To develop superior conditioning you must train the anaerobic, anaerobic lactate and aerobic energy pathways... not just one energy pathway at the expense of the others.
There are three energy pathways used to provide energy for activity... one aerobic and two anaerobic.
Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen... and any activity that is performed at a low to moderate intensity for more than 90 seconds, allowing oxygen to release energy through metabolism, is usually called an aerobic activity.
The benefits of aerobic activity are...
Increased Cardiovascular Function Decrease in Body Fat
Well, that sounds pretty good, but the negatives of excessive aerobic training are...
Decreased Muscle Mass Decreased Strength Decreased Power Decreased Speed Decreased Anaerobic Capacity
Anaerobic means in the absence of oxygen... and any activity that is performed at a medium to high intensity for less than 2 minutes, where energy is derived without oxygen, is usually called an Anaerobic activity.
There are two anaerobic energy pathways...
The Anaerobic System (ATP-CP) is where energy is derived from the re-synthesis of Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP) from Creatine/Phosphate (CP) until the stores are depleted... about 5-7 seconds.
The Anaerobic Lactate System (Glycolytic) happens after the (CP) stores have been depleted where the body resorts to the breakdown of glucose for energy.
This results in the production of lactate and hydrogen ions... ultimately leading to fatigue.
The benefits of anaerobic activity are...
Increased Cardiovascular Function Decrease in Body Fat Increased Muscle Mass Improved Strength Improved Power Improved Speed Increased Aerobic Capacity
When I look at the differences between the benefits of Aerobic and Anaerobic Training... I often wonder why the vast majority of Commercial Fitness Programs advocate Aerobic training almost exclusively while completely ignore training the Anaerobic energy pathways.
After all, you will perform how you train!
Are the majority of activities that you perform in sport, work or life long, continuous aerobic activities... or short bursts of medium to high intensity anaerobic activity followed by rest?
I think that it is pretty clear... long, continuous aerobic activity will not prepare you for the majority of activities you perform, and can even decrease performance in certain physical abilities over time.
Short, intense Anaerobic training is the way to go to get the most positive benefits for performance improvement... but remember that it is not exclusive.
You will naturally flow between all three of these energy pathways.
This is very important, you need a solid aerobic base before you can benefit from the more intense anaerobic activities... so you should build up your aerobic base before attempting anaerobic activities.
I know what you are thinking... "I was told that aerobic training was the best way to lose fat."
Well, you will lose fat through aerobic training... but you will also lose hard earned muscle and physical abilities.
That is not something you want to do on your path to over-all fitness excellence.
After all, the reason you should want to reduce unneeded, unwanted fat in the first place is to improve performance... so why reduce fat at the cost of performance improvement?
You will also lose fat through anaerobic energy pathway training... but you will also gain useful muscle and improve physical abilities.
Furthermore, intense activity will keep the metabolism working hours after you stop the activity... and the useful muscle you gain will use resources from food for their maintenance instead of being converted into fat.
Now, that sounds more like it!
As a trainer, I often get this question: don't I need to do long duration aerobic training to burn fat? The answer is (drum roll please) both aerobic (low intensity) training and anaerobic (high intensity) training will do the trick. In fact, if you really want to burn fat, include BOTH in your routine.
Let's look at why:
The word aerobic means in the presence of oxygen. Activities performed at low to moderate intensity for around 90 seconds allow oxygen to be used to generate energy for the muscles. An example of this would be brisk walking, slow running or, for us weight lifting aficionados, very low weight high repetition exercises.
Anaerobic activity is any activity where the body does not use oxygen to generate energy. The body uses different metabolic pathways (which I won't bore you with the specifics here) to react to this activity. Anaerobic activities tend to be short duration, burst of activity things where the body just doesn't have time to circulate oxygen to the muscles (less than 90 seconds). Sprints and very heavy low repetition weight lifting are examples of anaerobic exercises.
The benefits of aerobic activity:
Increased cardiovascular endurance Decreased body fat
The liabilities are:
Decreased muscle mass Decreased speed Decreased power
Here's the rub, when the body uses fat for energy it also breaks down muscle. Since muscle cells burn energy and fat cells store it, you need muscle to use energy that would otherwise be stored as fat!
Now, anaerobic training, the kind where you push yourself hard for short periods of time, uses a different metabolic system to supply the muscles with energy, which trains the body to respond in a different way to exercise.
The benefits of Anaerobic Training are:
Increased Cardiovascular Capacity Increased Cardiovascular Recovery Ability Strength Gains Power Gains Improved Speed Decreased Body Fat
The liabilities:
Increased Risk of Injury in Untrained People Requires a Good Aerobic Foundation
When we look at all of the elements of fitness, which include:
Endurance Strength Flexibility Power Speed Agility Balance
It's easy to see why a combination of aerobic and aerobic training will do the most for your fitness level. And, since both aerobic and anaerobic training burn fat (anaerobic training actually yields the most post workout fat burning), the combining the two in your routine will burn fat and maintain muscle. Not only will you burn fat faster, you will keep the fat off and won't be bored in the process!
Sources: "Aerobic vs Anaerobic, What's the Controversy About?" Eddie Lomax. http://www.boeafitness.com/articles/exerciseandweighttraining/2006_01_10_4010.php International Fitness Professionals Association, "Personal Fitness Training Manual".
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Coachlomax has sinced written about articles on various topics from Aerobics, Gym and Fitness. Coach Lomax is a strength, conditioning and fitness coach dedicated to building better humans for sport, work and life. Learn more at