Article written Oct 2005 by Helga Marin
MAXIMAZE YOUR FAT BURNING?
What’s the secret behind success? Why is it that some people can get into shape easily while others struggle endlessly without any significant results? Is the key to great results how you train, what you eat, your mental abilities, your motivation? The answer is all are equally important. The combination is the key to success. There are two main categories of exercising, aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic exercise is any form of endurance training you can sustain for a long period of time. It simply means that your body has access to enough oxygen to produce energy for a long-lasting activity. This includes such exercises as walking, biking, low-impact aerobics swimming, and jogging. Anaerobic exercise is any form of short-lasting, high-intensity training where the body produces energy in the absence of oxygen. This includes sprinting, weightlifting, jumping, and shot put.
How do we know when we are training aerobically and anaerobically?
Our heart rate is higher when we train anaerobically and there is actually a point called the lactate threshold where you shift from training aerobically to anaerobically. To test your lactate threshold simply calculate 65-75% of your maximum heart rate which is for an average man 220-Age or the average woman 227-Age. This will tell you when you shift from aerobic to anaerobic training.
So is it aerobic or the anaerobic training that will help you lose weight? That answer is not so simple. Most fitness experts would say that you should train aerobically to maximize your fat burning as your body cannot burn fat in the absence of oxygen. As the intensity of the training increases there is less oxygen available to do so. In other words, when you train aerobically you are in your fat burning zone. But it is a bit more complex than that. Look at a marathon runner who trains mostly aerobically and a bodybuilder who trains mostly anaerobically. Both are lean, but have very different body types. So what does it mean? It means that if you want to maximize your fat burning you need to do both aerobic and anaerobic and here’s why:
When you train aerobically you burn more fat during the session and your basic metabolic rate (BMR) is elevated for 24 hours after your workout. When you train anaerobically you burn mostly sugar during your workout but after the workout you burn more fat than training aerobically. This happens because muscles are metabolically active so by increasing your muscle mass through anaerobic training, you will burn more fat and more kcal at rest and your BMR stays elevated up to 48 hours after your workout, allowing you to burn more fat after the fact.
The key to success is the combination of anaerobic and aerobic training. If you want to burn the maximum amount of fat, I suggest weight training 2-3x a week and cardiovascular training 3-5x a week, not to exceed one hour per session. This creates the optimal breakdown of 80% aerobic and 20% anaerobic. If you only have 10-15 minutes to exercise, I recommend anaerobic over aerobic training as you burn more kcal/min and burn more fat after the workout. Remember, an anaerobic cardiovascular training is much more challenging than aerobic training and is not recommended for beginners or people who suffer from injuries.
Benefits of Aerobic Training
- You burn more fat doing aerobic than anaerobic training.
- You can last longer. You can train for a longer time and in that sense burn more kcal
- It is easier to train light than heavy, especially for beginners.
- Minimum risk of injury. Training at a high intensity, you run higher risk of injuring yourself, especially if you are a beginner.
- You recover faster after your workout and therefore you can exercise more frequently.
Benefits of Anaerobic Training
- You burn more kcal/min training anaerobically than aerobically.
- The more intense the training, the longer the recovery time which means that your total kcal output after the workout is greater than when you train aerobically.
- Anaerobic training involves building up your strength and your muscle mass and as muscles are metabolically active you can improve your BMR by increasing your muscle mass.
- Doing anaerobic will improve your lactate threshold. Your lactate threshold determines at what intensity you can burn fat. By improving your lactate threshold you can actually burn fat at a higher intensity and thereby burn more kcal and fat during your workout.
- Anaerobic training improves your stamina dramatically.
Benefits of Weight Training
- You can change your shape with weight training. If you are pear shaped, you can make your shoulders and back wider to even out your body, and if you have skinny legs you can work on increasing the size of your legs while toning the upper body.
- You increase your muscle mass and in that way you improve your BMR. Women are not genetically capable of growing large muscles so they shouldn’t worry about turning into Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- You are less prone to injuries if your body is strong.
- You are less likely to suffer from any of the common aches and pains, like shoulder stiffness, backache etc.