The influence of aerobic capacity on anaerobic fitness: comparing

number of completed push-ups to change in heart rate

Aerobic and anaerobic metabolism are crucial to all forms of exercise and recovery. Both an
energy cache that can easily convert molecules to ATP and an effective energy-replenishment
process are essential to all forms of physical activity. However, anaerobic metabolism has a limit
(Medbo & Tabata 1989) and it is dependent on stores of energy within the body such as
phosphocreatine, which itself is formed from energy produced during aerobic metabolism (Tomlin
& Wenger 2001). Once depleted, the body's aerobic pathways may not be able to support production
of phosphocreatine and consequently poorer muscle output or fatigue sets in.
Studies in the past and recently have looked at the effect of aerobic or anaerobic capacities
singularly in exercise and sports performance (Corey et al. 2011, Swain et al. 1998; Noordhof et al.
2013) and at the relationship of aerobic capacity on anaerobic fitness or recovery in trained athletes
(Bell et al. 1997; Harmer et al. 2000; Stevens et al. 2015). However, there are limited studies
examining the direct relationship between aerobic capacity and anaerobic fitness in a broader group.
Findings into the relationship between the two are important in formulating training procedures and
exercise plans for both professional athletes and the health of the general population.
The aim of the experiment is to find if aerobic capacity influences anaerobic fitness in
individuals through comparisons of changes in heart rate after a step-up exercise and the ability to
complete push-ups. To compare the differences in aerobic and anaerobic capacities between
subjects in this experiment, a push-up and a step-up exercise are used to evaluate anaerobic fitness
and aerobic capacities respectively. The null hypothesis is that there is no influence of greater
aerobic capacity to better anaerobic fitness, while the alternate hypothesis is that there is an
influence of greater aerobic capacity to better anaerobic fitness.

Method
Participants were 137 undergraduate students, roughly around the age of 19.
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For the procedure, refer to the School of Biological Sciences (2015).

Results
Difference in pulse rate in group A (<25 push-ups, n = 49, M = 58.2 bpm, SD = 22.4) were
higher than group B (25 push-ups, n = 88, M = 49.8 bpm, SD = 21.4). There was a negative
correlation between the achieved number of push-ups and the difference in heart rate (Fig. 2).
12
10
8
Frequency

6
4
2
0
Number of push-ups achieved

Difference in Pulse Rate (bpm)

Fig. 1. Mean difference in pulse rate

Fig. 2. Frequency distribution of number of push-ups achieved

across the sample (M = 27.4, SD = 13.3)

between group A (<25 push-ups) and

group B (25 push-ups). Error bars
represent standard deviation

There was a significant difference in the mean change in pulse rate between subjects who did
less than 25 push-ups and those who completed 25 or more push-ups (t = 2.18, d.f. = 135, p < 0.05).
Spikes were observed in the frequency distribution of achieved push-ups at the discriminating
score for categorising subjects into group A or B (25 push-ups) and at multiples of 10 starting from
20 achieved push-ups (Fig. 2).

Discussion
The results of the experiment supported the alternate hypothesis over the null hypothesis. That
is, a greater aerobic capacity does influence the ability of carrying out anaerobic exercise. A
decreased heart rate, signifying greater cardiac functions and efficiency of oxygen transportation to
the muscle often correlated with aerobic capacity (Tomlin & Wenger 2001), was correlated to better
performance in the push-up exercise.
The finding support previous studies on the effect of aerobic capacity on anaerobic exercise
performance (Harmer et al. 2000; Stevens et al. 2015).
In studies that looked at the effect of enhancing anaerobic output through sprint training of
elite athletes it was found that improvements in aerobic capacity were responsible for better
performance. The findings in the current experiment supports this, as aerobic capacity was
correlated with greater completion of anaerobic exercises. The implication of this suggests that
improvements in aerobic capacities or greater aerobic capacities influences the ability to perform
for longer in anaerobic exercises.
The biological mechanisms behind these results could be a result of several factors or
combinations of these factors. Firstly, the observed decrease in heart rate in the mean difference of
heart rate in group B suggests greater efficiency in transportation of oxygen to muscles. This is
likely due to greater cardiac and respiratory functions, increased amounts of aerobic enzymes and
mitochondria (Tomlin & Wenger 2001) or a greater number of type I and type II oxidative fibres (.
As a result, there was greater aerobic metabolism output that was efficiently utilising available
oxygen to perform the push-up exercise. The second possibility is that the greater aerobic capacity
allowed for preservation of phosphocreatine and anaerobic sources of energy (Thoden 1991), with
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group A subjects relying on limited anaerobic sources earlier and thus exhibiting muscle fatigue
before completing 25 push-ups.
Alternatively, better aerobic capacity in individuals may have correlated with a greater store
of anaerobic sources (Ceretelli et al. 1979) or greater muscle strength, and aerobic capacity did not
influence anaerobic exercise. Subjects ranged in the amount of physical activity, training and/or
exercise as part of their lifestyles. It is possible that the ability to perform anaerobic exercises was
dependent on factors such as muscle mass (number of muscle fibres). Push-ups in the current
experiment focused on muscles around the arms, pectoral region and abdomen since they activate
the most during this exercise (Calatayud et al., 2014). This could have affected the results since
other participants such as those who may have had greater leg strength could not reflect their full
anaerobic potential in the push-up exercise. Further studies looking could debunk the
The limitations of the current study include the use of heart rate to measure aerobic capacity.
The use of the difference in resting and post-exercise heart rate differs from more common
measures of aerobic capacities, which used measures such as lactate threshold and ventilation
thresholds (Ghosh 2004).There is some controversy over the methods of measuring aerobic and
anaerobic capacities (Noordhof et al. 2013) and such differences can affect comparisons and
interpretation of data between studies and the reliability of such measures to quantify these
capacities and fitness. The use of difference in heart rate as a measure of aerobic capacity also falls
into similar pitfalls (Swain et al. 1998)
Furthermore, the ability to perform anaerobic exercises as measured by an individual's
perception of fatigue may have compromised aspects of the results. Noting that participants were
debriefed about how many push-ups were required to be placed in group B, the frequency of pushups jumped at the 25-26 push-up mark as well as at multiples of ten, suggesting that psychological
factors such as peer perception of the individuals may have driven subjects to perform better. A
subject's psychology has been known to influence athletic performance (Lorimer & Barbaj 2013).
Also, studies have shown ratings of perceived exertion in intense exercise generally reflect lactate
threshold (Hetzler et al. 1991; Corey et al., 2011), however, physical data of those participants were
not directly correlated to the findings of the study, hence there was not the drive to perform better in
front of others. To counteract this in other studies, the value for determining which group a subject
is placed in should be withheld from the debriefing due to the stigmatisation of such categorisation.
The results of the current experiment show a correlation between greater aerobic capacity and
ability to perform anaerobic exercise. This suggests that the ability of oxygen transportation and
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aerobic metabolism may influence the ability to perform in high-intensity or strength exercises,
where oxygen concentrations cannot support aerobic pathways.

References