I will admittedly tell you that this is a subjective list of what I personally think are the five best aerobic exercises.
I don't have tons of time to workout so I like to use one of the following five to complete a complete aerobic workout in 20 minutes.
I'll tell you how in just a bit but, here are what I think are the top 5.
1.
Inline-skating 2.
Biking 3.
Walking 4.
Stair climbing 5.
Rope jumping You may agree or disagree with my top 5 list either way it doesn't matter.
What does matter is that you pick an activity that you enjoy and perform it in the most time effective manner for the purpose of getting in shape in the shortest amount of time.
Now you will not achieve an effective aerobic workout by taking a leisurely 1-hour bike ride or by doing any other activity without utilizing some form of intensity in your workout.
High intensity workouts will burn up to 50% more fat than a low intensity program.
It will also rev up your metabolism and keep it humming along for a while post workout.
To achieve a high intensity routine in 20 minutes I use a graduated step method.
To use a step method here is what you simply do.
Take for instance you are going to go inline-skating.
You would start skating at a comfortable speed that feels very natural to you.
Not too fast and not too slow.
You would continue at this speed for 2 minutes.
Then for minutes 3, 4, and 5 you in one-minute increments increase or step up your speed each of the last 3 minutes of your first 5-minute segment.
Then your return to your starting speed for 2 minutes and continue the step up process again.
Complete the 5-minute segments 4 times and you will have your 20-minute workout finished.