Aerobics and Weight Lifting

Traditional fitness and exercise gurus have often slammed weightlifting  as having a minimal impact on cardiovascular health and overall health, because of its lack of being an aerobic exercise. Current medical thinking has not only debunked this myth, with several studies that prove there is an aerobic content to general weightlifting, there is now also a whole school of thought among the workout community that could be considered aerobic weightlifting. Aerobic weightlifting combines the best of traditional weightlifting exercises and techniques, with traditional cardio workouts, for improved overall health and fitness.

Traditional weight lifting or weight training insist on a rest period between each set of exercises. Aerobic weight lifting borrows from the philosophy of circuit training. In simple terms it means keep moving don’t stop, move form one exercise to the next without a rest period. This increases the need for blood infused oxygen to power you muscles, and forces the lungs and heart to work harder, effectively an aerobic work out. If you are workingout at home and do not have a multi- station gym machine and cannot move directly form one weightlifting exercise to the next without stopping to change weight plates on your barbells, you can get the cardio benefit by doing a little traditional aerobic exercises between sets, like skipping rope.

You will find that you will be less sore after doing this kind of aerobic weightlifting.  This type of weightlifting promotes the removal of toxins and poisons in the body. During a traditional weightlifting workout when the muscles are at rest during the rest cycle, these toxins are given the ability to build up in the muscles, by keeping the blood moving with aerobics, they are more likely to be flushed out. Yet the continuous lifting does keep the muscles fatigued which is the basis for them to rebuild as in traditional weightlifting.

Combining aerobics with weightlifting in one form or another has proven health benefits, especially for middle-aged people. A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people in the study aged 5575 lowered the degree of metabolic syndrome – a condition combining diabetes and heart disease – 41 percent, with a 6 month program of aerobic exercises and weightlifting.

Aerobic weightlifting can break the monotony of a traditional weight lifting routine. Aerobic weightlifting through circuit training can help introduce people to weightlifting who otherwise felt it was not for them. By working out with aerobic styled weightlifting you really do achieve the best of both worlds, you can get all  of the cardiovascular and fat burning benefits of traditional aerobics, and the building up of lean muscle mass, increased strength and stamina of traditional weightlifting, all in one workout