anaerobic and aerobic
- Thread starter HomeGroen
- Start date
To put it in very simple terms, if you want to nail down the essential difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercises, then think of only one word – oxygen.
Aerobic…………. oxygen is required
Anaerobic……….. oxygen is not required
But if you are on posting this forum, that explanation alone doesn’t help you much. What you want to know is. …..what does aerobic and anaerobic mean in the context of exercise ? To better answer, assume you want to exercise on a treadmill. Now your question should be – how do I know if I’m exercising “aerobically “ versus “ anaerobically “ on the treadmill ?
How the heck do I know if I’m exercising “aerobically “ ?
Read enough threads and posts on this forum and the first answer you’ll get will likely will mention something about ‘ heart-rate ‘ –i.e if you are exercising “aerobically “ your heart rate is at a certain level or within a certain range ( I’ll get to heart rates a bit more later on ). That’s fine if you run with a heart-rate monitor. But reality is – most of us gym rats don’t use a heart-rate monitors. If we want to check our heart-rate we simply check our own pulse. Again, that’s fine, but a little tough to do while your jogging.
Breathing: An easier approach is to monitor you’re breathing on the treadmill. When you are training “aerobically “ you should be breathing deeply, but not gasping for air – i.e oxygen. You may see this level of exertion sometimes referred to as the ‘’ talk test “. What the “ talk test “ means is that, to ensure you are training “aerobically “, you should be able to talk a little but while exercising. For example, a little bit of talking means you talk more in halted manner that you would in a normal casual conversation – i.e you could give your name, the names of your brothers, sisters, relatives. In other words, it may not be the same as normal conversation but you can stil talk without gasping, heaving, puffing, wheezing and groaning. If you are hanging on for dear life and can’t even put the first 2 or 3 words together in a sentence because you’re gasping for air, then you aren’t training “aerobically “ anymore – you’re training “ anaerobically “ .
Heart rate: There is a formula out there that tells you what your maximum heart rate ( MHR ) should be for people exercising. The formula is ; 220 minus your age = maximum heart rate. Generally speaking, when you are deemed to be training “aerobically “, your heart rate may be anywhere from 65% of MHR to 80% of MHR. This is all based on the fact that your muscles need oxygen to work. The more you work your muscles, the more oxygen they need. And the more oxygen they need, the more your heart rate goes up. You are training “aerobically “ when you work hard, but so hard that your blood and heart can’t keep up with the demand of delivering the oxygen that your muscles need. That is what this .65- .80 range is supposed to represent – the range in which your muscles can get enough of the oxygen they need from your heart and blood.. Trouble is, when you work your muscles too hard, you’re gasping for every breath, your heart and blood can’t deliver the oxygen you muscles need. When your muscles don’t get the oxygen they need in this sort of situation, they have to work without oxygen – or we say they the muscles are working anaerobically In this case, where you are working too hard and not getting enough oxygen, your heart rate would likely be in the 80% MHR – 95%+ MHR
Which sort of exercises are " aerobic " ?
Some examples are...
- swimming
- stationary / outboor bike
- jogging / running
- rowing
- jumping rope
- stair climbing
- eliptical
Which sort of exercises are " anaerobic " ?
Some examples are...
- football
- basketball
- racquet sports
- weight training
- sprinting
Aerobic…………. oxygen is required
Anaerobic……….. oxygen is not required
But if you are on posting this forum, that explanation alone doesn’t help you much. What you want to know is. …..what does aerobic and anaerobic mean in the context of exercise ? To better answer, assume you want to exercise on a treadmill. Now your question should be – how do I know if I’m exercising “aerobically “ versus “ anaerobically “ on the treadmill ?
How the heck do I know if I’m exercising “aerobically “ ?
Read enough threads and posts on this forum and the first answer you’ll get will likely will mention something about ‘ heart-rate ‘ –i.e if you are exercising “aerobically “ your heart rate is at a certain level or within a certain range ( I’ll get to heart rates a bit more later on ). That’s fine if you run with a heart-rate monitor. But reality is – most of us gym rats don’t use a heart-rate monitors. If we want to check our heart-rate we simply check our own pulse. Again, that’s fine, but a little tough to do while your jogging.
Breathing: An easier approach is to monitor you’re breathing on the treadmill. When you are training “aerobically “ you should be breathing deeply, but not gasping for air – i.e oxygen. You may see this level of exertion sometimes referred to as the ‘’ talk test “. What the “ talk test “ means is that, to ensure you are training “aerobically “, you should be able to talk a little but while exercising. For example, a little bit of talking means you talk more in halted manner that you would in a normal casual conversation – i.e you could give your name, the names of your brothers, sisters, relatives. In other words, it may not be the same as normal conversation but you can stil talk without gasping, heaving, puffing, wheezing and groaning. If you are hanging on for dear life and can’t even put the first 2 or 3 words together in a sentence because you’re gasping for air, then you aren’t training “aerobically “ anymore – you’re training “ anaerobically “ .
Heart rate: There is a formula out there that tells you what your maximum heart rate ( MHR ) should be for people exercising. The formula is ; 220 minus your age = maximum heart rate. Generally speaking, when you are deemed to be training “aerobically “, your heart rate may be anywhere from 65% of MHR to 80% of MHR. This is all based on the fact that your muscles need oxygen to work. The more you work your muscles, the more oxygen they need. And the more oxygen they need, the more your heart rate goes up. You are training “aerobically “ when you work hard, but so hard that your blood and heart can’t keep up with the demand of delivering the oxygen that your muscles need. That is what this .65- .80 range is supposed to represent – the range in which your muscles can get enough of the oxygen they need from your heart and blood.. Trouble is, when you work your muscles too hard, you’re gasping for every breath, your heart and blood can’t deliver the oxygen you muscles need. When your muscles don’t get the oxygen they need in this sort of situation, they have to work without oxygen – or we say they the muscles are working anaerobically In this case, where you are working too hard and not getting enough oxygen, your heart rate would likely be in the 80% MHR – 95%+ MHR
Which sort of exercises are " aerobic " ?
Some examples are...
- swimming
- stationary / outboor bike
- jogging / running
- rowing
- jumping rope
- stair climbing
- eliptical
Which sort of exercises are " anaerobic " ?
Some examples are...
- football
- basketball
- racquet sports
- weight training
- sprinting