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Aerobic vs. Anaerobic....Can You Train Both at the Same Time??

Posted By: Jeff Williams on 02/09/2012

Anaerobic vs. aerobic........This is something that can be argued up and down by the best of them about which way is better to train.  Then there are questions like: Can you train both ways at the same time?  Is aerobic work (i.e. running) a way to gain strength? Can lifting weights be a cardio workout?  I'm sure some of us have heard or asked that question before, but the answer was either not right in front of you or you just didn't really know the answer, truthfully.

Well......before we start answering these lovely questions, lets get a little meat and potato in there (no pun intended).  Both types of activity can be extremely easy or they can be extremely difficult.  It depends on what you put into it (intensity) to get the highest or lowest return of calories burned possible.  Aerobic exercise is a type of exercise where you are continuously moving for longer than one minute without stopping.  It means "with oxygen", so you are consuming and expending amounts of oxygen to help your body do the work it needs to do while burning calories.  Anaerobic exercise is a type of exercise that you are working hard for a short time, you rest, and then you return to the exercise again.  Normal anaerobic work can last from 1 to 60 seconds, but no more than that followed by a specific rest period.  Both types of exercise can burn more calories if intensities are high and you are putting out the highest level of work possible. 

Aerobic exercise has people confused sometimes.  Just because you are breathless after a bout of a strength training set does not necessarily mean that it is "cardio".  It just means you were working past your threshold of normal activity.  Does it mean it was tough?  Absolutely, but if the set allowed for you to have a break, then it was anaerobic.  Most cardio machines also have what is called the "Fat Burning Zone".  Don't let this confuse you too much.  The Fat Burning Zone is supposedly suppose to help you burn more calories in a zone of about 60-70% of your maximum heart rate.  The issue is that you are not working hard enough to burn a lot of calories.  You need to be able to work hard to maintain the calorie burn even though you are working out of that 60-70% of your max heart rate and possible getting into another zone they call the fitness zone.  When you go above that rate, you will almost certainly burn more calories and that is what we, as trainers, are looking for.  We want the most calories to be burned (calories out) so that the calories you eat (calories in) creates that deficit that will help in maintaining or losing weight!!!  Very important stuff. 

Anaerobic exercise is the opposite.  Here is an example.  Have you ever sprinted as fast as you could and eventually had to give up running at the super-fast pace??  You had to because you body could not longer hang on to the intensity you were putting it through.  What that means is that your body got rid of all the carbohydrate (glucose) energy it had stored and had to shut you down before you hit rock bottom.  Anaerobic work can only be done for so long before your body can't withstand anymore punishment.  The energy systems that are used can only be used for a maximum 2 to 3 minutes, but at the end of that 2 to 3 minutes you are completely wiped out.  Normal bouts of anaerobic exercise usually last from 1 to 45 seconds and are followed by a rest time that fits what type of training you are working in.  Endurance training has short rest periods, strength training has intermediate rest periods, and max strength and power training has long rest due to the harsh conditions you put the body through and you need to rebuild the "fuel tanks" to do another bout of exercise. 

So I guess the first question is can you strength train in a cardio fashion?  The answer is yes.  Normally you would use lower weight so that you don't burn yourself out as quickly and you are continuously moving from exercise to exercise while keeping your heart rate elevated.  You do not take breaks and keep working.  This will burn a lot more calories than if you were to walk or jog on a treadmill for the same amount of time.  I'll give you a personal experience.  I did a strength training workout in a cardio style fashion.  I went for 30 minutes and burned well over 700 calories.  I experimented and did a 30 minute jog on the treadmill and burned almost half that many calories.  Granted there are some factors that need to be taken into consideration, like age, weight, height, and how conditioned you are, but it was a considerable difference.  Due to resistance being added is very important to burning calories and it showed.  Also, because I was only jogging allowed my heart rate to stay in a specific zone and not really stray outside of it.  This meant that my body adjusted to the work and didn't need to burn as many calories because it adapted to the work.  This is why interval training (high intensity followed by steady intensity) can cause spikes in the heart rate and shock the heart to pump more and burn more calories overall. 

Can you gain strength from cardio workouts?  The answer is yes and no.  Yes because the best group of muscles are in our heart and lungs and those will be strengthened without a doubt through aerobic work.  Overall strength of the body will not be as prominent.  Because you don't have much resistance coming from an aerobic routine will not increase strength.  This is why it is great to do the opposite and workout in a strength routine without rest or with very short rest periods.

I hope you found this to be informative and I hope I didn't confuse anyone.  If you feel like this is something that you may be thinking about or question please feel free to respond.  I would love to be able to make more sense of it to you so you can get the most of your training in and out of our facility.  Thanks for tuning in and enjoying the show!!!! : ) Jeff Williams