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Aerobic and anaerobic exercises have many health benefits. Aerobic exercise, or cardio, helps burn calories and shed fat quickly. Anaerobic exercise, or strength training, helps improve muscle mass, and burn fat. There are many types of aerobic and anaerobic exercises you can do. A mix of both is ideal for achieving a strong, lean, and fit body.
Of course, you must customize the plan depending on your body transformation needs. Continue reading to know the various types of aerobic and anaerobic exercises, how to do them, and how to use them to reach your fitness goals. Scroll down!
What Is The Difference Between Aerobic And Anaerobic Exercises?
These exercises help burn fat with the help of oxygen and carbohydrates to provide your body a steady supply of energy. These exercises are low-intensity and longer duration workouts. Your fitness trainer may recommend this form of exercise if you want to lose weight.
Anaerobic Exercises:
These exercises convert the carbohydrates in your body to energy to help the muscles produce force. It is a high-intensity and low duration workout. During such exercises, lactate build-up in your muscles causes fatigue. Your fitness trainer will recommend it if you are looking to build muscle strength.
Popular Aerobic And Anaerobic Exercises:
Here is a list of the popular aerobic and anaerobic exercises.
1. Interval Training:
Trainers and fitness experts advise adding interval training to your regular cardio workout to expedite your weight loss. Challenge the body to come out of its comfort zone and work harder. You need to push up the pace of your workout for a minute or two and then get back to your regular pace for ten minutes, depending upon your recovery time. Repeat the cycle throughout your workout routine.
2. Walking:
Walking is the simplest form of aerobic exercise. You can vary your pace of walking depending upon your stamina and fitness levels. Since it does not require any particular gadget or equipment, you can simply put on your walking shoes and start your journey to fitness. Walking indoors, outdoors, or on a treadmill provides the same benefit. However, walking outdoors in the early morning is better as you can inhale some fresh air. It is the best option for those who find it hard to perform strenuous exercises due to joint problems, but still want to remain fit.
3. Running Sprints:
Sprinting is a form of anaerobic exercise that is good for the heart and overall health. To get maximum benefit, you need to vary your pace of running after every five to ten minutes. With regular practice, you can increase the duration and pace of running. For best results, you should run for at least 15 to 30 minutes.
4. Lunges:
Lunges provide workout for the lower body muscles. Just like squats, lunges also contribute to improving your balance. To perform lunges keep a straight spine and take a big step forward. Now, bend the front knee at 90 degrees. Balancing your weight on your back toes, slowly lower the back knee, but make sure that it does not touch the floor.
5. Swimming Sprints:
It is a form of anaerobic exercise and is similar to running sprints. First, start swimming at your normal speed. Then slowly increase the pace of swimming and maintain it for a minute. Return to your normal pace and repeat the cycle. Continue swimming like this for half an hour at least.
6. Heavy Weightlifting:
You should include at least a few anaerobic exercises in your daily routine. Heavy weightlifting is one such exercise. However, you should perform it only under the supervision of a certified trainer.
7. Rowing:
Lie down and put your feet forward in the stirrups. Pull your arms backward and stimulate a rowing motion. It is a good workout for your abdomen, leg and arm muscles. Divide the session into a warm up and workout intensely as much your muscles can endure. Keep alternating the cycle.
8. Jumping Rope:
Jumping rope is no more a child’s game. The International Sports Conditioning Association boasts of its aerobic and anaerobic qualities. You can increase or decrease the pace and the duration of jumping to get the advantage of anaerobic respiration. However, jumping rope performed at a normal speed is an aerobic exercise.
9. Isometrics:
It involves only a particular group of muscles. Such exercises do not allow the stretching or lengthening of the muscles as most of the times the muscle does not move at all. Physiotherapists recommend isometric exercises for patients who sustain muscle injury. It is a type of physical therapy involving static exercises. In this form of exercise, an individual has to remain in a stationary position without moving any part of the body. The best example of isometric exercise is to remain in one position holding a weight or pushing a wall.
10. Biking:
When you exercise aerobically like in the case of biking, your body uses the fat and glycogen for fuel. You can carry on this type of moderate exertion for long periods. You can easily turn this exercise into a few sessions of anaerobic exercise by intensifying the speed in between.
So now that you know the various types of aerobic and anaerobic exercises, go on and pick the exercise that suits your fitness needs. Don’t delay your trip from fat to fit anymore!
Aerobic exercises (cardio) are done for a longer duration but are low-intensity workouts. On the other hand, anaerobic exercises are done for a shorter duration but are high-intensity workouts. While the former aids in weight loss by helping shed fat, the latter helps build lean muscle mass through strength training. You can choose either of the two or a combination of both, depending on your transformation needs. Usually, it is recommended to go for a combination of both for a fitter body and overall health. Consult a gym trainer or a physiotherapist to understand the types of aerobic and anaerobic exercises and draft a workout plan that suits you the best and covers all the bases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Zumba aerobic or anaerobic?
Zumba is aerobic exercise as it gives your heart and lungs a continuous workout by increasing the use of oxygen.
Are push-ups aerobic or anaerobic?
Push-ups are anaerobic exercise. They are intense and short in duration and help break down body glucose.
Is yoga aerobic or anaerobic?
Though yoga is considered an anaerobic exercise, some variations like power yoga can fall under the aerobic category.
Are jumping jacks aerobic or anaerobic?
Jumping jacks can be considered aerobic and anaerobic based on how to perform them.
Is dancing an aerobic exercise?
Yes. Dancing raises your heart rate, makes you breathe harder, and makes you sweat.
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Rakesh Rathod is a certified fitness trainer and yoga instructor with more than 20 years of experience in the fitness... more
If you want to increase strength, endurance, burn more calories and improve overall body composition in a short amount of time, consider anaerobic exercises. Anaerobic training isn’t for everyone but if you do, check out the best types of anaerobic exercises (list) with examples of workout routines.
What is Anaerobic Exercise?
The anaerobic exercise is short, done at higher-intensity or your maximum heart rate, and gives you almost the same benefits as other workouts program.
Anaerobic exercises don’t require the body to utilize oxygen as they break down glucose for energy without using oxygen.
Sprinting is a great example of anaerobic exercises. During the sprints, you don’t focus on breathing instead you try to run as fast as possible for a short duration.
Note: Any activity that breaks down glucose for energy without using oxygen is termed as anaerobic exercise.
A complete Anaerobic Exercises List and Types
1. Sprinting
When it comes to anaerobic exercises, spiriting always comes on the top. Sprinting is the best way to boost metabolism and enhance endurance. According to a study, it has several health benefits, such as sprinting:
- Improves and maximizes your VO2 max,
- Regulates blood pressure,
- Lowers blood glucose levels,
- Improves cardiovascular health,
- Increases stamina and endurance,
- Develops body composition.
Example of sprint interval routine
- The span of one sprinting session: 35 Minutes
- Duration of one round of sprinting: 30 seconds
- Total Rounds: 8-10
- Rest between each round: 4 minutes
2. Jumping rope
Jumping rope may be considered as both aerobic and anaerobic activity. It depends on the intensity of your training. And to make jumping rope an anaerobic workout, you should have to perform as fast as possible without focusing on breathing. It involves different muscles of the body at once such as arms, legs, and the core.
Various researches have proven the health benefits of Jumping rope. The benefits include better heart health, lower blood sugar, weight loss, better VO2 max, and much more.
Example of Jumping Rope Routine:
- The span of one session: 30 Minutes
- Duration of one set: 60 seconds (as quick as possible)
- The number of sets: 8-10
- Interval time between sets: 3 minutes
3. Rowing
Rowing is one of the highest calories burning exercises. And if you want to shed extra kilos while building muscles this may help you achieve your goal. It is a full-body workout with both aerobic and anaerobic components.
A study conducted in 2015 by the National Institute of Health had shown that indoor rowing exercise significantly decreases mass and total body fat percent.
Rowing increases upper body strength, especially your back strength as well as improves overall body composition.
Example of Rowing Workout Routine for Anaerobic purpose:
- The timespan of one session: 30 minutes
- One round of Rowing at full intensity: 60 seconds
- Recovery Period between the rounds: 2 minutes
- Total rounds: 10
4. Bicycling
Cycling isn’t only an aerobic exercise but it also has anaerobic components. For example, while cycling at 100 percent of your maximum heart rate, your body breaks down glucose for energy without using oxygen.
Bicycling is a great way to enhance cardiovascular functions and boost metabolism. A study demonstrated that cycling reduces the risk of cancer, increases strength and endurance, reduce weight, as well as increases life expectancy.
Example of Anaerobic Cycling Workout Routine
- Duration of one cycling session: 45-60 minutes
- Timespan of one cycling repetition: 2 minutes
- Recovery period or less intense activity between each rep: 3-5 minutes
- The total number of repetitions: 8-10
5. Heavy Weightlifting Anaerobic Exercises
Weightlifting is also one of the best types of anaerobic exercise that involves a short burst of intense movement.
You might be wondering how is weight training considered an anaerobic exercise, ain’t you? If yes, then let me tell you how weightlifting works.
During weightlifting exercises, your body uses carbohydrates (as an energy source) as well as converts glycogen to produce energy that allows you to perform intense burst weight training. And it does not require oxygen (for energy) like cardio exercises, which is why weightlifting considered an example of anaerobic exercise.
If your aim is to build muscle strength, enhance power, increase muscle mass and burn more calories then weightlifting may be the option for yourself.
Here are some examples of anaerobic weightlifting workouts (perform at your maximum heart rate):
- Deadlifting
- Squatting
- DB and Barbell Rowing
- T-Bar Rowing
- Bench Press
- Shoulder Press and more.
6. Swimming
Like rowing, swimming also has both aerobic and anaerobic components.
During anaerobic swimming, your body is unable to utilize oxygen as an energy source and fails to fulfill the muscles’ demand for oxygen.
The anaerobic type of swimming requires great effort and will only be sustained for two minutes or less.
This type of swimming helps you build your lactic threshold, increase muscle strength, boost metabolism and burn more calories than normal swimming.
You can do short distances anaerobic swimming for the desired timespan.
7. High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT isn’t particularly a workout, it’s a workout program. However, people considered HIIT as a workout and search a lot about it on the internet. In HIIT, you need to do exercises in two different intervals; high-intensity followed by a recovery period.
HIIT is proven to be the best workout program. It has several benefits such as:
- Allows you to burn more calories,
- Help you build muscles while losing fat,
- Increase stamina and boost metabolism,
- Reduce weight (if you decrease calorie consumption)
- Build strength and quickness,
- Improve heart and lung health.
While designing an anaerobic HIIT routine, you should include only those exercises that you can do at your 90-100 percent maximum heart rate, such as running, jumping, squatting etcetera.
8. Plyometric Anaerobic Exercises
As opposed to isometric exercise, Plyometric exercise is fast pace, high-intense, and a great way to enhance both aerobic and anaerobic fitness.
Plyometric exercises are often done at 80 to 100 percent of the maximum heart rate. But for the anaerobic purpose, you can do them as fast as you can.
Although jumping ropes, squats, lunges are also included in plyometric moves (which I’ve already mentioned). Other than these, you can try stairs running at a fast pace and with higher intensity.
Stairs running pushes you to put maximum effort into the short intervals of time. Additionally, it drives you to run against gravity which is quite difficult; but helps you increase strength, power, and endurance.
Here’s how you can run:
- Run as fast as possible for 60 seconds
- Walk slowly and take a rest for 3 to 4 minutes
- And complete 8 to 10 rounds.
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