Most types of training are aerobic in nature. Aerobic means that you exercise with low intensity and extended periods of time. During aerobic training your muscles have a sufficient supply of oxygen to maintain pace during long intervals. This type of training is very good for loosing weight, especially when loosing excess fat. If you have problems gaining weight you might want to reduce your aerobic exercise if you work out a lot.

Typical  aerobic exercises are:

• Walking
• Long distance running
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Skiing

In contrast to aerobic training, anaerobic training is not about endurance but about strength, high speed and/or power. In anaerobic training you use your muscles at close to maximum performance during short intervals of time, burning oxygen faster than your body can sustain.

Typical anaerobic exercises are:

• Weight-lifting
• Sprinting

To gain weight in a healthy way, it is important that you do anaerobic exercises. Why? A healthy weight gain consists of mostly muscles. And if the body are going to build muscles, it needs motivation! Anaerobic training max out the muscles in the body making it think that you will need more muscles to handle the strain better the next time. It is essential to consume sufficient amounts of protein when doing anaerobic traing since the body will need building blocks to sustain and increase muscle mass.

It is important to note that a balanced training program is essential to being healthy, you need to do both aerobic and anaerobic training.