...But it can be

Actually, this is something I use to think about a lot, so I'll just post some thoughts....

When does aerobic activity become strength training and vice versa?

This is one of those questions that popped into my head (and stuck) while hiking the AT (Appalachian Trail). When I first started hiking it was hard as hell and my legs would be sore as sh*t, after spending all that time walking up and down mountains with weight on my back. It was so difficult that I could not do one single climb without stopping at least a few times during the climb, because my legs were burning and I had to catch my breath, due to going anaerobic. However, after about a month on the AT, I got to the point where I could just breeze up the mountains and at that point it was totally an aerobic (not anaerobic) activity.

I can apply this same thing to other activities, such as running and cycling...So it made me think, was my hiking (or whatever activity) more akin to weight lifting in the beginning?(since weight lifting is an anaerobic activity, by definition). Take cycling, if you go up hill or against a head wind in your largest gear, isn't that now weight lifting?

And what about weightlifting? It is by definition an anaerobic activity, but what if you reduce the weight by so much that it's actually aerobic?

At what point does an activity become aerobic or anaerobic? It's actually a pretty complicated question and after pondering it, you realize that there is no true line between the two, it's very murky, so when someone says you need to do aerobic exercise, do they even know what they're talking about....


Just a few thoughts to ponder, which I find very interesting, but I don't like doing long posts, so I'll stop here....