Exercise And Your Anaerobic Threshold

Article by Matt Wiggins

If you’re like most people you’re looking to get the most out of a workout that you possibly can. However exercising to build endurance requires a different approach than exercising to lose weight. To get the most out of your workout you need to know what your Anaerobic Threshold or AT is.

Your AT rate is an individual number that varies from person to person, and can even change as your body becomes stronger over time. To better understand AT we need to take a look at your heart rate. Your heart is expressed in beats per minute, the maximum rate at which your heart can safely operate is known as your Maximum Heart Rate or MHR and is an average value taken over a few minutes. Originally your AT number was believed to be between 80 to 90 percent of your MHR. However since you were taking a percentage of an average the value was often inaccurate, and a more precise measurement was needed.

Professional athletes who need to know their AT undergo a series of tests. They ride a stationary bike or run on a treadmill. A mask was placed over their mouth to measure oxygen and carbon dioxide at different levels of exertion. The results are processed using computer programs and yield very precise results. These tests are costly and time consuming and not necessary for most people.

A less sophisticated method that is reasonably accurate is the talk test. You will need to take your pulse or use a digital pulse meter or watch. When you are jogging or using a stationary bike and you can talk normally without speaking in short burst you are in your aerobic metabolic zone. As you increase the intensity and you still talk but not as easily this is the lower edge of your AT zone, make a note of your heart rate. Pick up the pace again as your breathing becomes more rapid and talking becomes more difficult and you start to speak in short bursts this is the upper range of your AT. For best results perform this test a few times on different days and average the results.

Once you know your AT range here are tips to help you get the most out of your exercise routine. Exercising below your AT range will burn some fat, and will help you improve things like blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Exercising in your AT zone will give you the maximum fat burning benefit. You will use the most calories if you can spend most of the time that you exercise in this range. Exercising above your AT zone will boost your strength and endurance. The amount of fat you will be burning will be lower than if you were exercising at a lower AT level. People who exercise vigorously and have minimal fat loss are exercising above their AT level.

Once you know what your AT level is getting the most out of your workout is easy. You monitor your heart rate and adjust your intensity to raise or lower your heart rate keeping you in your desired range. People who exercise regularly should check their AT level every 6 to 9 months and make adjustments as needed.

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Minimal Intensity or Elevated Intensity: Aerobic or Anaerobic Exercise session

Article by Avi Marents

Aerobic exercise seems to be a core component of many fitness programs, especially beginners workout routines. But, would the addition of anaerobic exercise be beneficial? A fundamental question centers around aerobic vs anaerobic exercise and the benefits that each offer. The contrast is really low intensity vs high intensity. In general, most people consider aerobic exercise a fat burning cardio activity of low intensity. Most do not know much about anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise also includes a high intensity portion, such as strength training or an HIIT program.

Aerobic literally means “with oxygen.” Oxygen is required to keep muscles in motion for a long period of time. Muscles use this oxygen to burn fat. Aerobic exercises include activities that are long duration and low to moderate intensity, including jogging, swimming, cycling, or skiing.

Anaerobic, on the other hand, means “without oxygen”; of course, your body will still need oxygen during anaerobic exercise but your muscles do not receive enough to keep up the extremely intense pace. Without the oxygen, your muscles are forced to burn glycogen, a component of carbohydrates. Exercise that is intense and of short duration is considered anaerobic activity, such as weight training or sprinting.

Aerobic exercise has a number of health benefits. Your heart, lungs and blood flow are improved with a minimum of thirty daily minutes of exercise, which, in the end, means a longer lifespan. These are among the other benefits:

1. Losing weight

2. Increasing endurance

3. Improved immune system

4. Reduced risk of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and certain types of cancer

5. Improving circulation and the cardiovascular system

6. Increasing beneficial cholesterol while decreasing harmful cholesterol.

You can also benefit from anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise makes your muscles stronger and helps decrease body fat. A strength training routine allows you to build muscle mass, increase bone density, decrease body fat, and provides many of the same overall health benefits as aerobic exercise. Another popular anaerobic program is called an HIIT routine, which is a series of short bursts of highly intense activity followed by short periods for recovery. It has been demonstrated that this sort of exercise increases metabolism after the routine, which results in more calories burned than with a low intensity work out. There’s also the release of HGH, a hormone that promotes fat loss and muscle gain. You’ll also enjoy an improved aerobic capacity and much better cardiovascular system.

As you can see, both aerobic training and anaerobic training each have unique benefits. As such, both have great benefit as part of an exercise regimen. But, a beginner should start out with an aerobic exercise regimen. To perform high intensity anaerobic training, you must have a good aerobic base built up. More advanced work out fans often wonder if they should favor one variety of exercise over another. For most of these regular exercisers, aerobic activity often seems far too easy and doesn’t seem to provide any real benefit, especially when compared to anaerobic exercise. No matter how advanced you are in your programs, your exercise program should include both, since there are many significant health benefits to be gained from both the high and low intensity exercises. Also, you need to avoid performing anaerobic exercise too often, as that often leads to overtraining or burnout.

Next time you choose between aerobic vs anaerobic exercise, remember that the difference is really low intensity vs high intensity. Aerobic training is low intensity, long duration and anaerobic training is high intensity, short duration. Aerobic exercises like walking or jogging offer numerous health and cardiovascular benefits while anaerobic exercises such as a strength training routine or HIIT routine generally allow for more efficient fat burning and muscle building.

Strength And Conditioning Exercise – Ultimate MMA Strength

Article by Sandy Hoffman

With the way that mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters look, it is easy for us to conclude that they are strong. If you are planning to enter the world of mixed martial arts, you must understand that you will need to do a lot of work. And what you will be doing is more than just strengthening yourself. What you need is a strength and conditioning exercise plan that will help you have the right levels of cardio and explosive power.Click Here For Ultimate MMA Strength Instant Access Now!There are lots of strength and conditioning exercise plans out there and it is fairly easy to get your hands on them. One way is through looking them up on the internet. However, you must take note that not all of them will work the same for everybody. So it is best for you to determine your current fitness level so you can have a good idea of your needs.Now that you have a good idea of the different things you need to work on, you can now start searching for an MMA strength and conditioning training guide based on these. Remember that you are trying to improve your own cardio and explosive power, and you are simply not trying to become like someone.You might be asking why you still need to have the right kind of conditioning when all you need is to be strong to win a fight. If you are thinking this way, you can never be more wrong. Being an MMA fighter means having the right kind of strength as well as the right level of energy to endure the different challenges in a certain fight… and this includes the length of time you need to spend on beating your opponent.Search for a strength and conditioning exercise guide today so you can start working your way to becoming the next respected MMA fighter in your league.Click Here For Ultimate MMA Strength Instant Access Now!

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You Can Have Endurance from Long Running

The extensive distance is a project can boast a tolerance of development of prolonged time. It can create the muscle flexible all the time. And it is the biggest feature of this event. From one thing it needs the body to try its finest to reduce the using up of fat and to deposit steady speed. The other sides, it wants the boosting drive too fast in the race in the entirety course of running.

The lengthy distance running can assistance us achieve two the further targets. At first although our two legs are so tired and then they will have stronger than that before and then they what’s more can endure long time of running. Secondly, you are going away to have the experience of tiredness and it makes you tough sufficient in your spirit to keep running till you go on to have a feeling of fatigued.

Therefore you ought to keep in mind that the feeling of weary is just request in the training. you are benefited by the marathon after going though tiredness. As a result of that the aim of running is to come over the weary to get health and put on with tiredness.

The running is to keep thin and heath and its time be supposed to not less than twenty minutes. Your speed should be kept slowly in order to hold balance breath. In terms of your body power which is that you learn to walk before you run after that the time of race will enhance little by little. Your glycogen or even the fat of your body will be spent by the running of twenty minutes. For the reason that there is no violence in jogging and then there is no overdo poor oxygen for your engine body. For this reason it can expend fat in your body and then you will have a good result of lose weight.

Someone have a cobweb in the throat after running, they want to enjoy happy in a short time to drink an amount of water at a time. On one hands it will reflect the increase of perspiration and reduce the salinity in the body. On the other side it can cut down the thickness of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice and bring down the capability of sterilization of it and also add to the ability of intestinal cannel infection. Therefore, if you have a bulky amount of water in one time, it will put on heavy on heart and kidney.

It shows you two precious proposals for you. To begin with, I will not give advice you to eat nothing if you have a running that it has over three hours. Secondly, you are not allow to eat more things by yourself when you have a long running. If you want to make it better and you should run over two hours. You had better eat something if you have nothing in the stomach to cause slow blood sugar. You also can put pressure for your body to adjust to have a long running.
 

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Bodybuilding Nutrition For Training Endurance

As you probably almost certainly already know, most of your success in competitive bodybuilding will be determined by the set of genetic gifts (or lack thereof) with which you were born. It doesn’t take a scientist in a white lab coat to ascertain the fact that all thing equal, Ronnie Coleman was going to be more successful in bodybuilding than say, a person with the physique of a Lance Armstrong. Our propensity to hold muscle is pre-determined. We can only work within its boundaries to become the best individual bodybuilder that our genetics will allow us to become.

That being said, we will all fall into our own genetic categories and end up on the local, regional, state, or even national stage, should we choose to complete. Once we are within the ranks of where our genetics allow us to reach, another factor is just about the sole determinant in how high we are able o soar in the bodybuilding universe. Here’s a hint: It isn’t training. No matter how hard you train, no matter how intense your workouts are, the limiting factor in how close you come to reaching your genetic potential is another factor: Nutrition.

Nutrition is the key to all things bodybuilding. If you want to be the best at your level, you have to make sure your nutrition works to fully support your goals. Your training will be much like the training of your peers – as hard as you can train, as frequent as you can train. The nutritional plan you follow will set you apart in the recovery and growth phase.

If you’re ready to get serious about nutrition, you’re probably ready to focus upon learning more about the tenets you should be following to allow you the most efficient training. First off you need a solid base of good, clean, slow-burning carbohydrates. Slamming a Red Bull before your workout might feel great, but the skewed insulin sensitivity your body experiences following such indulgence won’t help you grow. You need to consume complex carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, and sweet potatoes.

When it comes to protein, the slow-burners are also your best bet for the most successful training platforms. Whey is very quickly digested, and will be on its way down your digestive track in less than 30 minutes. This is useful for workout recovery – but if you want the most proteins present through a tough workout, sources such as beef, casein, or chicken are going to be safer bets. The higher the fat content of a protein, the slower it will be digested.

Fats are the final group whose consumption should be planned and implemented. A nice combination of fish oil and flax oil, mixed with a diet containing almond, red meat and milk will deliver the fats you need to shine through long and strenuous workouts.

The bottom line is that all other factors equal (including genetics), those bodybuilders whose diet delivers for endurance will see the most success in the gym – and the resulting growth will put them first on the stage!

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Strength Training Exercise Ideas

It is a well known fact that strength training is ideal for toning up, strengthening muscles, making our bodies injury resistant and boosting our metabolism.

However, when you go into your gym you will be faced with two choices. Do you use the strength training machines, or the ‘free’ weights? There are advantages and disadvantages to using both, and in this article we outline the pros and cons.

Strength training machines are ideal for beginners, as they are much easier to use. The body is supported, and as the weights are moved in a controlled motion along a fixed track, it is very difficult to lift them incorrectly.

The body is automatically in the right position for lifting, so the likelihood of injury is much less. Also machines allow you to isolate certain muscle groups, which is a flexibility free weights lack. Machines are ideal for anyone recovering from an injury due to the extra support they give.

They are much easier to use then the free weights, as there are often clear instructions displayed- there are usually diagrams so that you can see the exact group of muscles you will be working.

It is also easier to track your progress with machines.

They are very convenient as they require very little setting up, and are a lot less intimidating for beginners than the racks of free weights.

The disadvantage of using machines is that they can be somewhat limited, in that each one exercises only one muscle group. You will need to switch to different machines to exercise all the muscle groups. This can be very time consuming, especially if your gym is busy and you have to wait.

Machines don’t always offer a natural body movement, as certain muscles are isolated. This goes against the natural body function of using several muscle groups simultaneously to support the body through each movement.

They can be too supportive, which means that only one muscle group is being worked at any one time.

The metabolic rate and amount of calories burnt may not be as great as using free weights.

If you are considering weights for a home gym, strength training machines take up a lot of room, and you are likely to need several different ones for a full workout. They can also be very expensive.

Free weights include dumbbells and bars to which different weights can be attached. Free weights have some advantages over machines; they are a lot more versatile as you are not restricted to just one range of motion. This means that you can alter how you lift slightly in order to work a different muscle group.

Free weights workouts are generally done standing, meaning that you are working more than one group of muscles at a time, as the other muscles work to support your weight whilst you lift. Using free weights will also improve your coordination and balance as your body works to stabilize you.

You can give yourself a total body workout with just a few sets of dumbbells, without the need to move from machine to machine. Free weights take up a lot less space than machines, and are a lot cheaper.

The main disadvantage of using free weights is that it is much easier to injure yourself using them than using a machine. Free weights require more skill and balance.

It is more difficult to know exactly what muscle groups you are working with each exercise. There are no clear instructions, so you will need to be shown how to use them effectively; this is especially important if you plan to use them at home.

As the free weights don’t follow a fixed track, it can be too easy to do the movement incorrectly, which could lead to injury. Free weights are responsible for far more injuries than machines and you have to be vigilant against getting into sloppy lifting habits.

That’s what the mirrors at the gym are for- not to admire your physique but to check that you are lifting correctly and maintaining a good posture.

Both options have their uses in helping you realize your fitness goals, and many people incorporate both into their routines. If you are a beginner or suffering from an injury, using machines would probably be best. Whichever you decide, make sure that you are given a proper instruction to using strength training equipment before you start.

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The NASA Endurance Fitness Test

This test was made to measure your body’s ability to endure an aerobic effort for prolonged periods of time.

An aerobic effort is when your body consumes oxygen in order to create energy. After your body exhausts its maximum capacity to burn oxygen, the process becomes anaerobic: when oxygen is not used and the body creates lactic acid.

Since oxygen consumption increases proportionally to the increase of energy released, we can evaluate the maximum aerobic capacity by measuring the VO2max: your body’s max possible consumption of oxygen in order to produce energy.

A strong aerobic base is essential if you want to remain injury free or run that fast race you are aiming for. Aerobic training involves running at 60-75% of your maximum heart rate. This translates to a pace that is 1½ to 2 minutes per mile slower than 10K race pace. At that rate you can run and keep up a conversation without huffing and puffing.

This test is commonly called Cooper’s Test, from the NASA doctor who invented and utilized this method for military reasons.

Test consists in running 12 consecutive minutes on flat at a constant speed.

You just have to measure the distance you run in these 12 minutes and compare your results with the tables below.

With Cooper’s Test you can also measure your VO2max by using the formula: [distance in meters – 505] / 45.

A good rule of thumb is to measure and track the variations of your endurance fitness over time in order to evaluate your progresses.

Please visit The NASA test of endurance fitness on Running Shoes Guru to find the table with the results, split by ages and genders.

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