If I do 10 ( max is 20) pushups are they aerobic or anaerobic?If running is aerobic then why does it produce a burning sensation?
In: 1
Aerobic means with oxygen and anaerobic means without oxygen. All the exercise you do starts out as aerobic, but once you lose your breath and start breathing a lot more heavily, that means you swapped over to anaerobic.
It’s been a little while since iv done pe in school, so this may not be that accurate, but I hope it helps
You can do any activity as either aerobic or anaerobic. It just depends on the intensity and what your own body can do. The burning sensation after a few minutes is the lactic acid produced when you do anaerobic exercise. It comes because your body is not able to deliver oxygen to your muscles fast enough. If you take it a bit more calm, waiting a bit between pushup repetitions and sets, slowing down the run to more of a jog, etc. then your muscles is not using oxygen faster then it can be delivered and you will be in the aerobic range. As you get more fit your body will be able to deliver more oxygen to your muscles so you can run faster and take pushups faster.
Aerobic refers to processes that require oxygen to produce energy, typically through sustained, low-intensity activities like jogging. Anaerobic, on the other hand, occurs in the absence of oxygen and involves short bursts of intense activity, such as weightlifting or sprinting, relying on alternative energy sources like glycogen.
Exercises aren’t aerobic or anaerobic, not ‘really’
the way your body generates power to do things you want to do is what is aerobic or anaerobic
your anaerobic system is what gives you that immediate burst of short term power, anything you do for 5-10s or whatever is mostly using your anaerobic system
your aerobic system generates less peak power but can go ‘forever’ for hours and hours at least
so 1 rep max heavy squat is anaerobic because that’s the system in the body that its using to do the work
if you wanted to do 100 squats that would be an aerobic exercise
cycling is largely aerobic until you try and sprint up a hill at the end of a 3h ride then you’re using your anaerobic system
and both those things work the muscles, both can produce burning sensations
Anaerobic is “emergency” exercise without the need for oxygen, however it is less efficient than aerobic exercise, once the exercise is over additional oxygen is needed to deal with the toxic mess created during anaerobic exercise which can lead you to feel aches in your muscles as your body is telling you don’t do this again for a few minutes while we recover. Exercise isn’t always a clear anaerobic vs aerobic sometimes your body uses both at the same time especially making use of myoglobin in the muscles. Myoglobin like haemoglobin is an iron based protein which binds oxygen to itself. However myoglobin is found in the skeletal muscles and acts as an oxygen store in times of need. https://youtu.be/t6kQhilO04c
The burning has little to do with anything here and can happen with any muscle contraction/exercise, but it is *not* lactic acid. We really aren’t sure what causes muscle pain during exercise. We aren’t that sure of what causes delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) either, but we still know it’s absolutely not lactic acid.
Simple answer: if you’re working out at roughly 65% of your maximum intensity (check an NCSA chart–10 reps is NOT 50% of 20), so you are comfortably in low-intensity aerobic exercise. Though all 3 energy systems are always active. And when you initiate your first pushup, your anaerobic systems (PCr and glycogen) are providing most of the energy.
Aerobic means “in the presence of oxygen”, anaerobic means “without oxygen”. I’m not sure how people are applying these terms to exercise, but they’re not doing it accurately. If you’re alive, it’s all aerobic.
Latest Answers