This article discusses the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise and the individual benefits.
It looks at some aerobic and anaerobic exercise examples, how to incorporate both types of training into your fitness program, the benefits of doing so, and the precautions to take to avoid injury.
Aerobic and anaerobic exercise are two of the most common types of physical activity that individuals use to improve their health.
Aerobic exercise uses oxygen to fuel your muscles during physical activity.
Anaerobic exercise does not require oxygen as its primary energy source, so it can be much more intense and faster-paced.
Done individually, each offers benefits.
Making both a part of your fitness program can improve your fitness and health, leaving you more energized than ever.
It can also reduce the risk of overuse injuries caused by repeatedly working the same muscles
It can also reduce the risk of overuse injuries caused by repeatedly working the same muscles.
Ready to find out more? Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
What is Aerobic Exercise?
Aerobic exercise involves sustained physical activity targeting large muscle groups over an extended period, usually from 15 to 60 minutes.
Also known as cardiovascular exercise, it requires the body to use oxygen to generate energy during extended periods of intense exertion.
Aerobic training accelerates breathing and heart rate. It is primarily used to increase endurance and improve heart health.
What is Anaerobic Exercise?
Anaerobic exercise involves short bursts of intense physical activity, typically lasting from 30 seconds to a few minutes, with little to no rest between repetitions.
This type of training taps into muscles’ glycogen reserves.
It requires total exertion of the muscles and is primarily used to build strength and muscle mass.
Anaerobic training also improves cardiovascular endurance and can burn a lot of calories.
Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise Benefits
Keep reading to learn more about aerobic and anaerobic exercise benefits, the potential risks of combining the two, and how to avoid these risks.
Aerobic Exercise Benefits
Aerobic exercise increases your heart and breathing rates, strengthening the heart and lungs and improving circulation by increasing 
oxygen flow throughout your body. Done regularly, it improves cardiovascular health and stamina.
This type of exercise can reduce body fat and burn calories more efficiently than resistance training and weightlifting.
Moreover, aerobic exercise reduces the risks associated with metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes by keeping your blood sugar levels stable and helping you maintain a healthy body weight.
It may also help prevent strokes and provide protection against certain cancers.
In addition to improving general health and fitness levels, aerobic exercise can help regulate moods by releasing endorphins which act as natural stress busters.
Furthermore, aerobic training stimulates brain cell activity that produces hormones related to overall mental health and well-being.
To reap the full benefit, sustain the activity for at least 10 minutes, with longer workouts between 20 and 60 minutes preferable.
Aerobic exercise examples
Aerobic exercise examples include walking, hiking, jogging, running, and dancing. Other options are kickboxing, biking, swimming, jumping rope, interval training, and sports like soccer or basketball, among many others.
Anaerobic exercise benefits
Anaerobic exercise refers to physical activities that are short and intense. Such exercises improve power, speed, and strength. 
Workouts target specific muscle groups to a greater extent than aerobic activity, with each exercise lasting between several seconds and a few minutes.
Regular anaerobic activity trains the body’s energy systems to store and utilize oxygen more efficiently, improving athletic performance.
Over time, your muscles will become more resistant to fatigue, and your muscular power output will increase.
Anaerobic training helps burn fat while preserving lean muscle mass. This is because it recruits a large number of muscle fibers per contraction. It requires more energy and forces your body to tap into body fat stores for fuel.
Combined with aerobic activity, this can improve body composition, especially around the midsection.
Anaerobic activities involving repetitive force loading, like weight lifting, can strengthen bones due to increased calcium uptake at the joints and muscular contact with bones through tendon-bone connections.
This, in turn, turn stimulates bone development from within the osseous tissue itself. With strong bones, your risk of osteoporosis decreases, and you will be less likely to suffer a break if you fall.
Anaerobic exercise examples
Anaerobic exercise examples include sprinting, plyometrics, weightlifting, circuit training, HIIT workouts (high-intensity interval training), and Tabata exercises.
The Benefits of Incorporating Both Exercises into Your Routine
If you’re wondering how to maximize the benefits of exercise, look no further.
The primary benefit of combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is that it allows you to simultaneously improve your cardiovascular 
endurance, burn fat, and build strength.
It can also help you burn more calories throughout the day, even when not actively engaged in physical activity.
Other benefits of combining both types of exercise may include:
- A greater level of physical fitness, enabling you to reach your fitness goals faster.
- A faster recovery time post-workout.
- An improved performance in the sporting arena.
- Better cardiovascular health due to increases in both cardio-respiratory capabilities, as well as cardiac output potential.
- Enhanced muscular strength and endurance.
- The release of endorphins can create a feeling of positivity and a reduced likelihood of depression and anxiety.
- Improved muscle tone.
- Better flexibility and mobility.
- Stronger, denser bones, therefore, a lower risk of fractures.
- A lower body fat percentage over time coupled with an increase in lean muscle mass.
- A higher metabolic rate enabling you to more readily shed excess weight and burn calories more efficiently at rest.
- Reduced blood pressure levels, leading to a healthier heart and a reduced risk of stroke.
- It may provide some protection against specific cancers.
- It prevents the boredom that can come from repeatedly doing the same type of activity.
How to create your workout routine
When devising your aerobic and anaerobic exercise program, structure your workouts to reflect your physical capabilities, plus short and long-term fitness goals.
There are several factors to consider, including your sessions’ intensity and duration, frequency, and type.
When creating your aerobic and anaerobic fitness program:
- Alternate the type of exercise you perform daily or within each session.
- Focus on extended duration low-intensity aerobic exercises to build cardiovascular endurance
- To gain muscle mass, include higher-intensity anaerobic workouts such as weight training exercises or HIIT workouts 15 minutes or less.
- When doing aerobic and anaerobic training in one session, it’s best to do the anaerobic component first, as it requires more energy.
- Structure your sessions based on intensity level as opposed to time allotment.
- Plan to alternate between high-intensity (anaerobic) intervals with longer active recovery periods of low-intensity (aerobic) work.
- Experiment with different types of exercises within each category so that you don’t become bored with the same routine week after week. Examples include: Running, swimming, and cycling for aerobic exercises; Squats, Push-Ups, and Burpees for anaerobic exercises. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) offers the best of both worlds.
- Take rest days to allow your body to recover from workouts fully, therefore maximizing performance gains and general fitness level.
- Monitor your performance, so you know when it’s time to increase the intensity or duration of a particular activity or when it’s necessary to reduce the intensity to avoid overtraining or excessive fatigue.
Potential Risks and Precautions
As with any exercise, there are some potential risks when combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Taking precautions will minimize these.
A common risk is the possibility of injury when there is a mismatch between fitness level and the intensity of the activity.
For example, someone with poorly conditioned muscles may need more training to take on high-intensity anaerobic exercises such as weightlifting or sprinting.
Additionally, this type of exercise uses substantially different muscle movements than those typically used during aerobic exercise, thus, increasing the risk of developing an overuse injury or muscle strain if done incorrectly.
Gradual, consistent progression is the way to go.
Begin by performing low-intensity activities, slowly increasing the intensity as your body adapts and your fitness improves.
Challenge yourself, but set achievable goals. If you overtrain, you could give up when you fail to keep up with the frequency or pace of
your workouts. Overtraining could also result in an injury that sidelines you.
Use proper form and get enough rest between workouts so your body can recover.
Final Thoughts on aerobic and anaerobic exercise
In conclusion, combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is a great way to ensure you are getting the best possible workouts.
Regular aerobic exercise can improve your cardiovascular fitness, overall health, energy level, and stamina.
Anaerobic exercise can increase your strength, power, speed, and muscle mass.
Including both types of exercise in your routine will maximize the benefits of each.
It can also enable you to reach your fitness goals faster than you would if you did only aerobic or anaerobic exercise and limit the incidence of overuse injuries.
As with any fitness regimen, adopting a healthy diet will enable you to get optimal results.
