aerobic exercise is any activity that stimulates your heart rate and breathing to increase but not so much that you can't sustain the activity for more than a few minutes. aerobic means "with oxygen " and anaerobic means "without oxygen. " anaerobic exercise is the type where you get out of breath in just a few moments like when you lift weights when you sprint or when you climb a long flight of stairs (or a short flight if you're deconditioned! ) a caveat dancing swimming water aerobics biking walking hiking and many other activities are all examples of aerobic activities but they can be anaerobic too if they are performed at a high enough intensity. try riding your bike alongside lance armstrong in the french alps and you'll know what anaerobic exercise means in moments. but then again riding along on your bike at a leisurely 8-10 mph on the boardwalk at the seashore is the same activity but at a much lower intensity much lower heart rate and much lower oxygen consumption and so in this case biking is aerobic. the bottom line is that the intensity that you perform an activity determines if it's aerobic or anaerobic.
what is the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise?