There are two types or categories of exercise: aerobic and anaerobic. Each has its benefits in and of themselves, but a combination of both is best in order to achieve total body health.

Let’s start with aerobic activity.

Most everyone understands what aerobic activity is all about. The term has been used to describe a certain type of exercise routine that is often done in a class. If you are attending an aerobics class most people imagine that you will be jumping around and performing dance routines to music. By the end of the class you will be soaking wet and panting like a dog. This is the basis of aerobic activity, but it is not the only type that exists.

Aerobic simply implies the use of oxygen. More oxygen is taken into the body and delivered to the cells so they can perform their job of keeping your body functioning in tiptop shape. Aerobic activity helps the heart and lungs to work better. The lungs receive the oxygen and transport it to the cells via the blood. The heart pumps blood throughout the body and drops off the by-product carbon dioxide to the lungs where it is exhaled out of the body.

Regular aerobic exercise keeps our bodies functioning in peak condition. Our muscles need more oxygen when we exercise and aerobic exercise provides that oxygen. At first, our heart rate will soar because our bodies aren’t used to the increased activity. As we continue to exercise, our heart will become accustomed to it and both our heart beat and blood pressure will lower during activity.

We will also experience less fatigue. Fatigue is due to the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles. Once we learn to breathe properly during exercise, more oxygen will be delivered to the muscle cells and less lactic acid will be produced. We’ll be able to exercise longer. Aerobic activity lowers our total cholesterol and raises the level of good cholesterol in the blood. Good cholesterol removes plaque from our arteries so that deposits don’t build up and narrow the opening that blood has to flow through.

Now we come to anaerobic exercise.

These exercises are done “without oxygen.” You are of course still breathing, but anaerobic exercises are designed to build up muscle. The movements work directly on the muscle fibers to elongate and shorten them, all the while building up more muscle.

Growing more muscle means less of a deficit when muscle tissue is lost as we age. For the overall health of the body, muscle burns more calories than fat. Aerobic exercise burns stored fat after a certain point is reached. Anaerobic exercises keep the muscle working even when you are sleeping at night. Imagine: Your body becomes a fat burning powerhouse 24/7.

Anaerobic exercise is also referred to as strength training or weight lifting. Many women don’t like the term “weight lifting” because it brings to mind muscle-bound men with arms and legs the size of tree trunks. Strength training is meant to burn fat and increase muscle growth. How much that muscle grows depends on the repetitions of the exercises and the amount of weight used.

The ideal exercise program will use some of both aerobic and anaerobic exercises so that both muscle tone, which will build strength and help to burn fat, along with increased oxygen to the vital organs of the body, will be provided.