When we do a sport from resistance to demanding high performance we have to take into account that two types of resistance act in our body. On the one hand we have the anaerobic endurance and, on the other hand, the aerobic endurance. When we start a sport little by little, it usually starts with short sessions, with walks to catch the air or something quite undemanding. However, when we started to get a taste for it, we ended up practicing a high-performance sport. To know how to perform better we have to know what is our anaerobic capacity.
In this article we are going to tell you what aerobic capacity is and in what aspect it serves to increase our exercise performance.
Difference between aerobic and anaerobic endurance
To know the anaerobic capacity of a person, we must first know what the great difference between aerobic resistance y anaerobic resistance. In both cases we are referring to what the body does to obtain energy. Our body needs aerobic resistance when we do exercise of moderate or low intensity, but that are prolonged in time. For example, if we went out to sprout at a gentle pace for an hour, our body was using aerobic resistance to be able to hold on for that long.
In this case, the main source of nutrients that the body needs are carbohydrates and fats. Both macronutrients are burned for energy and to be able to move oxygen in our body. To burn this energy you need oxygen so we will understand to breathe stronger.
On the other hand, we have anaerobic endurance. This resistance is put to the test when we perform exercises that have a short duration but have a high intensity. This intensity is reflected in the pulsations of our heart. An exercise with enough intensity that we have to resort to anaerobic resistance can be perfectly between 170 and 220 beats per minute. In this type of exercise, the energy that the body needs to perform correctly needs to be immediate. The main energy treatments in this case are glucose and phosphocreatine.
The word anaerobic means without oxygen. This capacity that the organism has can be both lactic and alactic. This means that lactic acid can be produced that the muscles lodge and is what produces fatigue and muscle pain, which later translates into soreness.
Anaerobic capacity and dividing line
Despite the continuous attempts to differentiate between anaerobic endurance and aerobic endurance, there is no completely separate dividing line. The body usually uses these two resistances, so the exercise can be said to be predominantly aerobic or anaerobic. We can never say that an exercise is completely one or the other.
This is where we come to define what is anaerobic capacity. This anaerobic capacity is like the transition between aerobic endurance and anaerobic endurance. There comes a time in this transition when we meet an aerobic threshold. It is from there where our body will generate lactic acid and begin to increase until we reach a tipping point where the blood concentration of this lactic acid is going to skyrocket. It is here where we will have each anaerobic threshold.
The more capacity we have to extend that anaerobic threshold, the more anaerobic capacity we will have. That is, we can perform higher intensity exercises for a little longer. That time will never be long enough for the main energy substrates of aerobic endurance such as carbohydrates and fats to be used. Although we have a fairly large anaerobic threshold, the energy substrates used will continue to be glucose and phosphocreatine.
Here we are going to put an example to better understand what anaerobic capacity is. There are different disciplines that are quite popular, such as running, walking, cycling or swimming. These exercises are predominantly aerobic. However, when we do some exercises in the gym such as weight lifting, we are doing exercises with anaerobic capacity. When we train with enough weight to high intensity leads to what is known as muscle failure. This is the time when our muscles cannot overcome the resistance that we are offering. The more strength and anaerobic capacity we have, the more repetitions we can do with a higher load without reaching muscle failure.
How to train anaerobic capacity
When we are trying to increase our anaerobic capacity and we are beginners, it is best to start with aerobic exercises. In this way, we will be gaining a lot in resistance at the beginning. Although the relationship between aerobic capacity and anaerobic capacity not fully linkedFrom a strictly metabolic point of view, it is clear that if we have a good aerobic capacity in our body, we will have a greater availability of nutrients in reserve.
This is how we get a simple walking session to help us improve anaerobic resistance directly from the beginning. We can start with a warm-up of about 10 minutes with joint mobility and a series of 150 meters at maximum speed. We allow about 7 minutes to pass so that we can do another second series of 150 meters at the same intensity as the previous one. During those 7 minutes of rest, we can go jogging or walking in the meantime.
Repeating this routine several times is quite effective and we repeat it once a week. With the passage of time we will see that we can introduce more repetitions of intervals in which we run at maximum speed and each time we will need less recovery time. Our body becomes more and more efficient and is able to correct and compensate for the muscular imbalances that may appear. In addition, it is able to maintain parallel and increase the aerobic work we will notice more and more.
We can also improve our anaerobic capacity with series of a minute and a half doing burpees and a minute and a half of lunges. This is considered as a high intensity exercise and also serves to improve aerobic endurance.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about aerobic capacity.