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According to the American College of Sports Medicine, you should engage in aerobic activities such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling, hiking, swimming, cross-country skiing, dancing, tennis, or soccer at a moderate to vigorous intensity several times a week. With moderate exercise, the duration should be at least 30 minutes—it can be in 10-minute bouts—for a weekly total of 2.5 hours to 5 hours.
But numerous studies have shown that there is a more efficient way to boost your CV fitness, called high intensity interval training. This sort of training means alternating short intense spurts with a more leisurely pace. For example, cycle as fast as you can for 30 seconds and then pedal for two minutes at a more relaxing pace. Then do another tough 30 seconds, and repeat. Of course, participating in continuous aerobic activity (such as jogging for 30 minutes) can also significantly boost your fitness. But it’s high-intensity interval training that provides greater gains and works well for young or old in a time crunch. Check with your doctor to make sure it's safe for you to engage in such vigorous exercise.
If you are largely sedentary, cardiovascular training can produce dramatic improvements. If you're already fit, the relative increase will be more modest. But with regular increases in your workout intensity, your cardiovascular fitness can be expected to continue to improve over 4 to 5 months, stabilizing thereafter.
Are you getting fitter?
You can gauge your progress simply by repeating the field test you originally chose. An even easier way is measure your heart rate recovery time: Check your heart rate immediately after you stop exercising, and then again two minutes later. The difference between the two numbers is your recovery heart rate. Keep a chart of this over time. As you become fitter, it'll take less time for your heart rate to recover (so the difference between the two numbers will get larger).
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