When people hear “cardio,” they often think of running, spin classes, or exhausting workouts. But cardiorespiratory conditioning is much broader than that.
Cardio really means training your heart, lungs, and circulatory system to deliver oxygen efficiently so your body doesn’t get tired doing normal life.
Good cardio fitness means:
- You can walk up stairs without getting winded
- You can play with your kids or grandkids
- You can travel and walk through airports easily
- You have more daily energy
- You recover faster between activities
- Your brain stays sharper as you age
Not to mention the prevention of a slew of age-related diseases and other health complications, from diabetes and heart attacks to dementia and lower risks of certain cancers.
Cardio training is not just exercise — it’s a health insurance policy.
You Don’t Need to Run
You do not need to run to have great cardiovascular fitness. Any activity that gets your heart rate up between 60%-80% of your max heart rate (MHR) will suffice (more on that later).
This is great news for people over 40, people with joint pain, hip replacements, knee arthritis, or anyone returning to fitness after years off.
Great cardio options include:
- Brisk walking
- Incline treadmill walking
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Rowing
- Hiking
- Elliptical
- Rucking (walking with a backpack)
- Pickleball or tennis
- Yard work
- Playing with kids
The best cardio is something you enjoy. Enjoyment breeds consistency, and consistency breeds results.
Furthermore, it doesn’t have to be particularly intense. In fact, zone 2 cardio, in which your heart rate is 60%-70% of your MHR, provides the most bang for your buck for heart health, providing a high degree of stimulus with minimal recovery.
Just take a look at the world’s elite long-distance runners: roughly 80%, some even up to 90% of their weekly training miles are “easy” miles in which they try to stay in zone 2. Check out a book called 80/20 Running if you’d like to dive deeper into that.
Zones 3 and 4 have their benefits, of course, improving cardiovascular performance. But it’s important to keep in mind that they require much more recovery time than zone 2. For people who are not competitive in endurance sports and aren’t interested in performance, zone 2 with small, occasional doses of zone 3 is all that’s needed.
Below is a helpful guide to heart rate zones:
Heart Rate Zones (Simple Guide)
Instead of guessing intensity, we can use heart rate zones.
A simple estimate for max heart rate is:
220 − your age = estimated max heart rate
Example:
- 40 years old → ~180 max HR
- 50 years old → ~170 max HR
- 60 years old → ~160 max HR
From there, we use percentages of max heart rate.
Zone 1 – Easy (50–60% of max HR)
Very easy effort. Warm-ups, recovery days, easy walks.
Example heart rates:
- Age 40 → 90–108 bpm
- Age 50 → 85–102 bpm
- Age 60 → 80–96 bpm
You should be able to breathe through your nose and hold a full conversation.
Zone 2 – Moderate (60–70% of max HR) — Most Important
This is the most important zone for health, fat loss, endurance, and longevity.
Example heart rates:
- Age 40 → 108–126 bpm
- Age 50 → 102–119 bpm
- Age 60 → 96–112 bpm
You can talk in short sentences but not comfortably hold a long conversation.
Zone 3 – Hard (70–80% of max HR)
This is a challenging but sustainable effort.
Example heart rates:
- Age 40 → 126–144 bpm
- Age 50 → 119–136 bpm
- Age 60 → 112–128 bpm
You can only speak a few words at a time. This is good for hills, steady hard efforts, and shorter workouts.
Zone 4 – Very Hard (80–90% of max HR)
This is interval training territory. Hard efforts that you can only sustain for a few minutes at a time.
Example heart rates:
- Age 40 → 144–162 bpm
- Age 50 → 136–153 bpm
- Age 60 → 128–144 bpm
Breathing is heavy, and conversation is nearly impossible. This improves speed, performance, and high-end conditioning.
For most adults over 40, this should be used sparingly — maybe once per week in short intervals.
Zone 5 – Max Effort (90–100% of max HR)
All-out effort. Sprinting, very hard intervals lasting seconds to a minute.
Example heart rates:
- Age 40 → 162–180 bpm
- Age 50 → 153–170 bpm
- Age 60 → 144–160 bpm
This zone is mainly for athletes and performance training. Most people do not need to spend much time here for general health and longevity.
Think of this zone as optional and for reference, not something most people need to train regularly.
How Much Cardio Do You Actually Need?
For most adults, a great general guideline is:
150–300 minutes per week of moderate cardio (mostly Zone 2)
That breaks down to something manageable:
- 30–45 minutes
- 4–5 days per week
- Mostly brisk walking, cycling, swimming, etc.
My recommendation for the majority of people is going for a brisk, 30-60 minute walk, 5+ days a week. This can absolutely be broken up throughout the day when necessary. So if you work from home, this is a great excuse to get up from the computer and move for 10 or 15 minutes.
In fact, close your emails right now and go take a walk outside. Your heart will thank you.
