Anaerobic Vs. Aerobic Intervals

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

In Alwyn Cosgrove’s article “The Hierarchy of Fat Loss” He distinguishes high intensity anaerobic interval training from high intensity aerobic interval training, but doesn’t give any examples of what high intensity anaerobic interval training.

Could someone give me some examples of each of these? From how I understand the article, High Intensity Anaerobic Interval Training is different from Metabolic Resistance Training(squats, bench press, deadlift, etc.)

Does anyone have any high intensity anaerobic interval training routines that have been very effective for them towards fat loss?

Thanks everyone.

2

I assume he means something like Tabatas. Do squats, sprints, bike or whatever, go flat out for 20 seconds, rest/coast for 10 seconds, repeat 8 times. Die.

3

Here are examples of what I do for each.

For the High Intensity Anaerobic Interval Training I’ll do things like (200 x 4-5) x 2 @ 75% of my 200 max with 2-3 minutes recovery between 200’s and 6 minutes recovery between sets or (500, 300 x 3) x 2 @ 75% of 400 max with 6 minutes after the 500 and 3 minutes between 300 with 6-8 minutes between sets. For these workouts I try to keep a 1:4 ratio of running to recovery.

For the High Intensity Aerobic Interval Training I’ll do (400 x 5) x 2 @ 1500 pace with 1 minute recovery between the 400’s and 4 minutes rest between sets. Usually for these I try to keep a 1:1 ratio of running to recovery.

5

Part of the discrepancy may come in on how we are determining our pace. I base all my running off competition performances. If I was to base it off of my training maxes I’d be running around 85-90%.

The anaerobic interval rest may seem long, but if run @ 75% of your competition max it’s not. My typical workouts would be (200 x 4-5) x 2 @ 27.5 seconds/200 w/ 2-3 minutes rest. (500, 300 x 3) x 2 @ 75s/500, 43-44s/300. Give it a try, if you can walk afterward you’re a better man than I.

6

I tried what Dan John published the other day :

Front squat for 8 reps (quality, deep reps only please)
Rest exactly ten seconds

Front squat for 8 reps
Rest exactly ten seconds

Front squat for 8 reps
Rest exactly ten seconds

Front squat for 8 reps
Rest exactly ten seconds

Front squat for 8 reps
Rest exactly ten seconds

Front squat for 8 reps
Rest exactly ten seconds

Front squat for 8 reps
Rest exactly ten seconds

Front squat for 8 reps

Now, keel over.

I did that with a measly 65 pounds. For the first 15 minutes, i was breathing hard and sweating, after, I felt a bit weak and nauseous. After, I was very hot (metabolic rate was high I suppose).

that would be an excellent exemple of anaerobic intervals.

Another i was doing was 15 sec. skipping rope at max speed, 45 sec. rest. repeat for 10-15 minutes. Cry. But I think I love the tabatas better, they kick your ass more (which is a good thing) and take way less time. You CAN’T get bored in 4 minutes, not with that program.

8

Purely Opinion but.
The poster above with the Dan John workout appeared to do more of the Metabolic conditioning fromt eh Article, although it will be borderline HIIT also.

In relation to your question and aneorobic HIIT is more similar to a sprinters workout where you completely rest between intervals, and go closer to Max effort. So let’s say run a 100 meters rest for 3-6 minutes as above then run another 100 Meters.

Where as aerobic HIIT is similar to someone trying to get in condition for soccer or basketball where they sprint the field then jog back, then sprint again.

Keep in mind that these workouts are individual. For some Offensive Lineman running a 100 would be aerobic, where as a wide reciever it would be aneorobic. The Key is how much you recover between intervals, and how much intensity you give during the intervals.

9

Thanks for all the input.
I’m getting a kettlebell, 35 pounder, and was going to do one handed snatches, cleans, jerks, etc. with it and was just seeing if this would fit his idea of anaerobic interval training and it seems like it would for me. Probably high rep sets of 15 or 20 is what I’ll be doing, not sure yet since I haven’t gotten it yet.

My lifts are horribly low right now:
BP: 180
Squat: 225
Deadlift: 245

and I was thinking of doing 30s sprint/90s walk alternating for 12 min. and increase duration from there.

Does this sound right to cover those two types of training?

10

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
Purely Opinion but.
The poster above with the Dan John workout appeared to do more of the Metabolic conditioning fromt eh Article, although it will be borderline HIIT also.

In relation to your question and aneorobic HIIT is more similar to a sprinters workout where you completely rest between intervals, and go closer to Max effort. So let’s say run a 100 meters rest for 3-6 minutes as above then run another 100 Meters.

Where as aerobic HIIT is similar to someone trying to get in condition for soccer or basketball where they sprint the field then jog back, then sprint again.

Keep in mind that these workouts are individual. For some Offensive Lineman running a 100 would be aerobic, where as a wide reciever it would be aneorobic. The Key is how much you recover between intervals, and how much intensity you give during the intervals.[/quote]

I think you got it backwards. The goal of an aneorobic workout is to not have complete recovery. With HIIT style running you don’t stop, you run 400 meters than jog 400 meters.

I guess this debate centers around what produces the most metabolic damage, lactate production being the indicator of said damage.

An even better indicator would be a person bf percentage before and after anerobic work.

11

Jeez, you guys make no sense. Dumb it down. Super Dumb it down.

Anaerobic- Sprint at full blast for 20 seconds, rest for 10, then rinse and repeat

Aerobic= I have no idea. I thought aerobic was supposed to be jogging for 2 hours straight.

12

Anaerobic interval training. Do something hard for 10-:90 seconds. Rest. Repeat. The less time you do something the harder it had better be and vice versa. If you do something for :10-:25/:30 seconds you can use a 1:1 work rest ratio (even less when you are doing work for :10-:20 seconds) when you exceed :30 seconds you will start needing much more rest. When you get up to :90 seconds you will need alot of rest, as much as 4 minutes.

13

I would say that aerobic intervals have greater work periods where as anaerobic has more rest periods.

It’s really dependent on the fitness of the athlete. A basketball game is an aerobic activity for an unfit player, but for a fit, well conditioned NBA player its predominantly anaerobic.

You have to make sure your heart rate goes low enough for proper recovery.

Thats about 30 beats above your resting heart rate.

If someone has some good formulas on this I’d like to learn them.

14

[quote]coloradosteve wrote:

I think you got it backwards. The goal of an aneorobic workout is to not have complete recovery. With HIIT style running you don’t stop, you run 400 meters than jog 400 meters.

[/quote]

That would no longer be considered true anaerobic work because you aren’t letting the phosphagen/glycolytic stores rebuild before you’re next interval. What you describe is more akin to aerobic interval training.

Going by the track idea:

Sprinting the straightaways and walking the curves is more along the lines of anaerobic interval training because you are working super hard for ~15 seconds then walking the curves you let yourself rest for ~1-2 minutes. Though to truly refresh your phosphagen stores you want to aim for a longer rest than even that.

TC’s 50 yard article was an example of a good anaerobic interval. To start you sprint for 25 yards which is ~4 seconds of work, then you rest for a minute so your work to rest ratio is around 1:15.

15

[quote]barbellman wrote:
Thanks for all the input.
I’m getting a kettlebell, 35 pounder, and was going to do one handed snatches, cleans, jerks, etc. with it and was just seeing if this would fit his idea of anaerobic interval training and it seems like it would for me. Probably high rep sets of 15 or 20 is what I’ll be doing, not sure yet since I haven’t gotten it yet.

My lifts are horribly low right now:
BP: 180
Squat: 225
Deadlift: 245

and I was thinking of doing 30s sprint/90s walk alternating for 12 min. and increase duration from there.

Does this sound right to cover those two types of training?[/quote]

Whether or not these workouts fall in the anaerobic or aerobic depends on what inensity you are doing them at and how much recovery you are taking.

Personally if I did a 30s sprint w/ 90s walk it would definately fall in the anaerobic HIIT category, but then what I consider a sprint may be different then you.

The kettlebell I believe should be anaerobic as long as you aren’t taking full recovery. I don’t really have any suggestions for recovery time on these since I never use weight training for anaerobic work.

Personally I think you’ll have to try them out and find what works for you.

16

I stand corrected by ColoradoSteve.

And I think everybody on here is missing the point of the OPs question. Which is HIIT versus aerobic interval training.

Pure Anaerobic conditioning does require full rest, however this is not the point of HIIT if anybody looks up the origin of it. It’s main goal is elevated heart rate combined with max work. So Sprinting a 100 then jogging a 100 then sprinting. It would still be HIIT if it was 400 also.

I was comparing it to track which is slightly different because the athletes are trying to maximize their performance, not fat loss. So these athletes would want to completely rest before doing there next set, so that they can give as close to 100% as possible.

For the sake of Aerobic Inteverals training versus HIIT you could probably do the same workout, just for aerobics you would do it for double the time, and a little less intense.

***Elite or not running up and down a basketball court for 48 minutes is predominately aerobic.

17

[quote]Airtruth wrote:

***Elite or not running up and down a basketball court for 48 minutes is predominately aerobic.
[/quote]

According to Mel Siff and Poliquin you are incorrect.

Most sports are predominantly anaerobic. The exception is the constant shit boring sports like marathons, triathlons and cross country skiiing if i’m not mistaken.

Think about it. If you have good recovery your stay anaerobic. Its all in the conditioning.

If basket ballers were aerobic athletes they wouldn’t be able to slam dunk.

18

Is the question being asked here the difference between lactate based interval training (E.g. Tabatas or any activities where there is a large build up of lactate in the muscles) and a-lactate based interval training (E.g. wind sprints or other activities with little to no external resistance)?

To me that difference is more distinguishable than aerobic vs anaerobic. I’m not even sure what an aerobic interval would be as the work threshold is very low for anything to be considered aerobic.

Both lactate based HIIT and a-lactate based HIIT are excellent for a number of purposes including improved sports specific performance, better cardio vascular capacity (which is great for olympic lifting) and fat loss of course. Dependent on your goals both are excellent to incorporate into your program.

Not sure if that’s what you’re getting at I hope that helps.

Sasha

19

[quote]Backlash79 wrote:
coloradosteve wrote:

I think you got it backwards. The goal of an aneorobic workout is to not have complete recovery. With HIIT style running you don’t stop, you run 400 meters than jog 400 meters.

That would no longer be considered true anaerobic work because you aren’t letting the phosphagen/glycolytic stores rebuild before you’re next interval. What you describe is more akin to aerobic interval training.

Going by the track idea:

Sprinting the straightaways and walking the curves is more along the lines of anaerobic interval training because you are working super hard for ~15 seconds then walking the curves you let yourself rest for ~1-2 minutes. Though to truly refresh your phosphagen stores you want to aim for a longer rest than even that.

TC’s 50 yard article was an example of a good anaerobic interval. To start you sprint for 25 yards which is ~4 seconds of work, then you rest for a minute so your work to rest ratio is around 1:15.

[/quote]
Tough to say. For weight loss, non-complete recovery is far superior to complete recovery, however; we know the weakness of this program by looking at the strength of bodybuilders. Which is nowhere near the strength of power lifters (I am generalizing here).

But I don’t think this is what we’re debating.

To maximize anaerobic performance I would say complete recovery would not be a sufficient training method either.

To maximize anaerobic performance I would have to say both methods must be used. At least for sports like sprinting.

20

[quote]WolBarret wrote:
Jeez, you guys make no sense. Dumb it down. Super Dumb it down.

Anaerobic- Sprint at full blast for 20 seconds, rest for 10, then rinse and repeat

Aerobic= I have no idea. I thought aerobic was supposed to be jogging for 2 hours straight.[/quote]

You can reach an anerobic state when you jog past your aerobic threshold. Hence in doing so you are no longer using fat as a fuel to produce ATP, now you are using glucose and glycogen.
Find a zone for your heart rate that were you feel comfortable in jogging.

Don’t count the first 3 minutes or so, since you need to warm up and get your body use to burning fat.I do know that the longer you train in this zone you will burn fat, but there are limits of time when you begin.

How long you have to go before you are burning just fat might be ( 35 40 minutes) thats my guess.

Anaerobic training is training without oxygen and your body is using glucose and glycogen to provide the ATP or the energy. Training with weights where you are training for muscular endurance is hard since you are not A) warmed up and B) you’re asking your heart to meet these high demands placed on it.Of course the amount of weight used will have to be less.

Using ones heart rate and having a heart rate zone is best for knowing how long you want to be in a zone that is say above 90% of max.heart rate. start with 220- age= N then 60% and 80% of that, going above that say in the high 80’s you might start to feel winded, then you know you are out of your zone and in an anaerobic limit.
how long you stay there is a matter of fitness.

To find the best type of training is an individual matter since each comes to this with different goals and different levels of fitness.
You can lift weights for muscular strength and raising your metabolism and then you should watch your diet, you will get leaner.

The thing about aerobic fitness is it has benefits for your cardiovascular system. The recommended amount is practically everyday for 30 minutes of a moderately intense level of training. Being in the 60 to 80% zone would do it.

Did i make things more confused for you?