Aerobic Versus Anaerobic Exercise
To make the heart stronger, you need to train it to pump blood more efficiently throughout the body. This training is done through aerobic exercise.
Aerobic exercise makes you breathe more heavily than you usually do because you are using oxygen more rapidly since your body is moving faster than usual. Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart, blood vessels, and lungs by training them to process and carry blood and oxygen faster and more powerfully.
An activity is usually aerobic when you move several of your limbs at the same time, and when the activity uses the big muscle groups (for example, the hips, legs, chest, and back). The activity must be performed continuously (more than 20 minutes), is usually rhythmic or repetitive, and is performed at an intensity level that causes your heart, lungs, and vascular system to work harder than usual.
For example, turning a stroll into a fast walk, turning splashing in the pool into a five-lap race, or turning a neighborhood bike ride into a spinning class are all examples of regular activity becoming aerobic activity.
Fact
When you exercise aerobically, you take in greater amounts of oxygen and deliver it more deeply in the body. The body loves regular bouts of oxygen-rich exercise, and the benefits appear not only during exercise but also while the body is at rest.
One intensity level above and beyond aerobic exercise is anaerobic exercise. To make great strides in cardiovascular health, you can use anaerobic exercise intermittently during your exercise session to overload the cardiovascular system.
You can't sustain anaerobic exercise for very long. It's comparable to a sprint — you work as hard and as fast as you can for less than a minute. These intervals of high-intensity exercise expand and increase your aerobic capacity by pushing you past your aerobic limits. Then when you go back to your previous aerobic levels, your heart will be stronger, and the work will feel easier.
