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A Index
Aerobic Exercise
What is
aerobic exercise? I don't see the term used as often
anymore.
Aerobic
Exercise refers to the intensity of continuous activity that
doesn't exceed the body's ability to bring oxygen to the
working muscle cells. Aerobic exercise is usually considered
complementary to weightlifting or other short-lasted, high
intensity activities, which exceed the body's ability to
bring oxygen to working muscles. Aerobics, which
predominantly uses one of three energy systems (Aerobic
Glycolysis) in the body, steadily uses oxygen to get at the
energy in food to make that energy available for mechanical
motion. The two other energy systems of the body --
Anaerobic Glycolysis and the ATP-PC System use different
biochemical pathways to get energy to the muscles.
Aerobic Dancing was a more popular term in the 1980's. Today
there are many more specialized classes that involve
aerobics, it's just that the health club marketing has
created different names to give the classes more pizzaz and
to emphasize the greater variety of classes that are offered
by fitness professionals today. Different types of these new
programs, such as Body Pump, Body Flow and Ab Blast are
categorized as Group Exercise Programs. Solo activities,
such as running, cycling and swimming are also considered
aerobic.
What
is Anaerobic Threshold?
Anaerobic Threshold (AT) is known as the point during
exertion when blood lactate begins to accumulate to a level
where performance can't be continued. Using running as an
example, if you run as fast as you can there will be an
interval of time that can't be surpassed. Adenosine
TriPhosphate (ATP) is a sort of cash supply of energy that
causes working muscles to contract. The burning of fuels,
especially glucose, generates a supply of ATP either without
oxygen (anaerobically) or with oxygen (aerobically). When
oxygen is available in adequate amount, prolonged
performance can continue, but this is at a level below the
AT. Enough ATP can continuously be re-charged or produced to
keep up with the demand of ATP that is being used up.
Physical conditioning helps performance by raising the AT.
Glycogen is depleted at deeper levels, blood lactate reaches
higher levels and pain tolerance improved. Pushing your body
to a lactate-burdened state is painful. When you hear the
phrase, "No Pain, No Gain," this actually is true when it
comes to improving your power. The phrase has a bad rap
because pain in the shoulder joints should not be ignored,
for example, when doing a bench press.
Interval Training in running improves your body's ability to
tolerate elevated lactate levels. Risks of injury are higher
with running training that is in the anaerobic zone.
Some
experts 1
argue that AT caused merely by blood lactate levels is an
erroneous concept. Variations in lactate, ventilatory rate,
work output, catecholamine (adrenaline) release, respiratory
exchange ratio, and heart rate indicate that the performance
cutoff are influenced more by glycolytic rate rather than
anaerobic conditions that occur when the AT is reached.
Another study
2
concludes that AT is the same as metabolic acidosis
threshold.
1. Wyatt, F. B., Jackson, C. G., & Tran, Z. V. (1997). Metabolic threshold defined by disproportionate increases in physiological parameters: A meta-analytic review. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 29(5), Supplement abstract 1342.
2.Koike A, Weiler-Ravell D, McKenzie DK, Zanconato S, Wasserman K. Evidence that the metabolic acidosis threshold is the anaerobic threshold. J Appl Physiol 1990 Jun;68(6):2521-6.
What's the minimum I can work out?
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) offers these guidelines for cardiovascular fitness:
Three to five days a week for 20 to 60 minutes per session.
Continuous aerobic exercise using large muscle groups such as walking, cycling, running, swimming,
cross-country skiing and aerobic dance.
The intensity of the exercise should reach 60 to 90 percent of maximum heart rate.
These are the ACSM guidelines for strength-training workouts:
Strength train at least twice but no more than three times per week.
Complete eight to 10 exercises that work all the major muscle groups.
Complete at least one set of each exercise.
Complete eight to 12 repetitions within each set while taking the muscles to near exhaustion.
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