Everyone knows that exercise can be divided into two types: "aerobic exercise" and "anaerobic exercise", so which kind of exercise does cycling belong to? Usually most people distinguish between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise by the length of exercise time. In fact, the main difference between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise is based on the proportion of their energy supply system. When the human body is exercising, the muscles need energy supply. If the energy comes from aerobic metabolism in cells, it is aerobic exercise; if the energy comes from anaerobic metabolism, it is anaerobic exercise.
The Relationship Between Movement and Energy Supply System
It's covered in the book "The American Physical Strength Association's Personal Trainer Fundamentals." The human body has three major energy supply systems: the phosphagen system, the glycolysis system, and the aerobic oxidation system. The energy supply of the three major systems during exercise is neither in the form of "taking turns" nor "going hand in hand". When the human body is in different motion states, each system supplies energy according to a certain ratio. As for the relationship between the energy supply system and aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise, we can know that time and exercise intensity determine the ratio of the three major energy supply systems, and it is also an important indicator to determine whether the exercise performed is aerobic exercise or anaerobic exercise.
Aerobic Exercise VS Anaerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise: The advantage is that it can increase the body's intake of oxygen and consume excess heat in the body more effectively. It is characterized by low intensity, rhythmic and long duration, requiring no less than 30 minutes for each exercise, no less than three times a week. During aerobic exercise, oxygen can fully burn (that is, oxidize) sugar in the body, and can also consume body fat, improve human endurance, and enhance cardiopulmonary function; in addition, it also has the effect of preventing osteoporosis and regulating psychological and mental states. Common aerobic exercises include walking, jogging, cycling, tai chi, fitness dancing, and so on.
Anaerobic exercise: The biggest feature is that the oxygen intake during exercise is very low. Due to the excessive speed and explosive force, the sugar in the human body has no time to be decomposed by oxygen, and has to rely on "anaerobic energy supply". If a large number of intermediate metabolites such as pyruvic acid and lactic acid produced when decomposing sugar are not eliminated in time, these acidic products accumulate in cells and blood and become "fatigue toxins", which will make people feel fatigued, muscle sore, and breathing, rapid heartbeat and arrhythmia, and even acidosis in severe cases, and increase the burden on the liver and kidneys. Therefore, after anaerobic exercise, the human body is always exhausted, and it takes several days for muscle soreness to disappear.
Common anaerobic sports include sprinting, weightlifting, throwing, high jump, long jump, and tug-of-war.
Is Cycling an Aerobic or Anaerobic Exercise?
From the above information, we can see that aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise can be judged by time and exercise intensity. During cycling, they are usually distinguished according to the heart rate and intensity of riding. And it is usually divided into 5 intervals:
50%-60% of the maximum heart rate (for a 20-year-old person, 50% or 60%×200=100-120 beats/min): recovery zone. light exercise can be used for warm-up and riding and recovery after;
60%-70% of maximum heart rate: low-intensity aerobic zone. Moderate aerobic exercise, the source of exercise energy is mainly body fat, which can effectively lose weight;
70%-80% of maximum heart rate: high-intensity aerobic zone. Strong aerobic exercise, a large amount of glycogen in the muscle is decomposed and consumed;
80%-90% of maximum heart rate: anaerobic zone. Most of the muscles are in the state of anaerobic respiration, with a large accumulation of lactic acid, strong anaerobic exercise, and improved anaerobic capacity, suitable for professional athletes or amateur riders who often participate in competitions;
90%-100% of maximum heart rate: limit zone. The limit of human movement will cause serious impact on the body system. Exercise at this intensity requires extreme caution.
According to the above distinctions, it can be seen that most of the time cycling is aerobic exercise, but not all of them. Some of them, such as 1KM time trial, track race, and wheel racing, etc, these short-distance events are almost all anaerobic exercises.
Benefits of Aerobic Exercise
Improve physical condition: In the process of doing aerobic exercise, the body needs a lot of oxygen, which can promote the blood circulation of the body to become faster. With adequate oxygen, the brain is clearer and lung capacity and heart function are better improved.
Relieve stress: When doing aerobic exercise, the body’s oxygen is supplied to the whole body with the blood. With appropriate exercise, it can eliminate tension, adjust mood, resolve bad emotions, release psychological depression, forget troubles, and at the same time bring For physical and mental pleasure.