Define Aerobics

And still... you asked.

Now don't let all this "science-y" talk scare you. I will keep this super simple.

The simple fact of the matter is that the idea of "aerobic" vs. "anaerobic" exercise is little more than a discussion on how the cells of your body are creating and using fuel. While nutrition is a big part of this equation, it does not really paint the full picture.

Nutrition, when discussing the idea of fueling your body, is really more like an overview (much like looking at a continent on a globe). It will give you an idea of directions in general and possibly give you a generic idea of how to get from one country to another.

What makes an exercise aerobic or anaerobic is like zooming into a city map and examining the street names.

So, to get down to the street we live on - to keep the metaphore rolling - and learn how to define aerobics, we must understand just a little about how a cell (specifically a muscle cell, in this case) creates and uses your body's fuel.

I found this cool picture to show the complexity of the process,
but we just want to know how to define aerobics,
not get our doctorate. So, again, we will
Keep It Super Simple (KISS).

When your body surpasses that supply, anaerobic metabolism becomes the dominate means by which your body supplies fuel.

It is during that form of fuel creation (during explosive, unsustainable spurts of energy use) that we are considered to be performing anaerobic exercise.

Wikipedia has some great information on the subject. It's a little dry, and some pretty deep reading, but you can check it out here (under the "Exercise and Lactate" heading).

If you can't keep it up because it is too intense, you are anaerobically metabolising. Otherwise, you are doing aerobics.

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