Aerobic and anaerobic exercises are both healthy options for men looking to improve their physical fitness. Although they each have particular advantages and disadvantages, each will improve a man’s fitness. A mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercise will maximize your fitness level.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise occurs when the muscles metabolize sugars in the presence of oxygen. It is exercise that occurs at a low or moderate intensity, but for a longer duration than anaerobic exercise. It is important not to exceed a low or moderate intensity because at high intensities the muscles exhaust their oxygen and then the exercise no longer takes place in the presence of oxygen. Examples of aerobic exercise include jogging, walking, cycling and swimming.
Anaerobic Exercise
As the opposite of aerobic exercise, anaerobic exercise occurs when the muscles work to metabolize sugars in the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic exercise is shorter in duration than aerobic exercise, but higher in intensity. The short duration and high intensity exhausts the muscles’ stores of oxygen. Without oxygen present, the muscles release enzymes to break down the sugars and release energy. One side effect of this reaction is lactic acid. In large quantities, lactic acid causes the “burning” sensation you feel when you exercise anaerobically. Examples of anaerobic exercise include lifting weights, calisthenics and sprints.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is preferable to anaerobic exercise when it comes to losing weight, because at low and moderate intensity the muscles call on fat molecules as energy sources. In other words, you are more likely to burn fat while exercising aerobically than you are while exercising anaerobically. Aerobic exercise also improves heart rate, blood pressure, lung capacity and endurance, although anaerobic improves those areas as well. A disadvantage of aerobic exercise is that you will not develop as much muscle mass while exercising aerobically as you will exercising anaerobically.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Anaerobic Exercise
Muscles exercising anaerobically require energy sources that release a lot of energy quickly. Fat molecules do not release energy fast enough for the muscles during anaerobic exercise, so fat molecules are not burned as often during anaerobic exercise as they are during aerobic exercise. Instead, muscles turn to glycogen and other stored forms of energy to get the quick bursts of energy they need during anaerobic exercise. A major advantage of anaerobic exercise is that muscle fibers are broken more often in the high intensity environment of anaerobic exercise. Therefore, muscles are developed much quicker during anaerobic exercise than during aerobic exercise.
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