Pan Zhanle: Winning gold + breaking competition records = aerobic training! How to distinguish between aerobic and anaerobic training?

Review expert: Peng Guoqiu, deputy chief physician of the Fourth Medical Center of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

On October 26, in the men's 800m freestyle final of the 2024 Swimming World Cup Incheon, Pan Zhanle won the gold medal and broke the tournament record!

Previously, he won the 400m freestyle event in 3 minutes 46.43 seconds, improving his personal best by 6 seconds.

In the post-match interview, he said, "This is a very good experience and a very good aerobic exercise for me. I will continue to work hard next."

Pan Zhanle mentioned "aerobic training" in the interview. Usually, we often hear people say that swimming is a very good aerobic exercise. Since there is "aerobic exercise", there is also "anaerobic exercise". Do you know the difference between them? Which type of exercise is more suitable for you?

Just understanding it literally, anaerobic exercise is an exercise that consumes less oxygen and does not make you sweat much, while aerobic exercise requires a lot of oxygen and makes people sweat profusely; or some people think that aerobic exercise is responsible for fat loss, and anaerobic exercise is responsible for muscle gain... So, is this really the case?

Difference Between Aerobic Exercise and Anaerobic Exercise

In layman's terms, it means that you can keep breathing smoothly throughout the exercise and have sufficient oxygen to participate in energy supply. Aerobic exercise generally lasts for more than 15 minutes, and the exercise intensity is low, such as jogging, swimming, cycling, yoga, Tai Chi, aerobics, etc. The heart rate is generally between 50% and 70% of the maximum heart rate. Although our breathing is slow and rapid during the whole process, we can complete the breathing process smoothly. Anaerobic exercise has a higher intensity and a relatively short duration. During the whole exercise process, there is not enough oxygen in the body, and anaerobic participation is required. The heart rate is generally between 80% and 100% of the maximum heart rate, and it takes a long time to eliminate fatigue. For example, sprinting, weightlifting, muscle strength training, etc., the heart rate is generally between 80% and 100% of the maximum heart rate. For example, when an athlete sprints 100 meters, it takes time for oxygen to be inhaled into the body to generate energy, and the oxygen inhaled at the start of the 100-meter sprint has no time to participate in the energy supply of the sprint process, and the exercise is over. Therefore, athletes have to breathe heavily after the 100-meter race.

Su Bingtian became the first yellow man to run under 10 seconds at the Tokyo Olympics, and the first Chinese to enter the Olympic men's 100m final.

Aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise sound like they have clear boundaries, but in fact, aerobic and anaerobic energy supply rarely exist independently, and often multiple energy supply methods work at the same time. Therefore, the so-called aerobic or anaerobic exercise is only distinguished according to the main energy supply method.

The difference between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise Source: Shanghai Science and Technology Museum

Aerobic fat loss and anaerobic muscle gain?

As the pace of life accelerates and work pressure increases, many people regard "reducing fat and weight" as a task in their lives in order to maintain health and figure, and exercise is the most effective and safe way to achieve this goal. In the process of losing weight, everyone generally believes that "aerobic exercise reduces fat, while anaerobic exercise increases muscle", which may not be so correct.

Both aerobic and anaerobic methods can reduce fat

In fact, both aerobic and anaerobic exercise can achieve the effect of reducing fat. Fat is originally the body's reserve of excess energy. Exercise consumes energy, which also consumes fat. It's just that aerobic and anaerobic exercise consume energy in different time periods.

Aerobic exercise can increase blood flow and oxygen delivery capacity, promote the decomposition and metabolism of body fat, and mainly consume energy to metabolize fat during exercise; while anaerobic exercise can increase muscle content and enhance physical fitness. As muscle content increases, the basal metabolic rate will also increase. Even after the exercise, when you are at rest, the body continues to consume excess energy.

So from the perspective of energy consumption, anaerobic exercise and aerobic exercise actually consume similar amounts of fat.

Aerobic + anaerobic, twice the result with half the effort

In the previous article, we mentioned that it is impossible to completely distinguish between aerobic and anaerobic exercise, so in sports and fitness, we can arrange exercise plans reasonably.

If you want to improve your cardiopulmonary capacity, lose excess fat and prevent osteoporosis, you should focus on aerobic exercise and supplement it with anaerobic exercise; if you want to improve your explosive power and strengthen your muscles, you should focus on anaerobic exercise and supplement it with aerobic exercise. For patients with diabetes, obesity, the elderly, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, high-intensity anaerobic exercise is not suitable, and aerobic exercise is recommended as the main method.