Just because you're working hard, doesn't mean that you're working smart. I see it every day. People come into the gym and hop on a treadmill for 30-60 minutes and then head over to the weights to do their resistance training. Even though my initial reaction is to walk up and smack them in the back of the head, the reality in the matter is? How would they know any better? Which is why I thought this article was so appropriate. After all, for years I've heard people say that if you do your cardio first, you'll burn more fat during your weight training. Making your weight training an extension of your cardio.
Let's look at why this isn't true and see if we can save some people a little wasted effort. We'll start out by looking at how your body uses the food you consume for fuel. You may have heard that you will burn more fat if you do your cardio on an empty stomach. The truth is that you will actually burn more fat during cardio if you have depleted your body of carbohydrates. You can eat proteins and dietary fats without affecting the way your body burns fat. In other words, you could eat some egg whites, chicken breast, or even a protein shake without any carbs in it, and still burn the same amount of fat during your cardio session as you would if you did it on an empty stomach. But if you ate an apple or a piece of bread before your cardio, you wouldn't.
When you eat carbohydrates, your body stores them as glycogen in your liver and waits for your body to use them as fuel. When performing an aerobic activity, like walking or running on a treadmill, your body has the option of using glycogen stores or fat stores. The problem is that your body won't use any fat stores until your glycogen stores are used up. On the other hand, during anaerobic exercise, like weight lifting, your body can only use glycogen as fuel.
So here's how it plays out. Studies have shown that it can take as much as 29 minutes of cardio to burn your glycogen stores. So if you start your workout off with 30 minutes of cardio, not only did you burn fat for a whopping one minute, but you also depleted your body of the fuel it needs (glycogen) to do your resistance training. Now, in order to manufacture glucose (glycogen) during your weight training session, your body may actually break down muscle tissue to use certain amino acids as your fuel. You could end up losing muscle instead of gaining.
To make things simple, if you do your weight training first, you can use your glycogen stores as fuel. Then, when you move over to your cardio, you're right where you want to be? with depleted glycogen stores, giving your body the opportunity to burn fat as a fuel source.
To learn more on how to use these facts for your "cardio only" days, read "Use Nutrition to Boost Your Cardio" here: http://www.shapeyou.com/weights_first.html
You may reprint or publish this article freely as long as you include a visible, active link to http://www.shapeyou.com/weights_first.html
Tony Hale is a certified personal trainer with 12 years of experience servicing clients in the entertainment industry throughout the Hollywood area. He is also the editor in chief for ShapeYou.com
To train online with Tony visit http://www.shapeyou.com/weights_first.html
shuttle from O'Hare Orland Park .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareThere's a dirty little secret in the diet industry. The... Read More
1. Increase your water intake to at least 1 gallon... Read More
I had some questions come in about Ephedra. So I... Read More
Most Americans do not get enough calcium in their diets;... Read More
Losing Weight quickly and easily has become one of the... Read More
I want to talk about the "all or nothing" outlook... Read More
Some of you will not like what I have to... Read More
Good health is an invaluable bliss and you cannot simply... Read More
If you want to reduce your body fat, focus on... Read More
Ever wondered why some people manage to keep their weight... Read More
In life, various factors contribute to weight gain. Be it... Read More
Having just returned from a week of basking on a... Read More
Tip 1) DRINK A GLASS OF WATER AFTER EACH SNACKThis... Read More
All Diets Work: No Diets WorkHave you lost weight in... Read More
As a woman, your body is very complex. Throughout every... Read More
The confusion about eating healthy and dieting will now be... Read More
Am I missing something here? If I am, someone please... Read More
Have You Given Up on Weight Loss? by Greg Landry,... Read More
The world today has more obese and overweight people than... Read More
Include in your diet things that contain more water like... Read More
The following are diet tips that can help you shape... Read More
Changing habits is one of the most difficult challanges we... Read More
All of us that have had a love-hate relationship with... Read More
Obesity and fast foods - there's little doubt about the... Read More
Water is an essential component of the human body and... Read More
Lincoln Town Car rentals Addison ..Having just returned from a week of basking on a... Read More
Which is easier to do ? turn a car's steering... Read More
I have put off writing a motivation article because of... Read More
It seems there are two schools of behavior patients follow... Read More
It's agreed that if you raise the amount of calories... Read More
Over the last twenty five years the most common questioned... Read More
What is the advantage of these new half sugar and... Read More
Weight loss is an issue that affects men and women... Read More
Weight loss information is often confusing and misleading. The more... Read More
You need to reset your weight-o-stat. No matter how much... Read More
Weight Loss Axiom Number ThreeInsulin and GlucagonThese are the two... Read More
Eighteen or twenty years ago, I was into high protein,... Read More
Fats are always looked at as a negative in a... Read More
Self-acceptance and body love can be tough concepts to grasp... Read More
Losing weight on hips and thighs has always been a... Read More
How's this for a diet: Take in fewer calories than... Read More
REDUCE YOUR WEIGHTNow you are not very far from losing... Read More
People always ask me " how it is that your... Read More
An article published in http://www.inch-aweigh.com mentioned, "If you are eating... Read More
Everywhere we look in the western world we are inundated... Read More
With tons of information out there on "Fat Acceptance" does... Read More
Here are some everyday, helpful hints to get you started,... Read More
Dieting will continue to fail most dieters, unless personalized weight... Read More
Visualizing and Declarations are today's topics.Visualize what you want as... Read More
"I'd love to lose weight, but I don't have the... Read More
Weight Loss |