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Improving Your Health through Anaerobic Exercise
Fred Morgan
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 Did you know anaerobic exercise
begins when you are a baby? Pulling, tugging, pushing, and crawling, are all activities
that build muscle strength. After a while, a child is able to run, walk, and play
without the assistance of anyone else. His or her muscles have become strong enough
to sustain activities with ease. Anaerobic exercise, even in these early stages
of development, builds a foundation for muscle strength. To maintain that strength
and muscle development as an adult, anaerobic exercise must be a part of your health
and fitness regimen.
Anaerobic exercise is physical activity which doesn’t require our muscles to use
oxygen as a source of energy. However, we must supply our muscles with oxygen after
the activity has been performed. Our bodies accomplish this task by demanding more
air through hard breathing. This is why you find yourself breathing heavily after
performing strenuous exercise or activity. You are, essentially, giving your muscles
what they need.
Anaerobic exercise such as weight training, or performing activities that require
quick bursts of energy, like sprinting, increases short-term muscle strength and
development. Strength training also has the positive effect of continuous calorie-burning,
up to 24 hours after you train. Performing weight-bearing exercise on a regular
basis builds bigger muscles, which translates into burning more fat. As body fat
decreases, so does your risk of disease.
A lot of people don’t realize anaerobic exercise will actually help you maintain
a healthy body weight, muscle mass and fat-burning capabilities better than aerobic
exercise. While a lot of cardiovascular exercise helps strengthen your heart, cardiovascular,
and circulatory systems, it is only a part of your total health equation. Anaerobic
exercise burns more calories than aerobic exercise (at a ratio of 5-to-1), builds
muscle, and strengthens your bones. Combining these two types of exercise is a great
benefit to your total well-being and physical fitness.
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