What Deficit in the Body Is Created From Anaerobic Exercise?

Anaerobic exercise is defined by exercise during which your body's need for oxygen exceeds its ability to consume it. Although it's impossible to complete any exercises without consuming oxygen, it takes the body some time after the beginning of an exercise to reach a steady rate of exertion and energy production. At the start of intense exercise and following extreme exertion, an oxygen deficit is created in the body.

  1. Heart Rate

    • Heart rate changes depending on an individual's body composition, age and overall fitness level, but it represents an accurate predictor of which energy-producing system you use during exercise. The faster your heart beats during training, the more oxygen you're consuming. When your heart rate climbs above 80 percent of its maximum, you've entered the anaerobic zone and you've begun to create an oxygen deficit.

    Oxygen Deficit

    • During training, your muscles require a constant source of energy to keep themselves going. During steady cardio training, this energy comes in the form of oxygen. But at the start of exercise and during intensive workouts, your body's need for immediate energy exceeds the amount that can be provided through aerobic means. This creates an oxygen deficit and your muscles compensate for this deficit by converting glycogen stores into energy on a temporary basis.

    Effects

    • Just because you're body automatically switches from the aerobic to the anaerobic energy-producing system during intense exercise doesn't mean oxygen consumption slows down. In fact, intense exercise increases oxygen consumption in an attempt to provide the body with the energy it needs. Anaerobic exercise can't be kept up for a long time -- usually only one to three minutes -- and lactic acid builds up in the muscles as a result of the consumption of glucose.

    EPOC

    • After you cease exercising, your body still needs to go through a recovery period to make up for the oxygen deficit you incurred during your workout. This process is known as excess postexercise oxygen consumption and it works to replenish energy levels in the body. Because your body was put through so much stress during an intense anaerobic workout, you have to pay back your oxygen debt with interest following the workout.