What is an Anaerobic Exercise?

Anaerobic exercise has its place in fitness as well.

Weight lifting is the quintessential anaerobic exercise; rather than creating continuous and sustained movement, weight lifting usually requires short busts of energy.

In anaerobic exercise, muscles do not receive as much oxygen: they react by burning glycogen (sugar converted from carbohydrates) in higher quantities than fat. Anaerobic exercise is an important adjunct to aerobic exercise because it helps build muscle, raising your basal metabolism, and causing your body to burn more calories even when at rest.

A major health benefit of weight lifting and other weight-bearing exercises is that they not only strengthen your muscles, reducing the chance of injury, but they also strengthen bone; a primary benefit for seniors. In fact, many health clubs and senior organizations teach weight lifting to seniors to help them strengthen muscles and build bone to help prevent or reverse osteoporosis.

What the dictionary has to say about anaerobic exercise:

an·aer·o·bic
Pronunciation: "an-&-'rO-bik;
Function: adjective
1 a : living, active, or occurring in the absence of free oxygen <during heavy exercise anaerobic respiration occurs, pyruvic acid acts as a hydrogen acceptor, and lactic acid builds up in the tissues> b : of, relating to, or being activity in which the body incurs an oxygen debt <anaerobic sports> <an anaerobic workout>
2 : relating to or induced by anaerobes —an·aer·o·bi·cal·ly /-bi-k(&-)lE/ adverb