Cardio For Maximum Fat Loss

TheChosen1

Member
What Is The Best Time To Do Cardio For Maximum Fat Loss?

Most people do cardio "whenever they get a chance." Sometimes during the middle of the day, sometimes before bed, sometimes directly after a weight training workout, sometimes before a weight training workout and sometimes first thing in the morning. The truth is, all of those times will get results. It doesn't matter what time of day you do your cardio workout, you will be burning calories every time.

But, the real question is, which of those times is the most effective? And the answer is (drum roll please).... first thing in the morning!

Doing cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, before you eat anything, is by far, the most effective. Whether you run, jog, walk, swim, jump rope, take an aerobics class, ride a bike, etc., doing it first thing in the morning is the best time to do it for maximum fat loss. Why? Its simple. When you do your cardio workout, you are burning calories. Lets say you wake up, eat breakfast, eat lunch later in the day, and then a few hours after lunch, you do your cardio. All you will be doing during
that cardio is burning the calories and carbs of the food you just ate.

When you do cardio first thing in the morning, you haven't eaten anything for the last 8 or so hours because you were sleeping. So, when your body sees that there are no carbs to burn, it goes directly to stored bodyfat. And stored bodyfat is the fat that is on your body, which is the fat that you want to lose!

Understand how it works? When you do your cardio sometime during the day other then first thing in the morning, you spend most of that time burning off carbs that you already ate that day. When you do it first thing in the morning, there are no carbs to burn, so all your body can burn is body fat!
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credit: trulyhuge.com
 
I've heard this many times before and I haven't really seen any studies on this affect, I think there is like one that says it doesn't really matter. I also have a a problem with the concept. It's really early in the morning so please forgive me if I don't purvey my point across in a sane manner. But would it really matter what time of the day you do you're cardio? I mean whether you are doing cardio in the morning to "attack the fat stores" or doing it later in the day and "attacking those glucose carb stores" at the end of the day, didn't you accomplish the same thing? Cardio mid day depletes what easily becomes fat first. ...You know what, it's too early and I'm having trouble knowing what the **** I'm talking about.



Either way I think what is important most is the type of cardio than the time of day. for me it's high intensity for short periods of time. No more than about 15 mins. but sprinting n' **** like that. I've seen more of a difference in my body when I sprint a mile or do "wind sprints" (for those of s that remember that high school ****!!!!) than when I jog 5 miles.
 
I've heard the first 20 minutes of a typical 45 minute low/medium intensity cardio session is the body burning any carbs you have eaten (assuming you do cardio mid day), and that the fat therefore is really only burned in the last 25 minutes or so of the session. In addition, I've heard anything after that 25 minutes of fat burning turns to muscle burning. Using this mentality, it would make sense to do cardio first thing in the morning for around 25 minutes. Any longer and catabolism takes effect. It would also be just as effective to do it mid day but for 45 minutes.

Is this myth or fact? At what point during cardio does your body start using your muscles for fuel? And also what is the best way to prevent this?
 
TheChosen1 said:
What Is The Best Time To Do Cardio For Maximum Fat Loss?

Most people do cardio "whenever they get a chance." Sometimes during the middle of the day, sometimes before bed, sometimes directly after a weight training workout, sometimes before a weight training workout and sometimes first thing in the morning. The truth is, all of those times will get results. It doesn't matter what time of day you do your cardio workout, you will be burning calories every time.

But, the real question is, which of those times is the most effective? And the answer is (drum roll please).... first thing in the morning!

Doing cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, before you eat anything, is by far, the most effective. Whether you run, jog, walk, swim, jump rope, take an aerobics class, ride a bike, etc., doing it first thing in the morning is the best time to do it for maximum fat loss. Why? Its simple. When you do your cardio workout, you are burning calories. Lets say you wake up, eat breakfast, eat lunch later in the day, and then a few hours after lunch, you do your cardio. All you will be doing during
that cardio is burning the calories and carbs of the food you just ate.

When you do cardio first thing in the morning, you haven't eaten anything for the last 8 or so hours because you were sleeping. So, when your body sees that there are no carbs to burn, it goes directly to stored bodyfat. And stored bodyfat is the fat that is on your body, which is the fat that you want to lose!

Understand how it works? When you do your cardio sometime during the day other then first thing in the morning, you spend most of that time burning off carbs that you already ate that day. When you do it first thing in the morning, there are no carbs to burn, so all your body can burn is body fat!
____________________________________________

credit: trulyhuge.com

actually i dont like this article at all for the simple fact that i have done this for quite a while.. i was doing military special ops training and they had us doing a 3 hour workout on an empty stomach in the morning that consisted of a 6-9 mile run at a pretty quick pace, then a weight workout, then calisthenics and i can tell you now that you will indeed burn fat HOWEVER you do lose a crapload of muscle with that as well. first thing in the morning your body's glycogen stores are usually pretty low, which means when you start running especially if your heart rate is going to be pretty high your going to be burning a lot of muscle no matter how you look at it.. now it just depends on what you want to accomplish.. obviously if your overweight it is the best way to go in my opinion becuase yes you will be burning a lot off, however, if your main goal is to build muscle then this is a horrible idea.. just my .02
 
I agree with Beelzebub.

Three hours of military training does nothing for muscles. That's where your muscle loss may have come from.
 
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TheChosen1 said:
I agree with Beelzebub.

Three hours of military training does nothing for muscles. That's where you muscle loss came in.

I don't believe that was the reason, I have run outside of training too, low intensity, for not too long, but I think it has a lot ot do with genetics as well.
 
I would have to agree that genetics is the major factor. I gain muscle and fat easily (was always the offensive lineman), so I just do cardio morning and afternoon to make sure I at least hit the peak time (if it exists). Lose no strength or noticeable muscle size, but I lose a lot of fat. Then again I have the metabolism of a turtle so that may be extreme for most.
 
do some windsprints in the morning on an empty stomach and tell me you dont lose fat in half the time without sacrificing muscle
 
High Intensity Low Volume v. Low Intensity High Volume is as simple (to me) sprinter's physiques versus those who run marathons, respectively.

I'd go with the high intensity workout, like a sprinters, any day of the week. It burns the most amount of calories in the shortest given time AND most importantly, it's is much better at stimulating your basal metabolism. Therefore you burn more calories all day long; sitting on your ass or working your ass off.
 
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