Have you ever been driving down the road and you see someone, or a group of someones, running down the side of the road? Or maybe sometimes they are running down the middle of the road. If you have not seen runners, perhaps you have seen bikers. People out for their daily exercise, sunshine or rain (most often sunshine) working their bodies and becoming healthier, stronger people by the moment.
Some people are very dedicated in this and you probably see them often. They are very fit. Most likely they are nicely toned, but thin. They are not tiny, they just do not have bulging muscles.
On the other hand, have you ever been driving down the road and you see someone sitting there lifting weights? The most likely would not be in the middle of the road. Maybe if you not see them lifting weights you have seen them lifting something else that is heavy, over and over and over and over again.
You probably have not seen this because these people are most likely to be seen in the gym. They are also very fit. They, rather than having a thin, toned body, are more likely to have a very muscley body. One that accents every muscle in their bodies. At least if they are consistent with their work outs they are probably this way.
This is the outward difference of aerobic exercise versus muscle building exercise. Aerobic workouts are more for endurance. They are long with easier repetitions. Repetitions as in lifting your foot or pedaling. Muscle building exercises have short, quick, heavier Repetitions.
So what are the advantages of each? Do they do different things for your body? The answer is yes. They do different things for your body. They also have their own separate advantages so which you do would depend on what you want to be done inside your body.
Aerobic exercises help you in many ways. They not only help your strength but they help your health more than muscle building exercises help your health. They strengthen two major parts of your body: your heart and your lungs.
Aerobic exercises strengthen your lungs and allow you to hold more air and take in more oxygen. Oxygen is very necessary for your body as you are probably well aware.
They strengthen your heart by allowing it to pump more blood through it and allowing it to carry more oxygen. This means that more blood and oxygen will be able to be sent to your muscles.
Besides this aerobic exercises lower your blood pressure, heighten your good cholesterol and help your heart to stay healthier and stronger for longer. Because it is strengthened by doing harder workouts, it is able to handle other smaller exercises without wearing it out.
Muscle building exercises also have some great benefits. They are not as good for your overall health but they do much for you. For example muscle building exercises not only serve to strengthen your muscles they help everything in your joints and such stronger.
They help your tendons and ligaments and they help increase your flexibility greatly. It also helps decrease body fat and improves strength and balance as well as improves your ability to function.
They both have their pros and cons. If you want better overall fitness, aerobic just might the better choice. But if you want stronger muscles and joints then muscle building would be the one for you. If you cannot decide, consider that with aerobic exercises you can do them at home. With muscle building, unless you have weights in your house, you will have to have a pass to a gym.