Anaerobic Vs Aerobic Exercise
Which is better for you – anaerobic or aerobic exercise?
Well, it is actually a bit of a misleading question as all exercise is good for you. The type of exercise you should focus on however really depends on what you want to train for –
Anaerobic – strength, power or speed. 100 meter sprinters and bodybuilders look to train in the anaerobic region.
Aerobic – endurance. Walking, running, swimming and cycling all train in the aerobic zone.
Put simply , anaerobic exercise is when you are training hard enough to trigger anaerobic metabolism. This is a biological process where normal cellular respiration is bypassed and energy is created from converting sugars into cellular energy and lactate.
Muscles trained using anaerobic exercise develop differently to aerobic training leading to improved performance for short duration (eg 2 minutes), high intensity exercises. The benefits are greater strength and speed and this is why it is of interest to body builders.
How Do I Know If I Am In the Anaerobic Zone?
Anaerobic exercise is typically high impact, high intensity exercise lasting just a few minutes. It does have to be high intensity though – a brisk 2 minute walk is still going to be in the aerobic zone. Without getting too technical, the easiest way to tell is your heart rate when compared to your age. Go to any good gym and you will see a heart rate chart on a wall chart somewhere. Lets take an example of a 35 year old male –
At 35, his maximum safe heart rate (100%) is 185 beats per minute.
93 b.p.m. – moderate exercise or 50% exertion. This is the warm up phase.
111 b.p.m. – fitness zone for some fat burn (60% exertion).
130 b.p.m. – aerobic range for cardio training or endurance (70%).
148 b.p.m. – anaerobic zone. This is where the hardcore zone starts (80 to 90%).
167 b.p.m. – VO2 max – this is getting near the maximum heart rate for a 35 year old male.
This is why you hear many people say that you should train at 80%. This is the start of the anaerobic zone with the goal to be staying between the 80% and 90% bands during that exercise. If you want strength, power or speed, this is the target.
If you are looking for creatine or other body building supplements such as testosterone boosters, please check out Stacklabs in our catalogue. And if you are after protein supplements, we would suggest Egg Whites International. Just use the menu on the left to find those two products.
Please share this if you liked it -
Recent Posts -
Background Checks - Pre-Employment Drug Testing
Androgenetic Alopecia - What Causes Hair Loss?
Note - this information is for general education purposes only and is not medical advice. If you suffer from any condition, see your medical professional for an appropriate diagnosis and effective course of treatment.
