Aerobic training is known in the fitness industry as a great way to burn calories and lose fat. The average fitness enthusiast considers aerobic training the primary way to lose fat. There is no doubt that aerobic training does help to lose fat. It speeds the heart rate up and improves cardiovascular endurance. Many people will argue that this is all one needs to effectively lose fat. Although they do play a major role in fat loss, they are not the most important things one should focus on. Let’s look further into how aerobic training affects the body.
First of all, aerobic exercise is defined as activities in which oxygen is used to fuel the energy producing mechanisms of muscle fiber. It improves cardio-respiratory endurance, maximum VO2 uptake, stroke volume, ejection fraction and lowers the heart rate. Aerobic athletes can endure pain for longer periods of time than anaerobic athletes, which can create longer times under tension. Although not as much tension as weight training, it does cause slight tension. This results in longer exercise times and can burn many calories, which can lead to fat loss. However, if only aerobic training is used as a way to lose fat, then maximum results will not be seen. It is good to include some type of heavy anaerobic resistance training also. This is needed to build muscle and to decrease atrophy while doing aerobic exercises. Building muscle is very important for fat loss. After all, bigger muscles burn more calories than smaller ones. Also, if the muscles are never used except for very light resistance, found in aerobic exercise, they will not get bigger and may possibly get smaller. If anaerobic is combined with aerobic training plus a proper nutrition program, then fat loss will be much better.
Aerobic training can indeed be a great fat loss exercise but if no resistance training is done to improve muscle mass, then the body can lose muscle, making it even easier to store fat. It has many pros and cons but it is basically whatever works for the client. Not everyone reacts the same to everything. Most importantly though, it should always be done with a proper nutrition program or any type of fat loss program will fail.
