Is it better for beginners to do aerobic or anaerobic exercise first when getting started with fitness?

Should a novice do aerobic or anaerobic exercise first when getting started with fitness? The answer is that there is no absolute standard answer. It all depends on your fitness goals, physical foundation, and even your mood that day—however you feel comfortable, whatever you can stick to is the best choice.

Speaking of which, when I first applied for a fitness card, I was stuck on this issue for almost half a month. Wearing brand new sportswear, I stood in the gym. On the left was the sweating treadmill area, and on the right was the strength area where people were banging on iron. I stood there for ten minutes unable to move my feet. When the personal trainer came over, the first thing he said to me was, "Do you want to lose fat or gain muscle first?", which made me even more confused.

When I was blogging about fitness forums, the two factions were so noisy that the building could reach thousands of floors. Most of those who believe in standing aerobics are ordinary people who just want to lose some "New Year's fat" at the beginning, especially friends who have a heavy base weight and usually have to gasp for three minutes when climbing the third floor. There is really no need to do strength training right from the start. Two years ago, I worked with a colleague who weighed 180 pounds. The first time he came here, he insisted on practicing deadlifts with me. I gritted my teeth and did two pulls. The next day, I couldn't straighten my waist and had to hold on to the wall while squatting on the toilet. Later, the plan was changed for him. In the first three weeks, he only did fast walking on the elliptical machine, for 40 minutes each time. The intensity was controlled to a level where he could chat with people normally but could not sing a song. After three weeks, his resting heart rate dropped from 82 to 70. When he touched the fixed equipment again, his movements became more stable, and even his core could unconsciously tighten. If your goal is to improve your heart and lungs first, reduce the fat on your waist when wearing a small skirt, and don't want to develop obvious muscle lines, it's absolutely fine to start with aerobics. The threshold is low and the feedback is quick, so it is easy to build up the motivation to persist.

But then again, the view of the anaerobic faction is indeed supported by data. You can use the glycogen in your body as a power bank before exercise. Do strength training for about 40 minutes first to deplete the glycogen. When you do aerobics later, your body will give priority to digging out fat reserves for energy. The fat burning efficiency is almost 20% higher than doing aerobics first. I have tried it during my own fat loss period. I did shoulder and back exercises first and then ran for 30 minutes. Compared with running first and then pumping iron, the body fat was lost at least one-third faster. There are also those skinny novices who weigh only 110 pounds for a height of 175. They are swaying even in a T-shirt. They want to develop some muscles to hold up the clothes. If they start running 5 kilometers every day, they can lose another 3 pounds after running for a month, and their faces will become sunken. I used to know a student who was in this situation. I changed my plan to stop aerobics first and practice fixed equipment three times a week, alternating between chest presses, squats, and rowing. In two months, I gained 8 pounds, my shoulders became 4 centimeters wider, and I was finally able to wear formal clothes that fit me.

The most controversial statement on the Internet is that "doing aerobics first will cause you to lose muscle mass." In fact, there is really no need to be anxious. Ordinary novices don’t have much muscle mass. As long as your aerobic time is limited to 30 minutes and the intensity does not exceed 70% of your maximum heart rate, you won’t be able to lose much muscle at all. Those who talk about “losing muscle” are mostly bodybuilders preparing for competitions. Their muscle mass is two or three times larger than that of ordinary people. Losing even a little bit is distressing. We ordinary fitness enthusiasts really can’t afford to worry about this.

When I give advice to novices around me, I don’t give any fixed plan. If you are really confused, try each one: run for 20 minutes on the first day and then touch the equipment for 20 minutes. On the second day, do 30 minutes of fixed equipment and then walk on the elliptical machine for 20 minutes. Choose whichever one you don’t feel uncomfortable after and want to come back next week. The most taboo thing about fitness is struggling for the "optimal solution". I have seen novices check the information online for three months to figure out this problem. The fitness card has expired and they have not even stepped into the gym. They are simply putting the cart before the horse.

Oh, by the way, there is another iron rule for you to remember: no matter whether you do aerobic or anaerobic first, if you have a fried chicken milk tea after practice and don’t go to bed until three or four o’clock, any exercise will be useless.

In fact, there are really not so many black and white rules in fitness. It is all about your own physical comfort. You can run if you want to run today, and pump the iron if you want to. If you can persist for three months, it will be much more useful than if you have been struggling with which exercise to choose for half a year.