The Types of Exercise

Understanding the types of exercise is incredibly helpful when designing an exercise program. These are the tools you are going to use to get the results you desire. So knowing what tools you have available and what those tools can be used for, is naturally going to allow you to be much more specific with your exercise program design.

To design an effective exercise program, you have to know what tools you have in your toolbox to accomplish these goals. While there is actually quite a bit of nuance to this, it is actually easy enough to divide these tools into 4 categories or types of exercise. Of course, there is quite a bit of overlap between these, and each one itself can be further subcategorised. However, having these 4 big broad buckets can be really helpful for deciding on what exercise type we want to prioritise based on our unique goals.

However, to use these tools effectively, you have to understand what your goals are and what the goals of exercise are. We spend a lot of time at the start of the coaching process really nailing down goals with our clients, as this allows us to be much more specific in what type of exercise we are going to use to achieve those goals. So, if you want to use the information in this article to create a better exercise program for yourself, then we would recommend that you spend some time getting clear on what your specific goals are. This will allow you to better understand which type of exercise will be more appropriate for your goals.

The Four Types Of Exercise

Generally, there are four types of exercise we can use to accomplish our goals:

• resistance exercise,
• cardiovascular exercise,
• sports/organised group exercise, 
• and daily movement/informal exercise.

Of course, these don’t need to be separated, and they very frequently overlap, but these are the broad categories of how people engage with exercise in the modern world. To better be able to organise your training system, we have to have to fundamentally understand what the benefits of each training system is and what adaptations it is actually providing you. There is no point spending hours upon hours trying to achieve a certain goal with a certain training modality, if it doesn’t actually provide that adaptation or it accomplishes it very inefficiently. For example, trying to get as muscular as possible, by performing hours upon hours of cardiovascular work is just going to be an exercise in frustration. 

So we must build an understanding of the why behind each training method, and then we can have a better appreciation of the how and what to do side of things.

Resistance Training

We can broadly define resistance training as exercise that involves contracting the muscles against resistance. 

This resistance can come in the form of barbells, dumbbells, machines, resistance bands, or even the mass of your own limb(s) or body (e.g. bodyweight exercises like push-ups). Technically, you could call most exercise resistance training, as even walking is contracting your calves and lower body muscles against the ground. However, for the most part, when we talk about resistance training, we generally mean significant resistance, closer to the limit of your muscular capacity. 

As noted, there are many ways you can actually apply resistance against the muscles, including:

• barbells, 
• dumbbells, 
• machines, 
• cables,
• resistance bands,
• odd implements (i.e. cinder blocks, barrels, sandbags, rocks etc.),
• and your body weight.

Each of these offers something slightly different, although generally, the most significant differences are actually just in terms of ease of use, accessibility, modifiability (i.e. the ability to modify the exercise to your needs), and progressability (i.e. the ability to progress the exercise). However, it is important to be aware that there are subtle differences between each of these different modalities. We will mainly be focusing on barbells, dumbbells, machines, cables, and your body weight when we discuss resistance training, as these are generally the things that most people have access to and are most familiar with.

Resistance Training Adaptations 

While there are actually many adaptations to resistance training, generally speaking, the adaptations that people are most looking for when they use resistance training as a training modality are:

1. Improved strength 
2. Muscle building 

Of course, this isn’t all that resistance training offers. When we resistance train (with weights, body weight, bands, or whatever), we improve our function, mobility, and bone mineral density. These are all important benefits for everyone but they are particularly important for specific populations, such as the elderly. We also soak up blood glucose into our muscles as we contract them, along with building bigger depots for glucose to be stored (building bigger muscles allows for more muscle glycogen storage). The list goes on, from reductions in blood pressure, to improved cognitive function, better balance, reduced pain, and so on. We discussed many of the benefits of resistance training in our article on why exercise is so important for health, so we won’t repeat them here. 

It is important to note that resistance training generally leads to improved function and ability to interact with the world. This is a very important benefit, as it enables you to participate in tasks that are meaningful to you. Whether it’s picking up your children, moving things around the house with ease, enjoying your hobbies, climbing a mountain or giving your significant other a piggyback, resistance training can help. 

So, we can think of resistance training as being the tool we use to improve our muscle size and overall body strength. The added benefit is that we generally see an improvement in overall function and ability to interact with the world. 

Cardiovascular Training

Cardiovascular training is a little bit more difficult to describe, as it really can be anything that raises your heart rate and challenges your cardiovascular system. If you are very unfit, and have been sedentary for a long time, you may find walking for 5 minutes to be sufficiently challenging to your cardiovascular system. However, someone who has been engaging in a lot of cardiovascular training may find their heart rate barely elevates walking for 5 minutes, and they would not see it as being something anyone would call cardiovascular training. So there is a degree of individual specificity here, and that does make understanding the adaptations a little bit harder too, as it does depend on what you have been doing previously.

The cardio can also be broken down into two energy providing systems (technically it can be further subdivided, but this isn’t generally necessary). These are the aerobic system and the anaerobic system (you do have another one, the ATP-PCr system, but for this discussion, we don’t need to include it). 

The aerobic system requires oxygen to function effectively, and as such, it works better when your effort and heart rate is relatively lower as this facilitates you being able to breathe effectively (and thus breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide). Once your level of effort goes up, or you are required to do movements that require very fast generation of energy, you must use the anaerobic system. This system doesn’t require the same oxygen that the aerobic system requires, and as such, it can work in low oxygen conditions, but the trade-off is that it doesn’t work for very long.

This is why you can’t sprint a marathon, the anaerobic system just can’t supply power for that long, and instead, the aerobic system must kick in, which can go for much longer, but can’t provide that “jet fuel” required for the higher intensities. This is important to understand, because some of the adaptations you get from doing higher-intensity cardio, you don’t get with lower-intensity cardio, and vice versa.

The manner in which you perform the cardio training does also matter. Just like there are differences between using your body weight or dumbbells for resistance training, there are differences between running, cycling, swimming, hiking, rucking, using the elliptical or fan bike, and so on. Some modalities are better suited to certain training methods than others.

For example, it may be difficult to do interval training on a treadmill, whereas doing it on a stationary bike may be much easier, practically speaking. However, doing it on a fan bike, even with the same training parameters (i.e. the specific interval program), may make it significantly harder as the fan bike provides more resistance than a stationary bike and challenges more muscles (as it uses the upper body too).

So, discussing cardio isn’t just a case of thinking about simply jogging or sprinting, there is a lot more nuance here. The body parts used can be significantly different, the injury risk significantly different, and the specific adaptations significantly different. 

However, even with all of this in mind, we can still broadly discuss cardio training in two distinct categories. These categories are low-intensity steady-state (LISS) cardio and high-intensity interval (HIIT) cardio. These shouldn’t be thought of as being completely distinct categories, and depending on how exactly you perform either of these there may actually be significant overlap.

For example, a lot of people perform “HIIT” workouts that go on for 30-40 minutes, and ultimately they just end up being largely aerobic sessions. There are different methods, programs and protocols you can use for each of these, depending on what exactly you want to develop.

Cardiovascular Training Adaptations and Tradeoffs

In general, most people do cardio for one of three reasons, they either want to improve their fitness, improve their health or they simply want to use it as a tool to burn calories. Of course, there are other reasons, but generally, these are the outcomes people are targeting by doing cardio. So, how do aerobic cardio and anaerobic cardio stack up against each other in achieving these?

Aerobic cardio methods like LISS are generally typified by low-intensity activity, done for longer periods of time. Generally, heart rates are going to be somewhere around 60-70% max heart rate, and generally, this type of cardio will be done for 30+ minutes. 

Anaerobic cardio methods like HIIT are generally typified by higher intensity activity, done for shorter periods of time, done in an interval pattern with work-to-rest periods generally being at least 2 or 3 (rest) to 1 (work) (i.e. 30 seconds of effort followed by 60-90 seconds of rest). While shorter work-to-rest ratios can make sense in some circumstances, especially if the effort period is longer (i.e. 90 seconds effort, followed by 90 seconds of rest may make sense), generally longer rest periods make more sense. 

Once the rest interval is below ~3 minutes, repeated efforts are going to become more aerobic in nature with each effort, but not actually be as effective as doing aerobic cardio specifically, as the heart rate is too high.

Aspect	LISS Cardio	HIIT Cardio
Intensity	Low.	High.
Duration	Longer (typically 30 minutes or longer).	Shorter (typically 4-30 minutes).
Heart Rate	Steady, at a moderate level, usually around 60-70% of heart rate maximum.	Fluctuates throughout. Generally the goal is to reach high heart rates during the intervals.
Oxygen Consumption	Increases gradually.	Increases significantly during intervals.
Caloric Expenditure	Moderate on a per minute basis, but can be done for longer periods of time, thus total expenditure is generally high.	High on a per minute basis, but can’t be done for a long period of time.
Muscle Endurance	Improves muscular endurance.	Improves muscular endurance, especially at higher intensities. However, probably doesn’t improve overall muscular endurance as much as aerobic cardio.
Muscle Mass Preservation	Minimal impact.	May help preserve muscle mass.
Cardiovascular Health	Improves gradually, with no real ceiling.	Significant improvements in shorter duration, but adaptations slow drastically after ~4 weeks.
Recovery Time	Short.	Long (due to high intensity).
Risk of Injury	Low (although may be higher if large volumes are done).	Higher (due to high intensity).
Adaptation for Athletes	Improves recovery and endurance.	Enhances top end performance, but may interfere with ability to train for the sport, due to increased recovery demands.

Ultimately, there is a lot of overlap between each of these, however, there are some things to keep in mind. Generally, HIIT will provide quicker fitness (and potentially health) benefits, and on a per minute basis, HIIT allows you to burn more calories. So, this may seem like a win for HIIT, however, HIIT is significantly more fatiguing than LISS. The improvements from HIIT seem to quickly level off, and only progress at a very, very slow rate. Whereas LISS provides slow and steady fitness and health benefits, that don’t seem to level off as quickly, and realistically are only really limited by how much time you can dedicate to doing LISS. 

Similarly, you can actually burn significantly more calories doing LISS, purely because you can do it for so much longer and so much more frequently than HIIT. But this is also the downside of LISS, as it simply takes more time. Generally, to get the most from LISS, you likely want to do at least 30 minutes of it, whereas with HIIT, you can get a lot of bang for your buck in as little as 4 minutes. This is generally why you see HIIT being promoted, as it is very time efficient. However, this is only true if you look at things with short time horizons, and as soon as you broaden the time horizon, LISS is actually more time efficient (you can burn more calories, and you get better fitness and health returns over longer time horizons). 

However, rather than thinking of cardio as a purely an either-or question, you can actually do a little bit of both. Most people seem to do best by allocating the vast majority of their cardiovascular training towards LISS, but also allocating some time to HIIT so they don’t miss out on some of the additional benefits you can get from training at higher intensities. Generally, if someone wants to improve their fitness in some capacity, or they want to ensure they are looking after their health, we are going to want to include cardiovascular exercise in the program.

Sports/Organised Group Training

Sporting activities or organised group activities are generally the way that most people are introduced to physical activity, as it is much more likely that you will see a group of children playing some sort of field sport, rather than lifting weights. Discussing the various forms of activity that make up sports or organised group activities is beyond the scope of this article, but it does bear noting here because quite a few people will keep up some form of sport/organised group activity as their form of exercise, and may want to try and layer on resistance training and/or cardiovascular training too. This is a completely valid form of exercise, however, it really is beyond the scope of this article to discuss all the nuances here, as there are so many different potential activities in this class.

Organised Sports/Group Training Adaptations

The adaptations gained from these types of activities obviously depend pretty heavily on what type of sport/activity we are talking about. However, generally speaking, most sports/activities have some sort of cardiovascular element, and due to the nature of having to move your body around, they expose your body to some forces that are similar to those experienced with resistance training. So you do get a bit of a mix of both the adaptations you get from resistance training and from cardiovascular training (depending on the type of sport/activity). This is both a positive and a negative, as you don’t quite get the full benefits of either, and you kind of stay in this middle ground. However, some of the adaptations that you do generally get with this style of training are increases in skills, fine/gross motor control, coordination, agility, and overall body capacity and resilience. 

Along with these, and this one is very often overlooked, is the fact that you do get to interact with other humans at these sport practices/group training sessions. Humans are social animals and group training can be more enjoyable than solitary training as a result of interacting with other people and having a community of people who are also working towards the same (or similar) goals. 

The main downside is that you generally don’t get the best outcomes you could possibly get from the perspective of body composition, and you also don’t generally get the best outcomes for strength (unless you are talking about a strength sport like powerlifting) or fitness (unless you are talking about an endurance sport like running). However, that may be a trade-off you are willing to accept, due to enjoying that particular sport/activity.

There are also activities that kind of fall into this category, such as pilates or yoga, which may not offer significant benefits in terms of cardiovascular fitness or building significant muscle, but may improve other aspects such as core strength and flexibility. And of course, may be incredibly enjoyable to do.

Informal Exercise

This is a type of exercise that a lot of people ignore or don’t realise is actually exercise. If we consider the overall meta goals of exercise as being to improve health, performance, and/or body composition, well, daily movement does actually contribute quite significantly to all of these. With regards to the more common sub-goals of exercise of getting stronger, building muscle and getting cardiovascularly fitter, daily movement can help with these too. For sure, it likely isn’t going to be the best tool to accomplish any of these goals, however, it does still play a part and contribute.

So what do I mean by informal exercise?

Well, this category includes a few things that you may not necessarily consider exercise, but that do contribute towards accomplishing the same things as the stuff you likely do consider exercise. Informal exercise as a category is quite broad, but some of the more common things that fall into this category include:

• Walking: Walking is one of the simplest and most accessible forms of exercise. It can be done anywhere, anytime, and requires minimal equipment other than shoes. Walking is probably one of the most underrated forms of exercise, and we generally advocate for people aiming to get 10,000 steps per day.
• Active Commuting: Choosing active modes of transportation, such as cycling or walking, instead of driving or taking public transportation, can provide opportunities for informal exercise. 
• Taking the Stairs: Opting to take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator whenever possible can add physical activity to daily routines. Climbing stairs helps strengthen leg muscles and elevate heart rate.
• Household Chores: Engaging in household chores like vacuuming, mopping, dusting and cleaning involves physical exertion, and you can get a decent workout in by just cleaning up the house. 
• Gardening: Gardening involves a variety of physical movements such as digging, planting, weeding, and watering, which both provides a stimulus on the muscles and on the cardiovascular system.
• Playing with Children or Pets: Playing games, chasing after children or pets, and engaging in outdoor activities with them can be a fun and effective way to exercise. Activities like playing, kicking a ball, or throwing a frisbee can elevate heart rate and promote movement.
• Using Active Workstations: Using standing desks, stability balls, or treadmill desks at work can help promote movement and reduce sedentary behaviour. These active workstations allow individuals to engage their muscles, get fitter and burn calories while working. 
• Active Leisure and Socialising: Instead of watching TV, or meeting friends for sedentary activities like watching movies or sitting at a coffee shop, you can actually get a decent bit of activity in by simply engaging in leisure and social activities that are more active. Activities like hiking, biking, or playing outdoor games together can provide opportunities for exercise and social interaction.
• Going for a Hike: Hiking is a great way to enjoy the outdoors while getting exercise. It combines cardiovascular activity with a significant strength component, depending on the terrain. Hiking challenges leg and core muscles and cardiovascular fitness. Hiking also offers mental health benefits by reducing stress and promoting relaxation, especially if done in a natural setting.
• Swimming in a Lake or the Sea with Friends: Swimming is a full-body workout that engages the muscles of the arms, legs, core, and back. It provides cardiovascular conditioning, improves muscle strength and endurance, and enhances flexibility. Swimming in natural bodies of water like lakes or the sea adds a bit of nature to the activity, while socialising with friends makes the activity even more enjoyable and beneficial for your health.
• Kicking a Football Around with Friends: Playing football (soccer or Gaelic football) with friends is a fun and social way to get exercise. Similar benefits can be had from casually passing around a rugby ball, basketball or American football.

All of these, and many other potential activities, fall in the category of informal exercise. They can actually contribute quite a bit to your overall exercise activity throughout the week, especially walking. Walking is the unsung hero of activity, and simply getting a high daily step count can significantly improve your health and body composition, while also generally improving recovery too. 

A lot of these fall into the category of non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), so some people may take offence that I have classified these as exercise rather than non-exercise. However, non-exercise is just a bit of a nebulous term, as surely non-exercise should just mean being sedentary, no? Now, some people will point out that exercise is intentional activity intended to improve health and/or fitness, however, does that mean if you do sports without the intention of improving your health or fitness, it isn’t actually exercise? Or that the difference between whether a walk is considered exercise or not is whether you intended it to improve your health and/or fitness? Ultimately, it is all just activity, and it all can contribute to your health and fitness goals.

The Types Of Exercise As Tools In Your Toolbox

It can be difficult to design an effective exercise program if you aren’t even clear on what tools you have in your toolbox. So understanding the different types of exercise available to you, and having a rough understanding of what adaptations you get from these types of exercise can be incredibly helpful. However, you do still need to know what outcomes you are trying to influence with these tools, so it is also helpful to understand why exercise is important and what the goals of exercise are. In future articles, we will discuss the exercise guidelines, and how to actually design an effective exercise program. So if you want to stay up to date with our latest content, we recommend subscribing to our newsletter.

If you would like more help with your training (or nutrition), we do also have online coaching spaces available. You can further build your knowledge on all things exercise by interacting with our free content. We recommend reading our foundational nutrition article, along with our foundational articles on sleep and stress management, if you really want to learn more about how to optimise your lifestyle. If you want even more free information on exercise, you can follow us on Instagram, YouTube or listen to the podcast, where we discuss all the little intricacies of exercise. Finally, if you want to learn how to coach nutrition, then consider our Nutrition Coach Certification course. If you don’t understand something, or you just need clarification, you can always reach out to us on Instagram or via email.