Types of Physical Fitness Activities

The two types of physical fitness activities are aerobic activity and strength training. Aerobic activity involves exercising for at least 20 minutes. The goal is to raise your heart rate to between 60 and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate, which causes you to breathe faster. Strength training is more about building muscles.

Aerobic Fitness Activities

You are helping increase your cardiovascular capacity by doing aerobic fitness activities. This helps you burn fat and increases your heart rate. Aerobic activity is great for losing weight as well as for heart health. Aerobic activity should cause you to breathe hard and to sweat. If it is not, you should consider upping the intensity or performing a different aerobic activity. Aerobic exercise can be divided into low-impact and high-impact activities.

• Low-impact aerobic activities raise your heart rate without necessarily putting stress on your joints. Some examples include bicycling, swimming and using an elliptical machine.


• High-impact aerobic activities place more stress on your joints. High-impact aerobic activities help promote the preservation of bone density, an important consideration for aging women. Some examples of high-impact aerobic activity include jogging, jumping rope and group exercise classes such as Zumba.

Strength Training Fitness Activities

Strength training involves exercises that tone or build muscles. These activities can be classified as lifting weights, using resistance bands or doing calisthenics.

• An example of resistance band training would be a Bowflex machine, which uses rubberized bands to provide resistance.


• Weight training, such as using dumbbells and barbells as well as weight machines, is a great way to build muscle strength and muscle mass.


• Calisthenics like push-ups and pull-ups help build muscle strength while using a minimal amount of equipment.