Aerobic or Anaerobic? That issssssssss the Question!!!!

S

stephanie932

Cathlete
Does anyone one know which is better for losing weight?

I recently got a heart rate monitor that does all the tracking and calories burned. I was very excited and posted that I burned "such-n-such" calories during a workout. Someone posted that I was way over my heart rate zone and that I was only burning carbs and not fat, and that I should bring my heart rate down.

Okay, so.....fast forward, I did some research and understand the whole aerobic/anaerobic theory from her point of view and buy into it.....Soooooooo, I try to bring my heart rate down during Cathe's circuit/step style workouts.......Ummmmmmmmm.........I CAN'TTTTTTT!!!!!! NO WAY!!! NO HOW!!!

What do you all think of this theory?......Is it bad if I'm exercising at about 90%...instead of 70%-75%? I honestly am not huffing and puffing that bad. I know I can't talk like Cathe is during the videos....but I want to "feel" like I'm workout out! I can still lose weight exercising like this right?

~Stephanie



"Happiness is knowing what you are doing next without me saying it!" - Cathe
 
You're still burning calories, and as you go along you'll adapt to where you're back in the aerobic zone. A lot of bodybuilders these days are stressing the importance of HIIT (high intensity interval training) training....being in your aerobic zone for 2 minutes, then anaerobic for 2 minutes, and so on (or any alternating time period...not just 2 minutes). It keeps your metabolism guessing. Just like your body will adapt to the same weight routine, it will adapt to diet and cardio too. So keep it guessing. Don't worry that you're out of the zone right now.
 
I got a HRM for Xmas and I was having a problem with staying in my "range". But after only a week of doing JillyBean's Body Blast premix workout rotation, I am staying in my range for longer amounts of time, with the occasional blast outside of it. I don't panic though, because my HR returns to within an aerobic zone pretty quickly (within about 30 seconds) if I just pause the DVD and march around for a bit, get a sip of water, etc.

You may find that straying from the aerobic zone is inevitable. I think what's important is how quickly you come back to your zone. If you were anaerobic for 10 minutes straight, that might be a problem, but the occasional drifting away is to be expected - especially in Cathe's highest intensity workouts!

Of course, I am not a fitness expert, but can only speak from my own experience.
 
My understanding--and I'm no expert so I could be wrong--is that while you burn calories & carbs w/anaerobic exercise, it is not the most efficient fat burning workout. It has something to do with lack of oxygen to the muscles. So going on this theory, if you're on a low carb diet anaerobic exercise will be much more effective than if you're on a low fat diet.

However, like pretty much everything, different things work for different people/body types. It's probably something you want to play around with on your own until you find what's most effective for you personally.
 
First of all to use your heartrate monitor succesfully you must know your own max heartrate and not just use the number the scale gives you for your age -- you know, the 220 minus your age stuff. When you know what your max heartrate is then you can figure out what is your aerobic, lactic threshold, and anaerobic heartrate.

But why is it so important to know? Unless you are training for something special, like a 5k or 10k or more importantly, long distances like half or full marathon it is really doesn't matter too much. Our bodies use glycogen fat and protein for fuel. Glycogen is the easiest to get for the body but it is limited in amount. So when the body runs low or out of glycogen it will use fat or protein to keep going.

When you are in your "aerobic" or "conversational" zone the ratio of calories your body uses is more fat than glycogen. The harder you work the more glycogen your body will use, and the ratio between glycogen and fat will change. BUT the overall calories burned will give you the "fat loss" result. Hard work requires more calories than easy work. So if you burn 600 cal/hr with intense exercise and 300 of that is from glycogen and 300 from fat, you are still better off at fat burning than with a 300cal/hr workout where 200 comes from fat.

I personally think that for the best result we need to do different workouts. We need easy aerobic for recoveries, lactic treshold ( almost anaerobic) for endurance and anaerobic for stamina. Interval trainings are very useful!

I've been using my hr monitor for over 10 years now, but honestly, I got the best use out of it when I was in serious marathon training for a time goal. Now I just use it because I'm a control freak. :) Mari
 
I second Eminenz reply. I actually saw an article about this, but I can't remember where. See, that was always my question too. I've been a runner & cardiovascularly fit since I was 15 years old. I have been very consistent. So how is it that your MHR is supposed to decrease every year just because you age? You don't feel any differently when you train.

What I read, in a nutshell, is that the true test of cardiovascular fitness is how quickly your HR returns to normal after your cardio. I wish I could find the article, because it told you exactly how many BPM every 10 seconds it should decrease.

Has anyone else heard of this?

Marla
 
I agree that you should not stress about this too much. ALL your workouts should not be Cathe, but if they are, then you really should find a way to lower the intensity (lower your step, less weight, etc) every other day or so. If I know I am doing ONLY Cathe workouts, I will have two days on, one off...or one day Cathe, next day jog, next day Cathe, next day rollerblade. I find that when I do other modes of exercise it is much easier to control the intensity. You are right, for Cathe workouts, you almost always are at the higher end of the zone. I am convinced as well that it also has something to do with being indoors. My HR is not nearly as high running outside as it is during Boot Camp or even CTX.


But PLEASE do not think that you will not accomplish as much working at that level. I think all that is hooey. Don't get me wrong, I believe the science behind it, but I will tell you that I stay in the best shape doing regular Cathe workouts, NOT walking "aerobically" at four miles an hour.:)


Remember, you get out of it what you put into it. Just remember, there is a line into overtraining. Watch for it, cuz if you do Cathe workouts everyday very intensely, you may find youself there!
 
>First of all to use your heartrate monitor succesfully you
>must know your own max heartrate and not just use the number
>the scale gives you for your age -- you know, the 220 minus
>your age stuff.

So how do you find this out? I've always used the formula you mentioned. Could it be possible that my real max HR is higher?
 
RE: Aerobic or Anaerobic? That issssssssss the Questio...

There's a book called READY, SET, GO! by Phil Campbell that goes over this exact point and really clarifies it in this book. I would highly recommend getting it and reading it.

I agree with the posts here -- but mostly I think you have to vary your intensity. To workout in your anaerobic zone every day or even every other day is over training in my humble opinion. Depending on your fitness level, you should probably be doing anaerobic exercises only twice or three times a week, varied with straight cardio and at least two good days of weights and stretching. But I think varying the intensity is important. It gives you body a chance to rest between workouts, which is also very important, as this prevents injury.

Anyway, if you get the above book, you will probably get all of your questions concerning this answered to your satisfaction.:7
 
RE: Aerobic or Anaerobic? That issssssssss the Questio...

It is very possible that your max hr it higher than the formula. Mine is higher by about 10 bets.
OK, after a good warm up, go outside and find a steep hill. Run up it a few times fast. For the last time run up it as fast as you possible can. When you are blue in the face and ready to puke -- that's about your max hr. Of course you can have it tested in a lab, but that hill method is recommended by most of the running books. That's how I found out mine. Mari
 
That's a really good point Mari--unless you're training for something specific then you should do what you most enjoy & what will keep you working out. But I must say--ain't no way I'd call myself conversational when I'm in my aerobic zone! Unless you consider "^%&*^ this is really hard," or "I can't wait until this %^%*$@%^ workout is over" conversational. :D
 
RE: Aerobic or Anaerobic? That issssssssss the Questio...

>It is very possible that your max hr it higher than the
>formula. Mine is higher by about 10 bets.
>OK, after a good warm up, go outside and find a steep hill.
>Run up it a few times fast. For the last time run up it as
>fast as you possible can. When you are blue in the face and
>ready to puke -- that's about your max hr. Of course you can
>have it tested in a lab, but that hill method is recommended
>by most of the running books. That's how I found out mine.
>Mari

My husband and I joke about our very steep driveway - at least now it'll be good for something - LOL!

Thanks for the info!
 
Stephanie:

Mari gave you an excellent response to this question and topic.

All this talk of training in the fat burning zone is much hyped in my opinion. Like Mari, I prefer to think of total overall calories burned, no matter their source. Interval training, cardio training with Cathe, both will lower your overall body fat.

I was looking at a wall chart that depicted exactly this issue on the wall at my local YMCA yesterday. According to the chart and my age (40 in May), I alwaays train, when doing Cathe cardio, above 85% of my max, which puts me in what the Y calls the "serious athletic training zone". I am happy this is so. I can tell you also that I never feel any hardship about this nor when doing my cardio. I am not gasping for breath, not about to die, I am totally in control of my body's response and I know exactly the point when it begins to be too much so I know when to back off.

When I do Imax 2, for example, I know that at the end of the blasts, when I take my hert rate, it is right up there at 90% of max heart rate or above, which is the anaerobic threshold. I never worry about that either, becuase I can get it back down quickly, and if I need to take a bit longer than cathe before continuing with the next cardio section and the next blast, then I take the time. it's just sensible training. Overall, I am burning more total calories and improving my cardiovascular fitness.

If you are working at over 85% of max, don't worry about it. I think that with cathe, it's hard not to. Also, yes you will burn body fat especially if you are combining your cardio training with weight training, because your body's ability to burn calories, even when at rest, will be steadily increasing.

I have been taking a break over the last few months and really only got back into my training again over the last theee weeks. But I can tell you that I can feel the fat burning going on in my body, I can feel my body's extra demand for calories because I am building muscle back again and I am experiencing real hunger, and frequently. To my mind, this is a real good sign.

As long as you are not gasping for breath and feeling faint and dizzy during cathe's cardio routines, then you are doing just fine (of course, you may be gasping at the end of an Imax blast, that's to be expected). Of course, as others have said, you won't want to do Imax daily. Varying the intensity will ensure that you have the energy for the days when you do really want to gun it and that you stay away from injury. Right?

Clare ;-)
 
Another good point Clare. I recently read that most of these formulas are calculated for the average person--meaning people who do not work out regularly. Same w/the machines (stairmaster, treadmill, elliptical, etc.)--the number they show doesn't necessarily reflect what you're actually doing.

This isn't really good news for people like us. For example, if the elliptical at the gym shows that I burned 250 calories in 20 minutes, I probably have to reduce that by about 20% because I'm in better shape than the average person.

So really I just look for cardio that makes me sweat & gets me winded.
 
Maximus,

Your earlier post made me laugh. You took the words out of my mouth, the "@#%^!*&, that was hard," or "@#%^(&^, when will this end?";)
 
Thanks, Snazzy!

I was just worried if I was doing things wrong then maybe that is why the weight isn't coming off...but I really think that is my eating habits more than anything else. I'll just keep mixin' and maybe things will start falling into place.

~Stephanie~

"Happiness is knowing what you are doing next without me saying it!" - Cathe
 
eminenz2 and Marla,

I did notice that I also stay in my range longer and longer, but I still go over that 90%. My hr does come back down very quickly...like you, in about 10-15 secs. So, your advice sounds good. TY

~Stephanie~

"Happiness is knowing what you are doing next without me saying it!" - Cathe
 
Mari, this makes soooooooo much more sense!!!

"So if you burn 600 cal/hr with intense exercise and 300 of that is from glycogen and 300 from fat, you are still better off at fat burning than with a 300cal/hr workout where 200 comes from fat."

Thanks for putting it in an example that I can understand! :)

~Stephanie~




"Happiness is knowing what you are doing next without me saying it!" - Cathe
 
Clare,

Thanks for putting things into perspective also....You all gave such good advice on this!

Maximus.....Soooooo true about only "some" talking/yelling/swearing while doing her workouts......lol

~Stephanie~
"Happiness is knowing what you are doing next without me saying it!" - Cathe
 
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