Cardiovascular Training encompasses two types of exercise:
1. Aerobic Exercise
2. Anaerobic Exercise
In this blog we will be covering Anaerobic Exercise.
Firstly, what is Anaerobic Exercise?
Anaerobic exercise is any activity that breaks down glucose for energy without using oxygen. Generally, these activities are of short length with high intensity. The idea is that a lot of energy is released within a small period of time, and your oxygen demand surpasses the oxygen supply.
H.I.I.T (High Intensity Interval Training) is a typical example of this and has become widely popular as the superior source of exercise when wanting to increase in fitness, burn excess body fat, and push beyond what's comfortable for the body to do in the hope for progression.
Is it good to do? It most certainly is!
Why? Because of the fact that a high level of intensity is required and therefore a high workload is demanded from the individual.
Oxygen is required for the body to be able to use fat for fuel. Since aerobic exercise uses oxygen to produce energy, it can use both fat and glucose for fuel. Anaerobic exercise, on the other hand, can only use glucose for fuel.
Glucose is available in the muscles for quick and short bursts of movement, and can be used when the aerobic system is maxed out for a short period of time.
When you begin to exercise vigorously, there is a temporary shortage of oxygen getting delivered to your working muscles. That means anaerobic exercise must be fueled using glucose through a process called glycolysis.
Glycolysis occurs in muscle cells during high-intensity training without oxygen, producing energy quickly. This process also produces lactic acid, which is the reason why your muscles get so tired after the energy burst.
By engaging in anaerobic exercise regularly, your body will be able to tolerate and eliminate lactic acid more effectively. That means you’ll get tired less quickly and recovery between intervals will be better improved.
Anaerobic Exercise can be suited to people of intermediate to advanced levels of fitness and strength due to the high demand it has on the body. If you have a fat loss goal, doing this style of training will definitely help but you must ensure that you're in a calorie deficit, have adequate sleep every night and N.E.A.T levels are where they should be.
Remember, the 23 hours of your day has a much greater impact on your body composition, recovery, performance and rate of fat loss than the 1 hour workout that you do.
Look out for our post tomorrow on Aerobic Exercise, who it's better suited to and how to incorporate it into your weekly training routine.
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