The best aerobics exercises ranked

Stop scrolling, there is no "official ranking of the best aerobic exercises" that applies to everyone - all rankings are matched according to needs. The exercise that you can persist in at the moment, practice without injury, and still achieve your goals is the best exercise ranked first. I have been a fitness coach for 12 years and have taught more than 3,000 students in different situations. Combining mainstream research and practical experience in exercise physiology, I can give you priority choices for different needs, which is much more reliable than random lists on the Internet.

When it comes to fat burning efficiency, many people’s first reaction is HIIT, right? There is indeed research support from a group of exercise physiologists. The EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) effect of HIIT is 3-5 times that of steady-state aerobic. To put it bluntly, after 15 minutes of standard HIIT training, the body will secretly burn dozens to hundreds of calories more in the next 6-8 hours. People who are short of time and want to quickly burn fat really love it. But it has to be said that another group of sports injury scholars have long mentioned that standard HIIT requires extremely high core control and joint stability. If novices blindly follow online videos to practice, the probability of movement deformation exceeds 80%. Last year, I met a 180-pound young man. He started practicing HIIT for 20 minutes a day and suffered a second-degree meniscus injury in a week. He stopped training for 3 months and gained 5 pounds. It was not worth the loss. Therefore, it is only suitable for people who have exercised for at least 3 months, have a low body weight, and have no old joint injuries. Don’t rush into it blindly.

If you just want to lose weight safely and don't want to risk injury, then medium and low-intensity steady-state aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, jogging, and swimming is more suitable. Don’t think it’s slow. I have a 42-year-old student sister who works in finance and works in an office every day. She gets off the subway two stops before get off work every day and walks 40 minutes home. She doesn’t have to change equipment, doesn’t have to take time to go to the gym, and doesn’t have to go on a strict diet. She lost 12 pounds in 3 months and has no knee problems. There are always people on the Internet saying that "jogging hurts the knees." In fact, the latest orthopedic research has confirmed that if the excess weight does not exceed 30% of the standard body weight and the running posture is correct, the pressure on the knee joints of jogging is less than half that of repeatedly climbing stairs. On the contrary, it can enhance the secretion of synovial fluid in the joints and delay joint degeneration.

To put it another way, if you are not pursuing losing weight quickly at all, but just want to practice cardio and lung training, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and live longer, then the selection criteria are different. A 2023 tracking study by the American College of Sports Medicine shows that people who adhere to moderate-intensity periodic aerobics for a long time have an all-cause mortality rate that is 47% lower than that of sedentary people. This data is even 6 percentage points higher than that of people who practice HIIT for a long time. For example, swimming, cycling, rowing machines, etc., put zero pressure on the joints, and the intensity is controlled at 60%-70% of the maximum heart rate. During the exercise, you can still speak normally without being out of breath or unable to speak in complete sentences. It is especially suitable for middle-aged and elderly people, and people with basic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. My dad is 62 this year. He used to have high blood pressure and high blood pressure. I bought him a spinning bike to put in the living room and ride it for 30 minutes every day after eating. Now for more than half a year, I have reduced my antihypertensive medication by half, and it is more effective than any health supplement I bought.

There are also some people who don’t want to go out or buy any sports equipment. There are good options that can be practiced at home. Don't look down on jumping jacks, crotch high-fives, and leg raises on the spot. These seemingly "unskilled" movements are performed. Take a 30-second rest for each group for 1 minute, and do 15 groups in a row. The fat-burning efficiency is no worse than jogging outside for 40 minutes. I was locked down at home for two months in 2022. I just took 20 minutes a day to do these movements, combined with occasional strength training, and my body fat rate dropped by 2 percentage points, and I didn't even catch a cold. Of course, if someone lives downstairs in your house, you should put a yoga mat on it so as not to disturb the neighbors. I just put two thick mats on it at that time, and the aunt downstairs never came to look for me.

Oh, yes, there is a very controversial saying on the Internet: "Aerobic muscle loss, so aerobic training is not as good as strength training." This is actually a requirement in the bodybuilding circle to prepare for competitions. There is really no need for ordinary fitness enthusiasts to be anxious. Moderate to low-intensity aerobics, 3 times a week, within 40 minutes each time, will not lose much muscle at all. On the contrary, it can improve your cardiorespiratory capacity, allowing you to carry heavier weights and do more sets when practicing strength, which will actually help you grow muscles.

Do you really want me to give you a unique ranking criterion? That is, "Exercises that you can do more than three times a week, for at least 20 minutes each time, and that will not hurt you enough to get out of bed the next day will always rank first." I've seen too many people sit down for a week to rank, collect more than a dozen exercise videos, and end up lying on the sofa scrolling through their phones, which is a waste of time. If you have a playground downstairs, go for a run. If there is a swimming pool next to your home, go swimming. If you don't even leave the house, you can do jumping jacks at home. Movement is more useful than any ranking.