Anaerobic Training vs. Aerobic Training: Round 1

What is the difference, you might ask?

Aerobic exercise is steady state activity in which you maintain a consistent heart rate throughout and can carry on a conversation. This resembles going out for a jog in the neighborhood or the tempo that is exhibited while using the machine below.

On the other hand, anaerobic training is interval-based exercise in which you work hard for a short period of time, creating an elevated heart rate, and then recover to allow your heart rate to come down. The activity performed in the video below would be an example of anaerobic exercise.

The benefits of anaerobic training apply to those who fitness train to cut body fat and to athletes who are preparing for their sport.

First, those training for fitness . . . 1 simple question. Would you rather have a body like a sprinter or a marathon runner? I can’t speak for everyone but I believe most would choose to have the cut, lean muscle look of a sprinter versus the thin but undefined look of a marathon runner.

Do you want to know why most people in the gym choose aerobic over anaerobic? First of all, it’s easier. And, second of all, people justify aerobic activity by arguing that they are exercising in the “fat-burning zone”. This is based on physiology that tells us that the body will use more fat for energy during steady, low-intensity exercise instead of high-intensity, anaerobic exercise which relies on carbohydrates for energy.

Those facts of physiology cannot be disputed, but their application toward exercise and fat loss can be exposed because they do not take into account the EPOC factor. “Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption” is the key to burning fat efficiently and effectively in a fraction of the time. Most believe that the only calories that matter are the ones you burn during a workout when you’re breathing hard and consuming more oxygen than normal. Consequently, exercisers choose steady cycling or jogging to lose fat. What you have to consider, though, is that there is another way to consume oxygen and burn more calories. If you exercise really hard, even for a short period of time, your body will continue burning calories after your workout is completed, even up to 24-48 hours later! Not a bad concept, huh?

The part of EPOC that many will have a problem with is that it is more subjective than the aerobic model where you see the calories accumulate on your cardio machine. You can define your results much easier since your body begins burning calories when aerobic activity begins and stops burning them when it stops. On the other hand, you can’t predict how much EPOC a workout will produce for an individual exerciser, but you can rest assured that the more intense your workout is, the more EPOC it will deliver.

The most objective research I can provide you regarding EPOC dates back to a journal called Metabolism, which showed that high intensity exercise burned significantly more body fat than aerobic, endurance exercise. The researchers weren’t concerned with the number of calories burned during exercise or whether or not they came from fats or carbohydrates. The focus was on actual fat loss, which is what most people desire. Their findings: For every calorie you burn during high intensity (anaerobic) exercise, you strip off nine times more fat than a calorie burned during aerobic exercise!!!

The best analogy I’ve heard regarding this concept concerns driving a nail into a wall. Anaerobic exercise is like using a nail gun while aerobic exercise is like hammering the nail in with a screwdriver. You’ll eventually get the nail in but it’s going to take so much longer.

So, if you value your time, want results and aren’t afraid to work hard for short periods of time, then anaerobic training is the way to go.

Next time I’ll make the case for athletes utilizing nothing but anaerobic conditioning while preparing for their sport.

Your Coach,

Brian Utley