What are aerobic and anaerobic exercises?

Unless you are a fitness expert, you may not know the differences between aerobic and anaerobic exercises. In simple terms, you can breathe easily during aerobic exercise while breathing is harder during anaerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercise is low to moderate intensity exercises that can be sustained for longer periods of time. Therefore, you should be able to breathe comfortably and talk without feeling the need to catch your breath. Jogging at a comfortable pace, biking, hiking and swimming are some examples. Additionally, aerobic exercise is great for burning fat, strengthening both your heart and lungs and reducing the risk of disease.

Anaerobic exercise is high intensity training that gets your heart pumping and increases your breath rate, which is much more taxing on the body requiring recovery between sessions. Sometimes referred to as interval training or high intensity interval training, anaerobic exercises are done in short bursts. These exercises include weights, jumping jacks and sprints. These exercises are great for burning a lot of calories in a short amount of time.

Both types of exercise are beneficial to a balanced program to help you lose weight and stay fit. While aerobic exercise burns fat during your workout, anaerobic exercise burns more calories overall because the more intense the exercise, the more oxygen your body consumes after your workout. This process is also known as "after burn."

If you are new to exercising, begin with aerobic exercise. You will want to build up your fitness levels before introducing anaerobic intervals into your workout. If you have not worked out for some time, it would be best to start slow and work your way up.

Start with 10 to 15 minutes of aerobic exercise two days a week until you can comfortably increase it to 30-minute sessions. Then, increase your exercise routine to four times per week. Once you have built up your endurance, you can start introducing intervals into your workouts.

Consider signing up for a Club and working with a trainer to determine a custom blend of aerobic and anaerobic exercises that are right for you.

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