A cardio workout is considered a workout that raises your heart rate for about 20-30 minutes. The cardio workout works all the major muscle groups and you should be sweating and breathing hard during the most intense part of your work. During cardio workout you must reach a specific level of intensity, which means you have to elevate your heart rate to an aerobic level and sustain it there.

Just as an example, jogging for 30 minutes with a speed which allows you to cover a mile in 12 minutes, burns 192 calories. As opposed to jogging, walking for 30 minutes with a speed which allows you to cover a mile in 15 minutes burns 108 calories.

Just like you I’ve been curious if sex is considered cardio activity and of course I wanted to know how many calories it burns. In different sources I’ve read that 30 minutes of intense sexual activity burns about 100 calories. However, other fitness experts count sex as cardio only if it meets the requirements of any cardio activity (intense workout, breathing heavily, heart rate raised and so on).

On the other hand, Yoga can’t count either as cardio activity. It is great for your mind, flexibility and stretching and it burns about 200 calories in an hour, but it’s not considered cardio activity.

Other cardio activities include biking, swimming and rollerblading.

What is your favorite? I love to walk a lot and when I have time to swim.