Is strength training anaerobic exercise?

Of course not, these two concepts are completely different categories. Just like asking "Is fruit sweet?", the judging criteria are completely different. Many fitness enthusiasts who have practiced for three to five years easily equate them.

The core distinction between aerobic and anaerobic exercise is based on the proportion of the energy supply system: short-term, high-intensity exercise that relies on phosphagen and glycolysis for energy and does not require the participation of oxygen is anaerobic-dominated; long-term, medium-low-intensity exercise that relies on aerobic oxidation for energy is aerobic-dominated.； Strength training is divided according to training goals. Any resistance training with the goal of improving muscle strength, circumference, and endurance is considered strength training and has no binding relationship with the energy supply mode.

Many introductory popular sciences will directly classify strength training into anaerobic classification. In fact, it is to lower the understanding threshold for novices. After all, most people practice muscle-building/strength-building sets with heavy weight and few reps on a daily basis, such as sprinting for 1RM deadlifts and bench presses for 8 reps. Each set only takes ten or twenty seconds, and the set interval is long. It is true that anaerobic energy supply is absolutely dominant. This simplified statement is enough for people who are new to fitness, and it cannot be wrong, but it is not rigorous enough.

Last month I took my cousin who was just getting started to do shoulder exercises. After warming up, I gave her 2.5kg small dumbbells to do lateral raises. She could do 25 in one set steadily. She didn't pant at all except for a little soreness in her shoulders, and her heart rate just reached 100. At this time, the proportion of aerobic energy supply is actually higher than that of anaerobic energy. You can't say this is not strength training, right? There are also guys who practice CrossFit in our gym. One of the WOD items that they often practice is to complete as many as 15 air cleans and 10 burpees in 15 minutes. There is almost no rest during the whole process. After the exercise, you are out of breath. It is the three energy supply systems of phosphate, glycolysis and aerobic working together. You can't directly say that it is purely anaerobic.

In fact, there is really no need to dig into the boundaries of this concept. Understanding the logic behind it can help you adjust your training plan: if you want to build strength and muscle, arrange more heavy-weight, low-rep, anaerobic-dominated groups. If you want to balance muscle endurance and fat removal, you can do more high-rep short-interval strength training. Mixing up the energy supply mode will be more in line with your training goals.