Do you know the difference between cardiovascular and aerobic exercise? A few people have asked me this question, so I know there are some people who may be confused by these terms.

The meaning of cardiovascular and aerobic exercise

In general, cardiovascular exercise refers to any exercise that can help improve the strength of our cardiovascular system. On the other hand, aerobic exercise usually refers to exercise that helps improve our oxygen system. The word aerobics literally means in the presence of oxygen.

The terms can be used interchangeably

However, both aerobic and cardiovascular exercise fulfill both functions. That is, doing a cardiovascular exercise can not only help strengthen the cardiovascular system but also improve our oxygen. And when you do aerobic exercise, you can also improve your cardiovascular system. Therefore, these terms can be used interchangeably.

Both cardiovascular and aerobic exercise generally use our large muscles like the legs and usually in a rhythmic manner. For example, walking, running, bicycling, stair climbing, jumping, rowing, and swimming can all be called aerobic or cardiovascular exercises.

Improve your fitness level with cardiovascular and aerobic exercises

Normally, people who are ‘fit’, that is, people who are in better cardiorespiratory fitness, have fewer heart problems than people who are less fit.

With that, you should improve your cardiovascular or aerobic fitness by challenging yourself instead of doing the same workout every time. Crank up your exercise machines and try to work hard for 2-3 minutes straight then slowly recover over time.

Do this a couple of times for each of your training sessions or at least twice a week and you can be sure that your aerobic/cardio fitness will improve significantly.