Aerobics vs Anaerobics
This section is for those who have always kept clear of any form of workouts and want to get
general info on what exercising is all about and how it is classified. Also if you are a REAL
beginner and don't get the difference between the kind of workout you get while playing cricket
and while lifting weights in the gym, you've come to the right place.
Basically, workouts can be classified into two general categories : aerobics and anaerobics.
It is of prime importance to understand these two :
-
Aerobics or Cardiorespiratory Training
The dictionary meaning of aerobic is : "the exercises that increase the need for
oxygen". In very simple words, you are doing cardio training when you do some
physical activity of intensity high enough to raise your pulse rate a little above
the normal (not too high to sap your energy quickly) for a given amount of time
without rest. The funda is to maintain a high pulse rate for
a period > 20 minutes (generally). By doing that, you work your
lungs and heart. Your lungs start inhaling/exhaling more air, your heart
starts pumping more blood into your body (lesser risk of stroke) and finally
your fat tissues start breaking up to provide the required energy (you lose fat).
This type of exercises include walking briskly, jogging, cycling, swimming etc.
Also you do aerobics when you play games like football, basketball etc.
They are the most simple to do and require lesser time and techniques.
The benefits are immense. You strengthen your heart, lungs and immune system. You
increase your metabolism thereby and have that pep and jest in your life everyone
longs for. Since you burn lots of calories, you lose fat and become lean and
attractive. Also, it helps significantly in reducing stress. Ofcourse, all this has
nothing to do with building muscles (and you may even end up losing some) , but if
your sole aim is to stay lean and healthy, then it
is one of the best option as it takes only 20-40 minutes 3-6 times a week.
-
Anaerobics or Resistance Training
This is what you go to gym for or generally use weights for.
Here instead of working your lungs and heart, you concentrate on your muscles. The
funda is to make your muscles do more work then they are presently capable of. This
works as a signal to your body to accumulate more muscles so that it may become able
to do that extra work (which it finds hard presently) in the future workouts. But the
muscles are usually strong enough to do any amount of curls etc without feeling the
need for more). So, to put that extra strain, you use weights as resistance (now you
got the meaning of resistance training).
Ofcourse, here your aim is not to increase the
blood flow or anything and since you are going to lift pretty heavy weights, you need
to in bursts, ie, you lift the weight a few times then you rest for some minutes and
then again and so on for each exercise. Factors like how heavy weights you use, how
many repetitions you do and how many sets you do decide the results you get.
Weight training can be further classified into three categories :
-
Bodybuilding : It is basically about gaining muscle mass and definition. This is the most
coomon goal of an average person.
-
Endurance : To increasing stamina and muscle endurance. It requires higher number
of repetitions and lesser number of sets and rests.
-
Weightlifting : It emphasizes on gaining strength with not much stress upon
muscle mass. It requires less repetitions and more sets with more rest in between
the sets.
Here the benefits far exceed those of cardio. You strengthen your muscles and increase
your bone density. You improve your immune system and cognitive functioning. You
carry more muscles and consequently burn far
more calories which makes you more energetic and alert. You gain some real
strength and stamina while having reasonable amount of weight. You have lesser risk of
injury. You gain quality muscles, you body becomes more defined and muscular and then
ofcourse you become more good looking and attractive. You feel much more confident and
have higher self esteem.
If you workout for fitness, then it's a good practice to maintain a good combination of the two
for the best possible results.
