only improve your cardiovascular health, but you will also reduce your risk of injury, which is a more efficient running technique that can lead to better performance. can be obtained.”

three women jogging

(Image credit: Getty)

Sprinting and anaerobic exercise

You can add short, fast-paced exercises such as sprints to get some anaerobic exercise (opens in new tab).

“Anaerobic exercise is physical activity in which the body breaks down glucose for energy without oxygen,” says McNamara. These activities are short and high intensity.”

This is a great way to turn running into stronger bones, increased lactate threshold (allowing you to work longer and harder), and general power gains.

To increase the intensity of your workout, McNamara recommends:

Increase number of sprint intervals
Reduced active recovery and rest time
Increase the duration of the hard part of the interval
Change terrain or add slope
speed up

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