While both aerobic and anaerobic exercise have their place in a well-rounded fitness routine, anaerobic exercise can be more effective for weight loss.

Aerobic exercise is anything where oxygen intake is sufficient enough to provide the fat energy necessary to sustain that exercise without tapping into alternative energy sources. Any lower- to moderate-intensity exercise is considered aerobic. Think about steady-state exercise like walking, running, cycling, or even dancing. You’re not going to be gasping for breath during these workouts, because your body is continuously consuming enough oxygen for you to power through.

Alternatively, anaerobic exercise, which includes high-intensity interval training (HIIT), weight lifting, sprinting, circuit training, and strength training, is any activity that breaks down glucose for energy without using oxygen. Generally, these activities are short in length with high intensity. The idea is that a lot of energy is released within a short period of time.

In a nutshell, the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise comes down to oxygen levels. In aerobic (with oxygen) exercise, your muscles have enough oxygen to produce the energy needed to perform. Anaerobic (without oxygen) exercise, means oxygen demand is greater than the oxygen supply, forcing your body to use the stored glucose as fuel instead.

Although both aerobic and anaerobic exercise have benefits and you should incorporate each into your routine, many scientists agree that anaerobic exercise is the way to go if your primary concern is to shed fat. While it’s commonly thought that this low-intensity cardio is optimal for fat loss, think again. While it does use a higher percentage of fat for energy as opposed to muscle glycogen, the total amount of energy burned at this level is lower than during anaerobic exercise for a given period of time. This means that for most people, extended periods of aerobic exercise are needed to achieve significant fat loss. This often results in a plateau.

In addition, with anaerobic exercise, your metabolism is running at an accelerated rate for a long time after a workout. This means your body is still burning fat hours after you’ve exercised. This is called the "afterburn effect.”

But anaerobic exercise has many more benefits for your health. It can:

• Strengthen bones and joints

• Burn more total calories in a shorter amount of time

• Boost muscle development‌

• Help you keep muscle mass as you age. After age 27, you start to lose about 1% of your muscle mass each year. You can slow this loss by staying active and including anaerobic strength training in your exercise regimen.

• Power development

• Increase metabolism

People may avoid anaerobic training because it is hard. Yet by practicing simple anaerobic exercises, like high-intensity interval training, sprints, and heavy weight training, you can reap the benefits of this powerful workout.

If you’d like to learn more about how to incorporate anaerobic exercises into your workout regimen, click the button below. Our Success Studio personal trainers would be more than happy to help.