Aerobic Vs Anaerobic And Their Impacts On Metabolism
Before we get into the bulk of this article we first need to understand what Aerobic and Anaerobic mean and what exercises fit into each of them.
Aerobic (With Oxygen) - Aerobic exercise requires the body to take O2 from the atmosphere, into the lungs, transfer it into the blood, and then pump it to the working muscles, where it is utilized to oxidize carbohydrates and fats in order to produce energy. This energy pathway is often termed the oxidative (oxygen) system. It involves several body systems, including the respiratory, cardiovascular, muscular, and endocrine systems.
Type Of Aerobic Exercises - Jogging, Walking, Cycling, anything done at a low intensity for an extended period of time.
Anaerobic (Without Oxygen) - Exercise in which oxygen is used up more quickly than the body is able to replenish it inside the working muscle. As a result, muscle fibers have to derive their contractile energy from stored substrates like Glygogen (stored carbohydrates), ATP (Adenosine Tri-Phosphate), and CP (Creatine Phosphate).
Type of Anaerobic Exercises - Sprinting, Weight lifting, HIIT Training
Now that we have that covered and are clear on both, we can take a look at how they impact our metabolisms. If you've been in the workout world for a decent amount of time, chances are you already are aware of the fact that performing exercise on a regular basis is going to have an impact on not only your body weight, but on the actual metabolic rate you experience, which is what helps to control your bodyweight by regulating the amount of calories you burn each day.
First up is Aerobic exercise, this would describe a situation in which you went over to the cardio machines (or performed such a session outside) and completed forty to sixty minutes of continuous work at a steady, at low to moderate intensity. This is normally the type of exercise that most people start out with when just getting going on an exercise program as it's least demanding on the body and something they can easily understand how to do. Now, this type of exercise will burn a decent amount of calories while doing it (provided there is some degree of intensity), but, it's not going to do a lot in terms of boosting the metabolic rate afterwards. You might see an extra calorie burn of about 20-50 calories in the few hours after the session, but this will be highly dependent on how long you exercised for and the intensity you used.
The next type of exercise to consider is anaerobic exercise. In this case, you're now doing training where you will be working at a very high intensity for a short period of time, followed by brief rest intervals. Since the body cannot continue with these types of intensity over the long term, the sessions typically last between twenty and forty minutes, depending on how long the rest to work ratio's are. This type of training, particularly when done as running sprints or weight lifting for example, will boost the metabolism a good deal more than the Aerobic paced training described above. So now, you're not only burning the calories while you are doing the session, you will continue to burn calories for up to 48hrs due to the fact that the body is going to consume a good number of calories after the session to recover (EPOC, will discuss next week), plus you will be burning more calories at rest later on. So its a triple whammy for burning calories. Because of this, these types of sessions in my opinion are far more productive as far as weight loss or weight maintenance is concerned, which is why I and many trainers favor them.
So in conclusion, if you're looking to optimize your metabolism, be sure you do keep these points in mind. Exercise is definitely a good way to combat weight gain over the long run, so understanding the differences between Aerobic and Anerobic and how they affect our Metabolisms is key!!
If you have been thinking of starting your own weight loss journey contact me and let's get started today!!
*******CURRENT TRAINING SPECIAL, 3 SESSIONS FOR $99.00*******
*******CURRENT TRAINING SPECIAL, 3 SESSIONS FOR $99.00*******
Stay Healhty!!
