Anaerobic exercises: what are they and what are their benefits?

Before starting an exercise plan, you must have some clarity about what you want to achieve, maintain or achieve. If it is losing weight, aerobics will work, but if it is about training to gain strength and power, you have to resort to anaerobic exercises.

In any case, research confirms that aerobic and anaerobic are complementary, since the energy needed for the former is achieved with the latter. Find out here what these exercises are about, also called static.

What are anaerobic exercises?

Muscles work in exercise and, as we know, all work requires energy. In this one in particular, anaerobic are characterized by being exercises of high intensity and short duration that demand from the body a powerful and fast fuel.

It is found in immediate sources: muscle ATP (also called energy currency), the phosphocreatine (PC) and the glucose.

Anaerobic exercises are usually interspersed with aerobic series. For example, when walking a sprint or a quick run for 10 seconds to 1 minute, then keep walking while replenishing energy.

The explosive effort time that characterizes static, strength, or anaerobic exercises ranges from 1 minute to 120 seconds.

In this practice, two energetic mechanisms are activated. In the first 10 seconds the body uses creatinine phosphate, especially for exercises of short duration and very high power. When it is extended in time, glucose is used as an energy substrate, generating lactic acid.

If the practice is prolonged – from 20 to 120 seconds – lactic acidosis occurs, which creates the conditions for fatigue.

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What are the benefits of doing exercises tonaerobic?

Although there are many benefits of dynamic exercises, practiced on a regular basis, static training increases muscle strength and power. In addition, it improves stamina and basal metabolism.

On the other hand, a good walk brings immediate benefits, however, the achievements of anaerobic exercises deserve time and perseverance. In fact, they start to show up at 3 months or more.

It prevents illnesses

Anaerobic exercises strengthen the immune system and help prevent diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. As well, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis and back pain are reduced.

Development and strengthening of muscle and bone mass

To grow muscle mass, weight lifting with dumbbells or apparatus is used. When lifting weights, the muscles and also the bones act, so that anaerobic exercise increases bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis.

Paying attention to the weight that can be lifted depending on the type of exercise is essential to avoid injury.

Improves quality of life

Anaerobic exercises strengthen the musculoskeletal structure, which means greater balance in movements and confidence and independence in daily activities.

The strength that anaerobic exercise deserves translates into vitality and optimism to face the vicissitudes of the day.

Increased metabolic rate

The Aerobic exercises are recommended to lose weight, but anaerobics, by increasing muscle mass, contribute in a very good way to this purpose.

By rebuilding the muscles, anaerobic exercises decrease the amount of fat, obtaining a relative weight loss. In other words, with aerobics you burn lipids and with anaerobics you gain lean fat.

This contributes to adding indices in the basal metabolism, that is, in the amount of energy that the body needs for its vital functions.

The factor most closely related to resting metabolic rate is lean mass. ANDThis is achieved with weight lifting, which reinforces the hypothesis that this exercise is used for the treatment of obesity.

Increase stamina and power

Anaerobics are designed to build endurance. There comes a time in the training in which the legs or arms do not give for more. It occurs when the level of lactate in the blood rises to levels that cannot be cleared immediately. This causes muscle acidification, fatigue and loss of performance..

Increasingly extending the threshold is part of anaerobic training in athletic endurance building. And among the routines are strength exercises that work slow-twitch muscles. This takes work away from slow fibers, which are the ones that accumulate the most lactate.

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Examples of anaerobic exercises

There are two types of strength or static exercises. The isometrics, when there is a sustained muscular contraction against a fixed resistance (a wall, for example), and the isotonics, when the muscular contraction can overcome the resistance (lifting a weight):

• Weightlifting: the muscles are used to their maximum capacity in a short period of time, without resorting to breathing. The practice generates power, strength and resistance until muscular hypertrophy.
• Sprint: It consists of short, very intense races, such as the 100-meter dash, in which the lower limbs and torso are powered and speed developed.
• ABS: push-ups that bring muscular endurance to the point of fatigue, with increasingly long sets of repetitions.

• Bars and parallels: the isometrics include bars and parallel bars that use the athlete's own weight. In these, the muscles ask for a store of energy that allows the body to be lifted repeatedly.
• Squats: They also use body weight, such as push-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups. In squats, the weight of the torso falls straight on the thighs, while the arms are extended or at the nape of the neck.
• Push-ups: gravity is used as resistance to overcome. Like the bars, but face down, the arms lift the weight that has accumulated in the torso

Tips for performing anaerobic exercises

First, anaerobic routines should not be started without a medical check-up, as it is also prudent in the case of suffering from any disease. They are also not indicated in the case of overweight beginners, just as they should be avoided in pregnant women.

Before starting, the body must undergo a period of preheating or cardio, gradually increase physical activity. This makes me know removeto lactic acid, which increases the heart rate and blood flow, preventing the appearance of soreness.

In this same direction, aerobic exercises must include stretching, that will prepare the body for the demands of anaerobics.

As it is also about strong exercises, it is recommended at the beginning to exclude complicated movements and gain experience, to add difficulties progressively.

Anaerobic exercises are professional care and attention

Anerobic exercises are very demanding and, if not taken precautions, can result in injury. It is important to know, for example, that there is a anaerobic threshold. This is the maximum intensity of exercise to which the body is subjected without falling into extreme fatigue.

Practicing above this threshold will depend on many factors: the type of training, the muscular composition, the diet and the environment. In general, the body must adapt to different levels, which can function without complications below the mentioned threshold.

Going further aims at professional training and monitoring, sometimes with a view to the practice of high-performance sports.