How to distinguish between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise

In fact, the core difference between the two has never been what everyone thinks: "running is aerobic, and lifting iron is anaerobic." The core depends on the body's energy supply mode corresponding to your current exercise intensity - when the exercise intensity is low and the oxygen supply is sufficient, the body relies on oxidative decomposition of sugar and fat to provide energy, and the output is stable and can be maintained for a long time. For a long time, aerobic exercise dominates. Once the intensity increases, oxygen has no time to be transported to the cells for energy supply, and the body will start anaerobic metabolism mode to quickly decompose muscle glycogen for energy. The explosive force is sufficient, but it cannot last for long, and lactic acid will be produced to make the muscles sore and swollen quickly. This is the dominance of anaerobic exercise.

You must have had this experience in your daily life. You can leisurely ride a shared bicycle home from work, humming songs and chatting with friends all the way. Then you are in a perfect aerobic state. But if you are rushing to catch a red light and pedal hard for two minutes to rush across the street. When you stop, your chest feels tight and you can't speak a whole sentence. Your legs are still a little weak and sore. Then the anaerobic energy supply accounts for most of the two minutes just now.

Many people have the stereotype that sports activities are directly classified into aerobic or anaerobic categories. In fact, it is simply untenable. Take the running that everyone is most familiar with, jogging at a pace of 7 or 8 minutes for 30 minutes, and the whole process is aerobic. But if you sprint a 100-meter sprint, or sprint at full strength for one minute during the interval, it is completely anaerobic. Even if it is anaerobic strength training by default, if you take a 2kg small dumbbell and do arm curls, you can do 30 in one group without any effort, so the energy supply is mainly aerobic.

In fact, the current sports world does not distinguish the two. Most daily sports have two sets of energy supply systems working at the same time, but the proportions are different. For example, many long-distance runners often run 5 kilometers. If the pace is stable at about 6 minutes, it is basically a combination of 70% aerobic + 30% anaerobic. You have to say it is purely aerobic or purely anaerobic. It is not right. To use an inappropriate analogy, aerobic is like driving a family car while running around a circuit at a constant speed. It burns mixed fuel. It has a long battery life without any carbon deposits and is suitable for long-distance driving. Anaerobic is like driving a sports car and slams on the accelerator to hit zero hundred. It burns high-grade special fuel. It accelerates quickly but consumes fuel. It is easy to accumulate carbon after driving for a long time, which corresponds to the soreness and swelling of lactic acid accumulation in the body.

For us ordinary fitness people, we don’t need to be too detailed. If we want to burn fat, we should keep the intensity at which we can speak complete sentences but can’t sing coherently. The aerobic ratio is high enough and the fat burning efficiency is stable; if we want to practice explosive power and muscle gain, we can target the high-intensity anaerobic section. There is no need to label our exercise as “aerobic” or “anaerobic”.