What Is “Vigorous” Exercise? A Key Component Of Physical Activity

You’ve probably heard the suggestion to get 90 minutes of vigorous exercise every week. That sounds pretty easy…but what exactly is vigorous exercise in the first place? This is a pretty important distinction to know you’re getting enough exercise!

This article will break it down and give you examples of both vigorous exercise and moderate exercise!!

What Is Vigorous Exercise?

“Vigorous exercise” can mean completely different things depending on who says it. For some, a jog might be vigorous, while others do jogging to warm up – a lot of it depends on context and who’s asking!

In general conversation,  this is fine as long as the group of people speaking all understand the terms. However, it’s important to understand what “vigorous” means in the context of cardio and exercise for health purposes.

This is because “vigorous exercise” has a specific meaning.

Minimum Guidelines For Physical Activity: Vigorous And Moderate Exercise

Vigorous exercise is one type of physical activity prescribed by various Authority Health Organizations, such as the CDC and HHS, as a minimum activity level to maintain general health.

These organizations outline two forms of training, cardio and strength training, with vigorous descriptions of the cardio. The complete list of minimum physical activity levels includes: ¹

• 150 minutes of moderate exercise, OR
• 75-90 minutes of vigorous exercise, OR
• A mix of moderate and vigorous exercise
• 2 sessions of strength training

While a seemingly simple set of guidelines, relative words such as “moderate” and “vigorous” can leave much for interpretation. Depending on who you ask, vigorous exercise might mean;

• HIIT
• Sprinting 
• Jog
• Fast
• Really Fast!

So, we know how much vigorous exercise we should do, but what exactly is vigorous exercise? And how is it different from moderate exercise?

What Are Intensity Levels For Moderate And Vigorous?

The easiest way to define these terms is by defining the heart rate range that falls into either category. The percent of your max heart rate indicates how hard you are stressing the body.

Intensity levels of moderate and vigorous activity are:²

• Moderate Activity - 50-70% HRmax
• Vigorous Activity - 70-85% HRmax

Calculating your approximate max heart rate is relatively easy with a simple calculation. 

Remember that this number is not personalized, and different variables can change it.

• Max Heart Rate = 220 - Age

Therefore, for a 20-year-old, the target heart rates would be;

• Max Heart Rate = 220 - 20 = 200
• Moderate Activity = 50-70% (200) = 100-140bpm
• Vigorous  Activity = 70-85% (200) = 140-170bpm

For a 40 year old, target heart rates would be;

• Max Heart Rate = 220 - 40 = 180
• Moderate Activity = 50-70% (180bpm) = 90-126bpm
• Vigorous  Activity = 70-85% (180bpm) = 126-153bpm

Again, these numbers are approximate and can vary slightly depending on the individual. We will point out that “vigorous exercise,” within the context of physical activity, is what we generally use to describe normal cardio exercise.

Physical Activity Examples Of Vigorous And Moderate Exercise

Knowing heart rates is valuable, but what are examples of vigorous and moderate exercise? And does it even matter what type of exercise you do?

We’re now going to go over some actual examples of vigorous and moderate exercise.

Physical Activity Examples Of Moderate Exercise

You’ll notice that the activity for moderate exercise does not necessarily include exercise that you’d normally consider “exercise.” Activity can include;

• Brisk walking (about 3-4 mph)
• Light biking (under 10 mph, on level ground)
• Dancing (ballroom, line dancing)
• Gardening or raking leaves
• Water aerobics
• Doubles tennis
• Hiking on mostly flat terrain

An unscientific way to think about it is exercise that increases your heart rate and breathing. You should be able to talk and have an easy conversation. However, you shouldn’t be giving lectures or singing.

Physical Activity Examples Of Vigorous Exercise

When it comes to vigorous exercise, intensity is going to be higher. Now, vigorous exercise is much more similar to what we think of as “cardio exercise.”

Examples of vigorous exercise can include;

• Running or jogging
• Swimming laps
• Cycling fast or on hills
• Aerobic dancing (like Zumba)
• Jumping rope
• Hiking uphill or with a heavy backpack

If you don’t have a heart monitor, here’s an easy way to decide if you’re at an appropriate intensity. While exercising, speaking a full, structured sentence should be very tough, if not impossible. You should only be able to get a few words out.

How Much Vigorous Exercise Should You Do?

Above, we talked about the minimum guidelines for physical Activity. 

• 150 minutes of moderate Activity 
• 90 minutes of vigorous Activity 
• Or a mixture of these

Ideally, this exercise should be divided into several sessions (3-5) and spread through the week. 

There are a ton of ways you could do it;

Example 1

• 20 minutes of vigorous
• 45 mins of moderate
• 20 minutes of vigorous
• 30 mins of moderate
• 20 minutes of vigorous 
• This is 135 minutes of mixed Activity

Example 2

• 50 mins of moderate
• 30 minutes of vigorous 
• 50 mins of moderate

More Is Better

It’s important to remember that the numbers we discussed above are the minimum – this should be your baseline. In reality, you should aim to get more!

150 minutes of moderate exercise can sound like a lot to some people. However, as we saw with the examples of moderate exercise, it’s not too demanding. In fact, brisk walking can count as moderate Activity. 

Does Walking Count As Moderate Activity? 

With that in mind, we strongly support the recommendation of walking 10,000 steps a day. We wrote an article that covers everything you need to know about walking, so be sure to check that out.

Walking can definitely count as moderate exercise if it’s done at a brisk pace. 

Now, walking 10,000 steps equals a distance of around 4.8 miles (7.65km) and takes about 1.5 hours at a 3.5mph pace. This is about 90 minutes.  

Keep in mind that not all 10,000 steps must be taken at a brisk pace. Suggesting 10,000 steps daily is more about increasing general activity and decreasing sedentary time. However, you should aim for at least 4,000 steps to be done at a brisk pace. However, it’s a good illustration of how little 150 minutes truly is.³

Still, more is better. Walking seems to have a dose-response all the way up to 20,000 steps!⁴

Get Out And Get Your Physical Activity In! 

Vigorous or moderate, the most important part is that you start moving more. Again, we can not stress how important this is. It’s relatively easy to do but provides a ton of benefits!

In fact, if we were to examine the ROI of increasing physical activity, it would definitely return a ton of health benefits for minimal effort put in. Ideally, your weeks contain components of both moderate and vigorous exercise….and don’t forget strength training! This is the way to true health and longevity.

References

1. OASH. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans | odphp.health.gov. Health.gov. Published 2024. https://odphp.health.gov/our-work/nutrition-physical-activity/physical-activity-guidelines
2. American Heart Association. Target Heart Rates Chart. American Heart Association. Published March 9, 2021. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/target-heart-rates
3. Tudor-Locke, C. Steps to Better Cardiovascular Health: How Many Steps Does It Take to Achieve Good Health and How Confident Are We in This Number? Curr Cardio Risk Rep 4, 271–276 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12170-010-0109-5
4. Ungvari, Z., Fazekas-Pongor, V., Csiszar, A. et al. The multifaceted benefits of walking for healthy aging: from Blue Zones to molecular mechanisms. GeroScience 45, 3211–3239 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00873-8