For the past few weeks I have been hearing my Crossfit coach mention the terms Aerobic and Anaerobic quite a bit in reference to running.  I’ve heard of the word Aerobic before, but it usually just conjured up images of women and sometimes men bouncing around a room to upbeat music.  And the word Anaerobic meant nothing to me.  So I decided it was time for me to understand what these words really meant and why they would be important.

It turns out that these terms are two different yet highly important aspects of exercise.  I have been getting tons of Aerobic exercise over the years but my Anaerobic has been non-existent.  Since starting marathon training and Crossfit I have been adding Anaerobic exercise to my life and I am already beginning to see the benefits of having both types of activity present in my life.

You might still be wondering what both of these are.  Let me explain…

Aerobic

Aerobic exercise is physical exercise that intends to improve the oxygen system.  Aerobic means “with oxygen”, and refers to the use of oxygen in the body’s metabolic or energy-generating process. Many types of exercises are aerobic, and by definition are performed at moderate levels of intensity for extended periods of time. Examples of aerobic activity include: distance running, cycling, walking, inline skating, single person tennis.

Benefits of Aerobic Exercise:

• Strengthening the muscles involved in respiration, to facilitate the flow of air in and out of the lungs
• Strengthening and enlarging the heart muscle, to improve it’s pumping efficiency and reduce the resting heart rate
• Strengthening muscles throughout the body
• Improving circulation efficiency and reducing blood pressure
• Increasing the total number of red blood cells in the body, facilitating transport of oxygen
• Improved mental health, including reducing stress and lowering the incidence of depression
• Reducing the risk for diabetes
• High impact aerobic exercise (such as jogging or jumping rope) can stimulate bone growth, therefore reducing the risk of osteoporosis for both men and women

Performance benefits of Aerobic exercise:

• Increased storage of energy molecules such as fats and carbohydrates within the muscles, allowing for increased endurance
• Increasing speed at which aerobic metabolism is activated within muscles, allowing a greater portion of energy for intense exercise to be generated aerobically
• Improving the ability of muscles to use fats during exercise, preserving intramuscular glycogen
• Enhancing the speed at which muscles recover from high intensity exercise

Aerobic exercise alone does not provide a completely balanced exercise program so that is why it is important to combine aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

Anaerobic

Anaerobic exercise is physical activity that goes “without air” or “without oxygen.” Anaerobic exercise is short-lasting, high-intensity activity, where your body’s demand for oxygen exceeds the oxygen supply available. Anaerobic exercise relies on energy sources that are stored in the muscles and, unlike aerobic exercise, is not dependent on oxygen from (breathing) the air. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength, speed and power and by body builders to build muscle mass. Muscles trained using anaerobic exercise develop differently compared to aerobic exercise, leading to greater performance in short duration, high intensity activities, which last from mere seconds up to about 2 minutes. Examples of anaerobic exercise include: heavy weight-lifting, all types of sprints (running, biking, etc.), jumping rope, hill climbing, interval training, isometrics, or any rapid burst of hard exercise.

Benefits of Anaerobic Exercise:

• Develop stronger muscles
• Improve your VO2 max (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus improve your cardio-respiratory fitness
• Increase your capacity to withstand the buildup of waste substances (such as lactic acid) and remove them from the body. This means your endurance and ability to fight fatigue will improve.

Anaerobic exercise burns fewer calories than does aerobic exercise and may be somewhat less beneficial for cardiovascular fitness. However, it is better at building strength and muscle mass and still benefits the heart and lungs. In the long run, increased muscle mass helps you become leaner and manage your weight, because muscle uses large amounts of calories.

How Does Anaerobic Exercise Work?
When you begin to work out vigorously, there is a temporary shortage of oxygen being delivered to the working muscles. Lactic acid is a by-product of producing energy anaerobically. When lactic acid accumulates at high levels in the blood, it causes muscular fatigue, which is why heavy or intense activity makes you tired quickly and can’t last as long as aerobic activity.

But with training, the body becomes better equipped to handle lactic acid. Several efficient changes occur that result in decreased production of lactic acid and increased removal of it from the bloodstream. The body also produces “buffers” that delay the onset of fatigue during anaerobic exercise. Studies have shown that with anaerobic training, the muscle’s buffering capacity is increased by 12% to 50%. With this increased buffering capacity, more lactic acid can accumulate during high intensity exercise without causing fatigue. Anaerobic exercise is what helps train distance runners, swimmers and cyclist to go long distances at a fast pace.

When and how to add Anaerobic training to your exercise:

Anaerobic exercise will benefit everyone, but is not recommended for those new to exercising. Anaerobic interval training is primarily reserved for those who are very fit and desire to increase speed, lactate threshold, and overall aerobic power. Such training usually results in greater lactic acid concentrations in exercising muscles and is accompanied by greater muscular discomfort. I would recommend that you become comfortable and capable of exercising aerobically before introducing anaerobic activity.  In time, you can either seek out advice from a personal trainer or coach or add various exercises to your program, such as sprinting, weight lifting, or intervals.

A few cautions to consider with Anaerobic exercise:

• If you are new to exercise, do not immediately start with high intensity activity like anaerobic exercise. Beginners should start with lower-intensity aerobic exercise for several weeks to build a base level of fitness.
• Always check with your doctor before adding anaerobic exercise to your fitness program.
• Anaerobic exercise is not recommended if you are pregnant.
• Always warm up before starting any anaerobic exercise, and cool down for 5-10 minutes after your workout session.

After researching and literally adding anaerobic activity to my already existing running, I now see the benefits of both types of activity.  The anaerobic training I’m doing, such as weight lifting, intervals, and tempo runs, are incredibly difficult compared to just running a lot of miles, but I can see the progress.  I’m getting stronger, my muscles are leaner and best of all I’m able to go faster for a longer period of time – this is huge for me!  I’m really glad that I added this type of training to my life and I know that you too will benefit from it.

I’d love to hear about the kind of Aerobic and Anaerobic exercise you do!!!

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