How to Choose an Anaerobic Exercise

Participating in an anaerobic exercise, designed to push your body to its maximum workout level, will burn carbs, increase lean muscle and raise your metabolic rate even when you’re not exercising. As your body uses oxygen more quickly than you can restore it, you enter an anaerobic state.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Sprint. Olympic trainers have long known that sprinting for short distances increases a runner's ability to reach a higher level of performance. Even walkers can benefit by walking at normal speed for ten minutes, then walking as fast as possible for one minute.
2. Do sit ups as quickly as possible. By targeting the abdominal muscles for a couple of minutes, without a rest, your body converts glycogen into glucose. As the glucose fuels your body, your abdominal muscles will benefit more quickly than if you did slow sets of sit ups.
3. Head to the local gym. Weight training, in general, is anaerobic as your muscles strain under the heavy weight. Medium to heavy weights are required in order to strain the muscle sufficiently to produce an anaerobic state.
4. Build muscle by doing anaerobic exercises that target problem areas of your body. Professional weight lifters know that creating an intense stress level on a muscle for up to three minutes will maximize their muscle size and definition. Use any weight machine and perform very slow sets, keeping the stress on your muscle for over one minute. If your muscles don't burn, you're not using enough weight.
5. Cross-train with an aerobic activity. Aerobic exercises use increased oxygen in your bloodstream, after a period of at least 15 minutes to tone and burn calories. Combine any aerobic exercise, such as biking, by riding normally for 15 minutes, then riding as fast as you can for two or three minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• Use anaerobic exercises when you want to build strength and muscle endurance.
• See your physician before starting any new exercise program.