What are the Anaerobic Exercises?
Anaerobic exercises are anaerobic metabolism that supplies energy without using oxygen and is a movement that requires a strong instantaneous force. The opposite of “Anaerobic Exercise” is “Aerobic Exercise” which uses oxygen to supply energy. However, the distinction between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise is relative.
Anaerobic metabolism and aerobic metabolism occur simultaneously in most exercises unless extreme strength training or sprinting. The two exercises are distinguished according to which of the two metabolisms occurs more during the exercise process. Of course, even with the same intensity of exercise, what kind of metabolism occurs a lot depends on individual characteristics and training status.
Background Theory of Anaerobic Activity:
When humans move muscles, the chemical used as an energy source is ATP (adenosine triphosphate). A small amount of ATP is always stored inside the cell, but the stored ATP is only an amount that can be used for a very short time (maximum less than 1 minute). Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats must be converted into ATP.
To make ATP in the human body, ingested carbohydrates and fats must first be broken down. Fats are more complex and take time to break down than carbohydrates. For this reason, a glucose sap that can be used as an energy source immediately after absorption is placed on the exhausted person in the emergency room. When supplied with glucose, cells break down glucose to produce new ATP. This decomposition process is divided into two main parts.
Decomposition method that does not use oxygen:
- Where to use: Fast muscle (short-time high-intensity exercise that requires instantaneous power)
- Ingredients: Carbohydrates stored in muscles and liver
- Decomposition time: short
- Energy Efficiency: Low
- Wastes after decomposition: lactic acid, etc. (remains in muscles and causes fatigue)
Decomposition using oxygen:
- Main use: Slow muscle (long-term, low-intensity exercise that requires endurance)
- Raw material: fat stored in adipocytes
- Decomposition time: long
- Energy Efficiency: High
- Wastes after decomposition: water, carbon dioxide (excreted through respiration)
Anaerobic exercise is an exercise method that mainly uses lactic acid fermentation, the first method mentioned above. It is called anaerobic because it does not require oxygen in the process of ATP production. Conversely, aerobic exercise is called aerobic because it requires oxygen. For reference, 100% complete anaerobic exercise or aerobic exercise does not exist, so all exercise uses glycogen (carbohydrates) and fat together. However, the ratio is different.
Purpose of Anaerobic Training:
- Increasing muscle size: bodybuilding
- Increase in strength: strength training
- Restoring bodily functions: rehabilitation exercises
Examples of Anaerobic exercise:
Push-ups
It is representative of anaerobic exercise and can be done anywhere.
The developed muscles often change depending on how wide the hands are spread out.
Sit-up
The second is one of the representative exercises for building abdominal muscles, and as it is an exercise that can be easily performed anywhere, it is a sit-up that many people have probably done at least once.
However, if you do not keep the correct posture, it can put a strain on your back, so be careful.
Squat
The third is the squat toe anaerobic exercise that everyone who works out for the fortress knows! It can make the line leading to the waist pretty and is effective in removing fat from the lower body, so the percentage of women in the anaerobic exercise type is quite high!
Squats can also affect your knees, so it’s better to correct your posture and reduce the strain while maintaining the amount of exercise that’s right for you.
Weight Training
The fourth is weight training that many people do when they come to the gym! It is an anaerobic exercise or activity. Using bars or dumbbells, you can think of it as a process of promoting muscle development in each part and increasing muscle strength!
If you are new to weight training, we recommend that you learn how to exercise freely. Because it requires a proper workout plan, you should learn to exercise with the help of a professional trainer, because it is difficult, and ignorant of posture and exercise methods may cause injuries.
These are some examples of anaerobic activity.
Benefits of anaerobic exercise:
1. Anaerobic exercise strengthens muscle strength.
Anaerobic exercise overworks the muscles to their limits and develops them. The next time you do the same exercise, you strengthen yourself so that you can do it more easily, which is equivalent to strengthening the muscle density and cross-sectional area of the muscle fibers. When the muscle is strengthened in this way, the strength is also strengthened in direct proportion to it.
2. Anaerobic training strengthens bones.
Anaerobic training strengthens the skeletal structure by applying loads and pressure to the bone, making the calcium structure of the outer part of the bone thicker.
Bone strength is strengthened by increasing calcium density under pressure to adapt to the environment. This increase in bone density is effective in preventing osteoporosis.
3. Anaerobic activities strengthen the joints.
When the muscles surrounding the joint are weakened and there is not enough space between the bones, the bones come into direct contact with each other. This will cause various joint-related diseases.
Anaerobic exercise, which has the advantage of strengthening the muscles, also strengthens the muscles around the joints, which is also effective in preventing arthritis.
4. Anaerobic exercises increase metabolic rate.
In the case of the same body weight, those who moderate anaerobic exercise have a slightly higher basal metabolic rate than those who do not exercise, and there is a big difference in active metabolism. As muscle mass increases, this difference increases. Even if two people exercise at the same level of difficulty, the person with muscle burns more calories. As such, anaerobic exercise has the effect of promoting energy circulation in our body.
In other words, as the muscle mass increases, the metabolic rate itself increases, so even if you consume the same amount of calories, your body will not gain weight relatively well. It means that a person who diets with appropriate anaerobic exercise in parallel can have relatively successful to a person who dieted only with aerobic exercise.
5. Anaerobic training strengthens the digestive, endocrine, and circulatory systems.
The heart and blood vessels in the body each pump out and circulate blood without a break to deliver energy to the muscles, and are gradually strengthened. The liver also increases its throughput for faster energy circulation and enhances liver function. The kidneys, which play a role in filtering waste products from the blood, are also strengthened for the same reason. This has the effect of slowing the progression of several adult diseases.
