Anaerobic versus Aerobic – What is the Best Exercise to Burn Fat?

Modern exercise science has shown that all exercise is not created equal. Depending on your goals and body type there are some approaches that may yield better results for you than others. In other words, it’s no longer as simple as inputs and outputs. So if your goal were to lose weight, this begs the question - what is the best exercise to burn fat? While not a simple answer, a look into aerobic versus anaerobic exercise could help shed some light on how to approach your workouts.

There are several ways that the terms aerobic and anaerobic exercise get tossed around. The more formal definitions of the two revolve around the level of oxygen consumption needed to perform a given activity. During aerobic exercise there is sufficient oxygen intake to be able to sustain the current level of activity without additional need to use another energy source.  During anaerobic exercise, oxygen consumption is not sufficient to supply the energy demands being placed on your muscles, so your muscles begin to break down sugars, resulting in higher lactic acid production.

However, the simple way to differentiate them is aerobic exercise is light activity you can sustain over long periods of time, such as jogging, while anaerobic activity is bursts of activity for short periods of time, such as sprinting.

And guess what? Both of these exercise types burn fat.

Both cause a resulting boost in metabolism that will last for hours after the workout. The key to getting the best results is to have a workout that incorporates both. Aerobic exercise increases your endurance and cardiac health while anaerobic exercise will not only help you burn fat but also help you gain lean muscle mass.

Jazzercise just so happens to incorporate aerobic and anaerobic exercise into our classes!

Aerobic and anaerobic segments are placed in perfect balance to give you maximum fat burning benefits. Each Jazzercise class has choreographed movements that burn fat aerobically and build lean muscle anaerobically.  All the exercises are carefully designed and choreographed to music to achieve these goals. The tempo of the music along with the style of the moves affects heart rate. The execution of technique and use of resistance trains muscles. The placement and order of the exercises create the aerobic and anaerobic segments that make up the entire workout session. The cardio portion of class is an excellent form of aerobic exercise while the strength training is anaerobic and will help you develop lean muscle that burns more fat.

What is the best way to burn fat? Incorporate both anaerobic and aerobic exercise in a balanced way and you will see Real Results.