What Is Anaerobic Exercise? How It Affects Your Body?

Looking for an effective way to develop muscles and reduce weight? Consider anaerobic exercise, but what exactly is it?

Anaerobic exercise is a form of workout that involves short bursts of high-impact activity. This type of workout uses less oxygen for energy and involves intense bursts of powerful activity. Some of the benefits of practicing anaerobic exercises regularly are fat loss, enhanced muscular endurance, and strengthened muscles and bones.

Compared to aerobic exercises, which use more oxygen and moderate intensity, anaerobic workouts use continuous muscle contraction and require more energy than oxygen.

---

Anaerobic exercise examples

Skipping is a type of anaerobic workout. (Photo via Pexels/cottonbro studio)

The most common types of anaerobic exercise include:

• sprinting
• strength training or weightlifting
• plyometrics exercises, including explosive, powerful activities such as skipping, jump lunges and squats, box jumps, hopping, etc.
• HIIT or high-intensity interval training
• calisthenics exercises such as pull-ups, chest dips, push-ups, etc.

While doing the aforementioned anaerobic workouts, the body basically breaks down glucose and builds up lactic acid in the muscles. The best part – you can do anaerobic exercises at home as well. All you need is some space and preferred exercise tools, and you are good to go.

---

Benefits of anaerobic exercise

Do you wonder how anaerobic exercises affect your body? Well, there are various positive effects of this type of workout on your overall health. Practicing this form of high-intensity exercise regularly offers a number of benefits.

Increases muscle endurance

Anaerobic exercises increase muscle endurance by allowing you to lift weights for longer periods. So, if your ultimate goal is to enhance muscle endurance, this type of exercise can potentially help improve your durability and overall performance while making you stronger and more muscular.

Improves bone density and strength

Anaerobic workouts such as strength training can help enhance bone density and strength to a greater level. Plus, it can reduce chances of bone problems such as arthritis and osteoporosis too.

Develops muscle

Anaerobic workout strengthen the bones. (Photo via Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)

Performing anaerobic workouts daily can help build stronger muscle mass, reducing overall fat in the body.

Leaner muscles help fight against weakness and fatigue and assist you in moving and working out more comfortably and efficiently than you would. Less fat reduces risk of certain health problems as well, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Enhances power

Anaerobic workouts can increase your overall strength so that you can work out more energetically and effectively. Exercises such as jump lunges, box jumps, skipping, etc., help improve muscle power and make you stronger and more powerful.

Promotes metabolism and maintains muscle

As anaerobic movements develop and maintain muscles, this type of workout is considered the best when it comes to boosting metabolism.

Lean muscles help burn more calories, promoting metabolism and preventing muscle loss. This type of workout is known to enhance overall post-exercise calorie burn too.

Promotes weight loss

Anaerobic workouts promote weight loss. (Photo via Pexels/SHVETS production)

High-intense exercise can also help maintain weight and promote fat loss. Studies have shown that regular practice of anaerobic exercise such as HIIT can result in reduction in body fat, especially in the belly.

Protect the joints

Anaerobic workouts strengthen the muscles, which in turn keeps the joints protected and bone problems at bay. They protect the body against muscle strains and injuries too. If anaerobic workouts seem difficult, here are certain tips to help you get started:

• Before starting with this type of exercise, remember to warm up thoroughly. Do stretching or low-impact movements to activate your muscles.
• If you're a beginner, aim for three sets of ten reps of each exercise. Do not increase the reps too quickly; instead, move up slowly as you gain more strength and confidence.
• Always focus on major muscle groups before targeting the smaller ones.
• As a beginner, include no more than three exercises in your anaerobic exercise routine.
• Focus on your posture and form if you don’t want to injure your muscles.
• Mix and match different exercises to challenge your body and keep your session interesting.

---

Always remember that anaerobic workouts aren’t easy and require strength and a lot of work. So, it's important to take help from a certified trainer to create a strict workout routine and learn the right form.