Which is better: Aerobic or anaerobic exercises?

If you’re swimming laps, it’s aerobic, but if you’re swimming a competitive 50m race, it becomes anaerobic. — Photos: Filepic

Any physical activity that pushes your muscles to work has been proven beneficial for overall health.

What activity you chose is up to you, but the movements that you enjoy doing are the ones you’ll probably stick to in the long run.

As humans, it’s only natural to avoid anything that causes us discomfort or pain, even if it earns us some rewards later.

Exercise is like that; everyone knows its value, but some continue to give excuses and shy away from sweating.

For some people, past experiences of sport or exercise have caused them to unknowingly associate negative feelings to exercise, which stops them from taking that first step.

Anyway, for those who do exercise, the majority of men prefer strength training, while women lean towards fun, aerobic-type workouts.

If you ask them to switch their workouts (i.e. men to do aerobics and women to lift weights), even for a month, they’ll start dropping out like unripe durians.

Admittedly, I too gravitate towards aerobic-type workouts, although I’ve become diligent in performing strength-training exercises at least two or three times a week.

I try to alternate between using resistance bands, dumbbells and body weight.

Dr Cooper’s influence

The preference for aerobic exercise dates back to a landmark research from the Cooper Centre Longitudinal Study (CCLS) in the 1970s, which played a pivotal role in establishing the effectiveness of aerobics.

The study’s pioneering investigator Dr Ken Cooper invented, or at least popularised, the word with his book Aerobics, spurring desk-bound female baby boomers to take up this form of exercise and become physically fit.

Widely known as the father of aerobics, the American doctor and former US Air Force lieutenant colonel devoted his life to improving the health and well-being of the community.

In his early days of clinical practice, he collected patient data on index cards, which were stored in a shoebox in his clinic.

His goal: To prove that chronic disease and debility can be avoided with healthy living.

This was the start of the CCLS, which now contains more than 2.2 million person-years of observation from more than 116,000 healthy participants.

Meanwhile, resistance training languished among women because they were misguided into believing weightlifting was only for men who aspired to build muscles.

That mindset is slowly changing as we see more women incorporating resistance training into their fitness routines, while a handful of men dot group aerobic classes.

The more we age, the more important strength training becomes.

When you put stress on the joints from movement, it forces your bone-forming cells to work harder, hence the bones become stronger.

Irrespective of preferences, all the movements we do require energy to be created, with or without oxygen.

Let’s explore the terms “aerobic” and “anaerobic”, which describe energy systems, i.e. how cells within the body produce energy.

Spinning classes where exercisers are cycling at the same speed are aerobic in nature.

What is aerobic?

The term aerobic basically means “in the presence of oxygen”.

When you engage in aerobic activity, your breathing controls the amount of oxygen that reaches your muscles to help you burn energy and move.

Any movement that is rhythmic, repetitive and sustained over a period of time falls into this category.

It’s good for building endurance, and improving your cardiovascular and respiratory functions.

This means that over time, your heart and lungs become stronger and more efficient, enabling you to train harder and longer as your fitness levels improve.

Examples of aerobic training include jogging, swimming laps, Zumba, brisk walking, cycling and hiking.

Aerobic training typically aims to achieve 50-80% of your estimated maximum heart rate.

The formula is 220 minus your age, so, if you’re 40 years old, your maximum heart rate should be 180.

What is anaerobic?

The opposite of aerobic, anaerobic means “without oxygen”.

It consists of two energy systems:

• The ATP-CP (anaerobic alactic) system

  This provides immediate energy for an instantaneous burst of physical activity, such as a 100m sprint, the heaviest amount of weight you can lift at one go, or the furthest distance you can throw.

  In short, it’s an all-out effort that takes less than 10 seconds.

• The lactic acid system

  This provides energy for very hard effort, but not necessarily an all-out effort.

  It’s associated with that burning feeling in your muscles due to the build-up of lactate and other metabolites in your muscles.

  You can probably sustain this movement for a minute or two at the most.

  Examples include rapidly doing push-ups, squats or crunches until your muscles give up and you can no longer maintain proper form.

Anaerobic training will result in 80-90% of your estimated maximum heart rate.

Combining both

Sometimes, the same exercise can be adapted to become aerobic and anaerobic – it all depends on the intensity level.

An all-out effort to lift the heaviest weight you can is considered an anaerobic exercise.

Interval training is a good example as the intensity increases and decreases, so it contains both energy systems.

This type of training involves a series of high-intensity workouts, interspersed with rest or break periods.

The high-intensity periods are typically at, or close to, an anaerobic exercise, while the recovery periods involve activity of lower intensity and become aerobic.

Similarly, if you’re jogging at a moderate pace (aerobic) and decide to sprint in the last 30 seconds, the last portion becomes anaerobic.

When you’ve gone all out and there’s no more gas in the tank, you will not be able to continue at the same intensity and your body will automatically drop back to aerobic levels.

Generally speaking, aerobic exercise helps increase endurance, whereas anaerobic exercise helps increase muscle mass and strength.

One is not better than the other, but it’s best to mix up the two when you do your workouts for optimal fitness benefits.

Revathi Murugappan is a certified fitness trainer who tries to battle gravity and continues to dance to express herself artistically and nourish her soul. For more information, email [e-mail]. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.