Aerobic Exercise Does Not Efficiently Burn Fat

When it comes to the champion of fat-burning exercises, aerobic exercise is often mentioned. Aerobic exercise, as the name suggests, is a type of exercise that utilizes oxygen to burn fat in the body.

The characteristic of aerobic exercise is that the longer the duration and the lower the intensity, the higher the utilization of oxygen, or aerobic capacity. Conversely, short-duration, high-intensity exercises are considered anaerobic exercises.

Whether an exercise belongs to aerobic exercise is not determined by the type of activity, such as walking, running, swimming, or cycling, but rather by the intensity and duration of the exercise. Exercises with high aerobic capacity are considered aerobic exercises, while those with high anaerobic capacity are considered anaerobic exercises.

For example, walking is considered a lower-intensity exercise compared to running, as it can be sustained for a longer duration. Therefore, walking is a form of exercise with higher aerobic capacity.

However, when comparing running to sprinting, running becomes a higher-intensity aerobic exercise. The faster the running speed, the higher the anaerobic capacity. As the intensity of the exercise increases, the duration that can be sustained decreases.

Can you run a full marathon of 42 kilometers at the speed of a full sprint for 5 kilometers? Obviously, it's not possible. Therefore, compared to a full sprint of 5 kilometers, running a marathon has a higher aerobic capacity.

Based on this basic principle, a person who lacks exercise and becomes breathless while running is clearly not taking in enough oxygen. In this state, they are engaging in anaerobic exercise. Such a state is obviously not sustainable for a long time. If you want to exercise for a longer duration, it is better to choose an exercise that does not disrupt your breathing rhythm.

In other words, if you want to maximize the efficiency of aerobic exercise, you must choose exercises that allow you to maintain a normal breathing rhythm.

By now, you probably understand that walking is more suitable for weight loss compared to running. However, there is another issue to consider.

It is commonly believed that the higher the efficiency of aerobic exercise, the more fat is burned. However, this only increases the efficiency of fat burning within a given time period. By extending the duration of the exercise, the intensity is inevitably reduced, and the overall amount of exercise decreases. As a result, although the fat-burning efficiency may be high, the total calories burned are reduced.

In fact, even in aerobic exercises that are known to burn fat most efficiently, approximately half of the calories burned come from carbohydrates.

As mentioned earlier, running for 30 minutes can burn approximately 200 calories, but in reality, not all of those 200 calories come from fat. About half of it comes from carbohydrates, while the remaining calories come from the conversion of fat burning. Although aerobic exercise is efficient for fat loss, it is only to a certain extent.

Although the fat-burning efficiency of walking is higher than running, the overall amount of exercise is lower. Walking for 30 minutes can burn approximately 100 calories, which is only half of the calories burned during an equivalent time of running. Therefore, walking would require twice the amount of time to burn more fat compared to running.

Now, do you understand?

If you want to lose fat through low-calorie-burning aerobic exercise, according to the rule that approximately 1 kilogram of fat equals 7,200 calories, the task is quite challenging.

Of course, if you can persistently engage in exercise, body fat will gradually decrease, bit by bit. However, for the sake of rapid weight loss, engaging in high-intensity exercise for a long time can actually stimulate a strong appetite, ultimately leading to weight rebound.

Taking everything into account, we will discover another truth about weight loss: contrary to what we have believed, aerobic exercise is not an efficient way to burn fat. For individuals aiming to lose weight, choosing aerobic exercise is not very effective.

We already know that in order to increase fat-burning efficiency, it is better to choose exercises with lower intensity. However, by doing so, the exercise duration needs to be prolonged to achieve the desired fat loss effect.

For example, if you want to lose fat by walking, it would require spending 1 hour to burn 200 calories. In addition to the 1-hour walking time, you also need to consider the preparation and recovery time before and after exercise. It is rare for people to find so much time in their daily lives for the purpose of weight loss.

Waking up early to jog and walking home after work... Initially, it may not seem burdensome, but if you cannot enjoy walking as a form of leisure and maintain a positive attitude and strong motivation, it is unlikely that you will be able to sustain it.

For the sake of losing weight, forcing yourself to do such monotonous and boring activities every day, even if you can persist, it will be incredibly painful.

No matter how much you want to lose weight, if the weight loss process is so uninteresting, it will be difficult to maintain.