Aerobic exercise is normally the first thing that comes to mind when people think about burning fat. While most people dread the thought of endless, boring hours working in the aerobic heart rate zone, it is normally what people turn to to lose fat. But the good news is, combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is the best for burning fat.

But before I tell you why combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is better than aerobic exercise alone, lets talk about what "aerobic" and "anaerobic" means.

Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen. Any activity performed at a low to moderate intensity for more than 90 seconds, allowing oxygen to release energy through metabolism, is called an aerobic activity.

The benefits of aerobic activity are...

Increased Cardiovascular Function

Decrease in Body Fat

But prolonged aerobic exercise has its negatives...

Decreased Muscle Mass

Decreased Strength

Decreased Power

Decreased Speed

Decreased Anaerobic Capacity

You should start realizing why combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is a better option.

Anaerobic means in the absence of oxygen. Any activity performed at a medium to high intensity for less than 2 minutes, where energy is derived without oxygen, is usually called an anaerobic activity.

The benefits of anaerobic activity are...

Increased Cardiovascular Function

Decrease in Body Fat

Increased Muscle Mass

Improved Strength

Improved Power

Improved Speed

Increased Aerobic Capacity

And the negatives of anaerobic activity are...

Anaerobic activity requires an aerobic foundation

As you can plainly see, anaerobic activity is the better choice. And you might be asking, "Why do you say combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is best? Why not just do anaerobic exercise?"

Combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is necessary because it is impossible to exercise at the high intensity level of anaerobic exercise for the entire workout. Even if you try to work at such a high intensity, you eventually become fatigue and drift back into the aerobic zone. So, while it is possible to exercise in the aerobic zone for the entire workout, it is impossible to exercise exclusively at an anaerobic pace.

This is why combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is a must for an optimal fat loss workout!

Here is the bad news. Most people that want to lose fat and build a muscular body ARE combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise. They are just combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise all WRONG!

The sad fact is, most workouts claiming to burn fat by combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise are doing "bodybuilding" style weight training followed by an aerobic activity. And unless you plan to spend hours a day in the gym (like bodybuilders do), then you won't get the results they do.

Think of it this way. There should be two "types" of exercise you perform... resistance training and energy system training. And when you are combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise, it is not just in the energy system training portion. You should be intelligently combining aerobic and anaerobic activity during the entire workout.

So, combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is key to your fat loss success. But how you combine the two is even more important, If you've been combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise with bodybuilding weight training followed by aerobic exercise and failed to get the fat loss results you wanted... you're not alone.

Combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise is not enough... you need to combine both to get maximum fat loss results.

Let's face it, we all want to be in shape and catch someone's eye. None of us like putting on our clothes and seeing our tummy hang over our jeans or our arms looking like a set of bat wings. With multi-joint exercises, you'll be able to blast away fat at record speed, as well as get your chest, abs, shoulders, back and arms into the best shape they've ever been in your life.

When you want to find a way to build strength and fire up your metabolism to burn away all that fat, it is best that you concentrate your exercise routine on including exercises that deal with many joints at the same time. With a perfect foundation, you'll be able to add lean muscle as well as burn fat. To do this, it is very important to know many single-joint and multi-joint exercises.

What exactly is the difference between single-joint and multi-joint exercises?

Single-joint exercises usually work and engage muscles that surround and focus on one moving joint. An example of this would be a bicep curl because it only moves the elbow joint. Multi-joint exercises are those that engage in rotation around many joints. Multi-joint exercises are said to stimulate how our body both works and plays. Many of our daily movements require multi-joint exercises.

This is precisely why we need to use multi-joint exercises, simply because they determine how our body works and moves. With daily activities, our bodies don't just use one muscle or one joint at a time. Something as simple as walking is a multi-joint activity. Though walking isn't complicated, it involves every joint and muscle in our lower extremities.

Why are multi-joint exercises important in a regular exercise routine?

1. Time efficiency. Multi-joint exercises are able to save you time that you have to spend in the gym working out. Because these exercises are able to allow you to engage in many muscles and joints all in the same exercise, you are able to work more of your body, decreasing the amount of time you have to spend.

2. High metabolic cost. That's right! Doctors have even been able to prove that multi-joint exercises get our metabolism working 30 to 40 percent higher. As you work more muscles at the same time, you are able to burn more calories while your metabolism rates are high and pumping.

3. Helps to train our neuromuscular system. Having a steady and healthy neuromuscular system is able to improve our balance. Whether you plan on walking across the tightrope in the circus or just walking down the street, balance is important. Because multi-joint exercises use many muscles and joints at the same time, your body learns how to work together with the many parts that makes it.

4. They're more fun. Who said working out couldn't be fun? With multi-joint exercises, you are able to tone and shape your body while having fun with it. You don't have to stick to the boring sit-ups or crunches. With multi-joint exercises, you can take pleasure in doing simple exercises while adding a little spice to them.

5. Variety, variety, variety. We all want to be able to have some sort of change in our lives. Start with your exercise program! If you incorporate multi-joint exercises into your routine, you are able to do many different types of exercises each day. Change and variety is good, especially if you want to have fun while getting into shape.

Here are some effective multi-joint exercises:

Squats: Squats, as dreaded and boring as they may be, help to build powerful and strong thighs and hips as well as toned a toned back, shoulders, arms, and chest.

Deadlifts: This exercise uses joints throughout the whole body. They are able to work both your lower and upper body muscles.

Leg Presses: These exercises are used to work the hamstrings, quads, and your glutes. With these, you'll be able to have toned legs and a firm butt!

Front, Side or Reverse Lunges and Stepups: These exercises are able to work each and every leg muscle. These can get quite boring, so try doing all three types of lunges. A lunge requires you to drop your knee 90 degrees to the ground.

Bench Presses, Dips and Pushups: All of these exercises add muscle to the shoulders, back, and chest as well as the triceps. They are able to work most of your upper body muscles.

Overhead Presses: These exercises are great for working out your triceps and shoulders.

Pulldowns, Pullups, Barbell Rows, and Dumbbell Rows: As you do these exercises, your back and bicep muscles will grow. You are able to work out your back as well as your arms.

Upright Rows: Upright rows are great for exercising the shoulders as well as the upper back.

So when you really want to blast away fat and get your abs, chest, shoulders, back, and arms in their best shape ever then consider using multi-joint exercises.