Came across an interesting series of articles by a guy called Sock-Doc on health benefits of aerobic fitness.
Aerobic vs Anaerobic Cardio Training
His philosophy seems perfectly in line with Peat when it comes to the health-damaging effects of anaerobic metabolism and that what most people think of as "aerobic" steady-state exercise is actually a form of chronic anaerobic exercise which is ultimately deleterious to health when done excessively. The vast majority of harmful effects attributed to exercise is due to people exercising too hard for their aerobic fitness level and thus rather exercising anaerobically.
Their key difference seems to be that Peat believes any type of chronic endurance exercise, with the exception of very low-intensity stuff like walking, should be avoided, whereas this guy says regular moderate-intensity activity at 70-75% of HRmax (a la Maffetone) to improve ones aerobic fitness is crucial for good health. Basically the better your aerobic fitness, the less likely your body is to switch to harmful anaerobic metabolism during any given activity. The better your aerobic fitness, the better your ability to produce energy and the better your autonomic nervous system balance, which profoundly alters your resiliance to stress. Having a strong aerobic fitness may be one of the most important overall anti-stress factors.
Peat seems to agree that having a good aerobic metabolism is key to good health, but he doesnt really adress how to improve the efficiency of ones aerobic metabolism, maybe because improving aerobic metabolism requires aerobic exercise?
Aerobic vs Anaerobic Cardio Training
His philosophy seems perfectly in line with Peat when it comes to the health-damaging effects of anaerobic metabolism and that what most people think of as "aerobic" steady-state exercise is actually a form of chronic anaerobic exercise which is ultimately deleterious to health when done excessively. The vast majority of harmful effects attributed to exercise is due to people exercising too hard for their aerobic fitness level and thus rather exercising anaerobically.
Their key difference seems to be that Peat believes any type of chronic endurance exercise, with the exception of very low-intensity stuff like walking, should be avoided, whereas this guy says regular moderate-intensity activity at 70-75% of HRmax (a la Maffetone) to improve ones aerobic fitness is crucial for good health. Basically the better your aerobic fitness, the less likely your body is to switch to harmful anaerobic metabolism during any given activity. The better your aerobic fitness, the better your ability to produce energy and the better your autonomic nervous system balance, which profoundly alters your resiliance to stress. Having a strong aerobic fitness may be one of the most important overall anti-stress factors.
Peat seems to agree that having a good aerobic metabolism is key to good health, but he doesnt really adress how to improve the efficiency of ones aerobic metabolism, maybe because improving aerobic metabolism requires aerobic exercise?
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