Is aerobic exercise or anaerobic exercise suitable for weight loss?

Should I choose aerobic or anaerobic for weight loss? The answer is that there is no absolute optimal solution. It depends on your current weight base, weight loss aspirations, and even the time you can devote to exercise. There is no standard answer that is universally applicable. Don't believe the extreme either/or opinions on the Internet. Whether they advocate "aerobic is the best way to lose weight" or "without oxygen, you will lose weight without rebounding", they are all hooligans based on individual circumstances.

In the past two years, I took over a large number of students, who are 172cm tall and 180 pounds tall. When I first started, I followed the blogger to practice squats and deadlifts. Within two days, my knees hurt so much that I couldn't walk. Later, I was advised to start with the elliptical machine for 40 minutes a day, and controlled my high-fat and high-sugar intake. I lost 22 pounds steadily in two months, and my joints were fine, so I slowly added strength training. I have also met a girl at the other extreme who couldn't stop running 5 kilometers every day and lost 11 pounds in two months. As a result, she stopped traveling for half a month and regained 8 pounds. The meat on her arms is still loose. In fact, she lost not only fat but also some muscle through pure aerobic exercise. The basal metabolic rate of muscle mass decreases. In the past, eating 1500 calories can make you lose weight, but now eating 1200 calories may increase your scale. This is the core reason for rebound.

As for different viewpoints, both sides actually make sense. Traditional sports nutrition has always recognized the immediate benefits of aerobic. After all, the calorie consumption of aerobic per unit time is indeed higher. One hour of running can burn 500 to 600 calories, which is about 200 more calories than one hour of strength training. Moreover, the threshold for novices is extremely low. You don’t need to learn complicated movements. You can just put on shoes and go out. If you just want to lose weight quickly in the short term, such as wearing a dress for a photo shoot next week, doing more aerobics will really bring quick results. But in recent years, practitioners in the strength training circle have paid more attention to the long-term value of anaerobic. After all, the caloric gap created by aerobics will rebound faster than losing weight as long as you return to your previous diet and exercise. The increase in basal metabolism brought about by muscle gain is a real "slimming down" buff. When I was building muscle, I could eat 1,800 calories a day and still slowly lose body fat. When I switched to pure aerobics, I would have to worry about gaining weight even if I ate 1,600 calories. The difference is really obvious.

But you want to say that anaerobic is all advantages? Not really. Novices know nothing at all. If you practice blindly, it is easy to injure your waist and knees, and you won’t lose weight at all in the early stage. Your weight will even increase by two or three pounds because your muscles store water. Many people give up immediately when they lose their mentality. This is also the reason why many people say that they can’t lose weight without oxygen – they don’t wait until the effect is seen. Oh, by the way, there are still people who argue every day about whether aerobic exercise will cause muscle loss. In fact, as long as you do aerobic exercise no more than 5 times a week, no more than 1 hour each time, and eat 1.2-1.6g of protein per kilogram of body weight every day, you will not lose much muscle at all. There is no need to be too anxious to go out for a walk because of this.

You really don’t need to make too strict a plan for yourself, just do whatever feels comfortable. If you have a large base weight, do low-intensity aerobics at the beginning to protect your joints first. It’s not too late to add strength after your body fat has dropped by 3-5 points. ； If you have a small base and your weight is not high, but you are loose and want to look good in clothes, just do anaerobic and add aerobic once or twice a week to brush off the surface fat. ； If you can't find time to exercise a few times a week and only have 40 minutes to spare each time, then it's better to practice strength training for 25 minutes and then walk on the elliptical machine for 15 minutes, which will maximize the cost-effectiveness. I also met a student last week who said that she had to pick up her children after get off work every day and couldn't spare the whole time to exercise. I asked her to get off the car two stops early when sending her children to school and walk quickly. When doing homework with her children in the evening, she did several sets of squats and squats against the wall. She also lost 6 pounds in two months and her waist circumference was reduced by 3 centimeters. Anything that is aerobic or non-aerobic, and can use fragmented time to move is better than anything else.

Harmful, after all, the core of losing weight is never whether you choose aerobic or anaerobic, but whether you can persist. I’ve seen people lose weight by going to the gym every day and lifting weights, and I’ve seen people lose weight by dancing square dances with neighborhood aunts every night, but I’ve never seen people lose weight by struggling with which exercise to choose every day and never moving. If you like running and blowing air, go for it. If you like the sense of accomplishment from lifting irons, go for it. Any exercise that makes you willing to do it three or four times a week is the most suitable weight loss exercise for you. Oh, by the way, don’t forget, exercise accounts for at most 30% of weight loss. If you go to eat hot pot milk tea after exercising every day, any exercise will be useless.