Aerobic exercise burns fat in the duration of exercise, although it has little effect afterwards. Intense anaerobic exercise increases the metabolism hours after exercise because of the increase in strength of muscles. According to Rick Hammer, the head distance coach at Lewis University: “Those who do anaerobic workouts do not involve their heart and could be in trouble in the long run for heart health. Those who exercise only aerobically lack muscular strength and only have endurance. You should do both types of exercise, whether you are training to compete, lose weight, or for fitness” …show more content…
According to Webster’s dictionary, aerobic simply means with oxygen and anaerobic means without oxygen. Therefore, distance runners have a much higher aerobic capacity than do sprinters because their lungs and heart require more oxygen. Sprinters generally spend more time running sudden, short bursts, so not much oxygen is needed. Distance runners run primarily for a long sustained period of time, so more oxygen is needed. A 100-meter sprint is almost entirely anaerobic, whereas a marathon is primarily aerobic. “However during the early stages of exercise and during short bouts of exercise the energy is anaerobic, derived from the splitting of energy-rich substances stored within the muscle cell without oxygen” (Getchell, 1976). This is seen in a mile race. The race itself is focused more on aerobic, although when the runner is finishing the last stretch of the mile race, usually they will rely on fast-twitch muscles to allow them to sprint to the finish. Rick Hammer