Aerobic exercise can help you lose weight while anaerobic exercise can help you gain weight. Is it really that absolute?

In the national fitness trend, there are two words that you must be familiar with, whether you understand them or not, that is, aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise.

Some people only understand the word literally, thinking that anaerobic exercise is exercise that consumes less oxygen, and some even think that anaerobic exercise is exercise that is done indoors - after all, there is more oxygen outdoors; some people think that anaerobic exercise is exercise that does not make you sweat much, while aerobic exercise will make you sweat profusely; and some people think that aerobic exercise is responsible for reducing fat, while anaerobic exercise is responsible for building muscle...

So how are these two movement modes defined? And what is the relationship between them?

01

Aerobic and anaerobic do not exist independently

Aerobic exercise refers to those exercises that mainly use aerobic metabolism to provide the energy needed for exercise; anaerobic exercise refers to those exercises that mainly use anaerobic metabolism to provide the energy needed for exercise.

In fact, aerobic energy supply and anaerobic energy supply rarely exist independently, and our body does not have a switch that can instantly switch the energy supply system from one metabolic state to another . It can be said that when we exercise, multiple energy supply systems coexist, but one energy supply method is dominant. Therefore, what we call "aerobic or anaerobic exercise" is also judged based on the main energy supply method.

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So, how do we judge whether the type of exercise we do is aerobic or anaerobic? The most direct way is to look at the characteristics of the form of exercise: aerobic metabolism is characterized by slow and long-lasting. Generally speaking, when we do aerobic exercise, the body's oxygen supply is sufficient and has a certain rhythm and periodicity. For example, common sports such as brisk walking, jogging, and swimming are all aerobic activities.

When the intensity of exercise increases to a certain level and the supply of the aerobic metabolic system cannot keep up with the body's demand for energy, the anaerobic metabolic system becomes the main energy supply system. Generally speaking, anaerobic exercise is characterized by short-term and high-intensity exercise. For example, the recently popular weightlifting in the gym and the sprinting that achieved surprising results at the Tokyo Olympics are both anaerobic exercises.

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02

Both aerobic and anaerobic methods can effectively reduce fat

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. When choosing a way to exercise, many people have a perception that aerobic exercise is an effective way to reduce fat, while anaerobic exercise has little effect on fat reduction. In fact, this view is wrong.

In fact, both aerobic and anaerobic exercise have good effects on fat loss. Fat is originally a reserve of excess energy in our body. Exercise consumes energy, which will naturally consume fat. It’s just that aerobic and anaerobic exercise consume energy in different time periods. Aerobic exercise mainly consumes energy during exercise, so the fat loss effect during exercise will be better than anaerobic exercise; and anaerobic exercise will continue to consume energy after the exercise, which means that anaerobic exercise will continue to reduce excess energy in the body when we are not exercising , and the possibility of converting energy into fat is reduced. Therefore, from the perspective of energy consumption, anaerobic exercise and aerobic exercise actually consume similar amounts of fat.

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03

Build muscle with anaerobic exercise

Can greatly improve fat loss efficiency

In addition to consuming energy and reducing fat reserves, anaerobic exercise also has the benefit of shaping the body. Many people are worried that doing anaerobic exercise will make them have "big and thick legs" or "diamond shoulders", especially some female friends, who even use the treadmill only when they get a gym membership to avoid muscle gain, and do not even go to other equipment areas. This is not only a "wrong worry", but also greatly reduces the efficiency of your fat loss project!

On the one hand, although anaerobic exercise can increase muscle, it takes a lot of effort to achieve the "big body" effect of bodybuilders. The amount of exercise we do by lifting weights in our spare time is far from enough! Especially for female friends, the hormone conditions in their bodies make it difficult for them to form muscles. Moreover, as the muscle content increases, our own basal metabolism will become higher, and the body will consume energy more efficiently, which is more conducive to our fat loss.

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04

30% exercise and 70% diet

The order and timing of exercise are very important

Since both aerobic and anaerobic exercise can achieve the goal of reducing fat, how should we choose? The best way to exercise is to combine aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Specifically, you can follow the sequence of "ten minutes of warm-up before exercise - anaerobic exercise - aerobic exercise - ten minutes of stretching after exercise".

For those who want to lose fat, it is recommended to do 10-20 minutes of anaerobic exercise; for those who want to shape their body, the anaerobic exercise time can be increased to about 30 minutes; and for the elderly, it is recommended to appropriately extend the time of warm-up and stretching exercises. The total duration of each exercise should be controlled at about one hour, preferably not more than one and a half hours.

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Many friends who have achieved little success in losing weight ask, why is there no effect after my exercise? Don't forget the six-word motto of weight loss: "control your mouth and move your legs". In addition to reasonable exercise, you must also control your diet, say goodbye to snacks and supper, stay away from high-sugar and high-fat foods, and ensure a reasonable ratio of meat and vegetables in three meals and balanced energy intake. After strictly doing these, you can successfully achieve the goal of weight loss by adjusting the order and time of exercise.

Author: Wu Dongming, Associate Researcher, National Physical Fitness Research Center, Institute of Sports Science, General Administration of Sports of China

Review | Li Chunlei, Physical Training Coach of the State Sports General Administration

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