Sunday 7.17.11

 I found this article on Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Fat Burning. It briefly explains how they both burn fat/calories. It also goes into what fat they each burn. The article also touches on a few examples of aerobic and anaerobic activities. What it does not get into is why intensity is so important in workouts and why The Compound pushes intensity so much. Once you have read the article I will touch on this and if you post your questions I will be happy to answer them.


“Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Fat Burning”
Overview
Depending on how you define it, maximum fat burning might not be your best bet for a weight-loss program. Aerobic and anaerobic exercise burn different percentages of calories, but also different amounts. Sound confusing? Activities that burn a higher percentage of calories from fat burn fewer calories overall, and fewer total fat calories. High-intensity exercise burns more glycogen than fat, but more total fat calories than so-called "fat-burning" workouts.

Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise occurs at an estimated 70 percent to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. It's generally a steady-state activity that occurs for 12 minutes or longer, burning more calories from fat than glycogen. The body uses more slow-twitch muscle fibers, and muscles begin to produce higher amounts of lactic acid -- one of the reasons why you might get cramps.

Doug doing his aerobic 12oz curls....It's all about the functional fitness!

Anaerobic Exercise

Anaerobic exercise occurs at an estimated 80 percent to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. It's generally a high-intensity activity that occurs in short bursts of less than two minutes long -- often in team sports -- burning calories mostly from glycogen. The body uses more fast-twitch muscle fibers. Muscles repeatedly recover by replenishing stores of adenosine tri-phosphate and creatine phosphate, which fuel muscle movements, and removing lactic acid between points, plays or other breaks in the action.

Fat Burning
So-called "fat-burning" workouts refer to lower-intensity exercises, such as walking, done below your aerobic threshold. They are called "fat-burning" workouts because most of the calories you burn come from fat. As you raise the intensity of your exercise, you begin to burn more calories. Even though you begin to burn a lower percentage of calories from fat, you burn more total fat calories, so aerobic and anaerobic workouts actually are better for burning fat than "fat-burning" workouts. Anaerobic workouts create a longer post-workout calorie burn than other types of workouts, making them an even better way to burn calories.

Types of Exercises
Anaerobic workouts include activities such as weightlifting, tennis, sprinting, soccer, volleyball, football, basketball and racquetball. Different sports call on different levels of your anaerobic energy system, but they follow the same pattern of start-and-stop bursts of high-intensity movements.

Aerobic workouts includes such activities as jogging, swimming, cycling and using exercise machines such as ellipticals, treadmills, rowing machines and stationary bikes.

As an example of the calorie-burning differences among fat-burning, aerobic and anaerobic exercise, the Mayo Clinic estimates that one hour of walking at 2 mph, performed by a 160 lb. person burns 183 calories per hour; high-impact aerobics burns 511 calories; and one hour of tennis singles, an anaerobic activity, burns 584 calories.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/431402-aerobic-vs-anaerobic-fat-burning/#ixzz1SJ5DZGse

After reading the article you should have a little better understanding of what kind of fat/calories aerobic and anaerobic activities burn. You should also understand that anaerobic exercise is exercise that needs a high energy output or high intensity output. The article states, and so does The Compound, Anaerobic workouts create a longer post-workout calorie burn than other types of workouts, making them an even better way to burn calories. That is because the high intensity causes us to use the most glycogen, which is our sugar reserves, and sugar is what our body converts to fat and stores. So with that said, you can grasp the fact that if you want to get a smaller waist, “tone up,” look better naked, or have better performance over all it really boils down to how high our intensity level and how long we keep that intensity level going for. The harder you push yourself during the workouts the longer your body is going to burning those calories of fat to rebuild it and keep you fueled throughout the workout and the day. This is the Metabolic Conditioning we are looking for.


If you have any questions or don’t understand anything hit me up on the blog and I will be happy to answer! -KSG