Two Reasons Why You Should Do Aerobic Exercise

There are 2 great benefits that come from doing Aerobic exercise.  Whether you do your aerobic exercise correctly, is another question, considering that is the number 1 workout mistake I see all the time.

The primary reason everyone should be doing some ‘aerobic’ training is that it helps your body ‘burn fat’ the other 23 hours of the day – you are not working out.

When you perform your aerobic exercise ‘correctly’ it expands your aerobic capacity, by increasing the number of mitochondria inside the muscles themselves.  This makes you more efficient at burning fat the other 23 hours of the day.

Not to get to technical, but mitochondria are little cells that generate ‘energy’ for us, which is why they are called the powerhouse of the body. They live inside all the tissues of our body, especially our muscles – because these little guys are responsible for the production of energy.  So the more mitochondria you have the more efficient and aerobically fit you become, which makes you better at burning fat! 

What’s important to know is – you actually increase the number of mitochondria in your muscles when you do aerobic exercise and activate Aerobic Metabolism.  The problem I spoke about earlier is that most people do their aerobic exercise at a speed that is too fast for their aerobic conditioning. Basically they walk, jog, bike, swim, dance, etc. too fast for their aerobic conditioning. This activates ‘anaerobic’ metabolism – instead of ‘aerobic’ metabolism, which doesn’t help your body burn fat 23/7. 

So get your aerobic exercise in if you want to burn fat, instead of simply burning calories.  Keep in mind, it’s not how many calories you burn – its making sure you Burn Calories from Fats.  Your body burns calories from the breakdown of either fats, carbohydrates or proteins (lean muscle).  Marketers of various weight loss products will talk about burning more calories, but the real secret is in making sure your metabolism hasn’t shifted and is burning more carbs and lean muscle instead of fats 23/7. Test Your Metabolism!

The second reason to do aerobic exercise and this may apply more to those who realize they are not immortal anymore.  The over 40 crowd.  This is usually the time you starting hearing about friends who have heart disease and heart attacks. 

The big benefit of aerobic exercise is that it definitely helps lower your risk of having a heart attack and dying.  The first clue that you might have heart disease is an actual heart attack – which you may or may not live through.  So be smart and get your regular dose of aerobic exercise and help lower your risk of a heart attack.

To wrap it up – I’m a huge fan of performing both aerobic and anaerobic training, which includes any type of high intensity training, interval training, endurance training.  It’s figuring out what percentage of each type of exercise will give you the results you are looking and sweating for. It’s all about the Time, Energy, and Money….the TEAM!  Eat Right and Train Smart!