Trick question! “Cardio” is a nickname for a certain rough category of exercise, and it doesn't have a precise definition. You’ll find different definitions of it depending on who you ask, and a lot of the research on the benefits of cardio just calls it “exercise." The closest technical term is "aerobic activity."
...the body’s large muscles move in a rhythmic manner for a sustained period of time. Brisk walking, running, bicycling, jumping rope, and swimming are all examples. Aerobic activity causes a person’s heart to beat faster, and they will breathe harder than normal.
It uses large muscles (like the legs; you can’t get cardio by twiddling your thumbs)
It can be sustained (like a 20-minute bike ride, but unlike a set of 10 squats)
Is there a certain heart rate or zone that counts as cardio?
No, there isn’t a strict dividing line between what counts as cardio and what doesn’t. The guidelines I quote above treat “moderate” intensity cardio as the minimum to target, but that’s not defined in terms of heart rate. I have a breakdown here of what “moderate” really means, but briefly: Anything at the effort level of a normal-paced walk (about 20 minutes per mile) is moderate.
Most of us don’t actually know our true max heart rate, and formulas like “220 minus your age” aren’t accurate. So take that with a grain of salt. It’s more helpful to consider how exercise feels: Moderate exercise will get you breathing heavier than at rest, maybe sweating a little bit, and with a noticeably higher heart rate than when you’re sitting quietly. You don’t have to be out of breath; moderate exercise is conversational, in the sense that you could, literally, engage in conversation while you do it.
Yes, in the sense that it meets the minimum guidelines. It is moderate intensity exercise and it counts toward your minutes per week (no matter what your heart rate is while you do it).
Does lifting weights count as cardio?
No, lifting weights does not count as cardio (with a few exceptions, which I’ll discuss in a minute.) Remember, cardio has to be rhythmic and sustained. If you aren’t doing the same movement over and over for, say, 10 minutes, it’s not cardio. So three sets of 10 on the chest press machine is definitely not cardio. You probably spent about five minutes in total, most of them resting. Doesn't count.
So what are those exceptions I mentioned? Exercising with weights can count as cardio if it meets the definition: rhythmic and sustained. Most people don’t do this! But if you’re training for a kettlebell half marathon, which is 30 minutes of the same motion, continuously, with a light kettlebell (you aren’t allowed to put the kettlebell down until time is up), then yes, that is cardio.
High-intensity interval training definitely taxes your cardiovascular system, but it's not necessarily the best workout when you're looking for a way to get some cardio in. If you're doing true HIIT, it's very intense, very short, and may have longish rest periods in between the hard intervals. You're working your anaerobic system, not just your aerobic capacity, so it has some of the same caveats as lifting weights.
What other exercises count as cardio?
I’ve given some examples already, but let me give you a longer list of things that are definitely cardio, if you do them in any sort of normal way (steady state or intervals, especially if the intervals use active rest like walking).
Cycling (indoor or outdoor)
Paddling or rowing a small boat
Dancing (truly the most underrated form of at-home cardio)
Climbing machines like the Jacob’s Ladder or Versaclimber
Swimming
Yard work or housework that has you moving continuously (like pushing a lawn mower or shoveling snow)
Hopefully these examples help you choose some exercise to do. If you have specific athletic goals, though (like running a 5K or passing a fitness test for work) you’ll want to look into a training program that is geared toward those goals.
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