If you are a regular reader of TMP, you know that we are big propenents of integrating exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle. You can staple your stomach, sew a pain patch on your tongue, or drink water only for two weeks to lose weight. But if you want to keep it off and lead a better life, you need to break a sweat.
That doesn’t mean you don’t have to like it though. And many of us use exercise as a means to an end to help keep our waistlines in check. In that spirit, there is new research that many fat conscious exercisers should be aware of. As discussed in this Associated Press article ouf of London, if you want to burn maximum fat, don’t eat before you exercise.
The explanation is this. Muscles typcially get their power from carbohydrates, which is why athletes such as marathon runners and pro cyclist try to intake massive quantities of food before an event. However, if you have not eaten before you go out for a workout, you likely do not have many carbohydrates in reserve. This causes you to burn the fat you have you in your body instead researchers say.
A more in-depth explanation from the article: "When you exercise [after fasting], your adrenaline is high and your insulin is low," said Peter Hespel, a professor of exercise physiology at Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. "That ratio is favorable for your muscles to oxidize [break down] more fatty acids." He said that people who exercise without having eaten burn more fat than they would if they had grabbed a bite beforehand.
One of the researchers states that for optimal fat burning, you should do cardio exercise in the morning before breakfast. Your stomach should be relatively empty from not eating overnight and this helps because carbohydrate consumption can interrupt the fat metabolization process for up to six hours. That is good to know.
However, as many of you know, there is a price to pay when you fast before you exercise. Namely, your performance will suffer and you probably won’t feel nearly as good as you would if you have some food in you system. Several of the studies cited in the article showed that athletes universally had a performance decline if they fastested before excercise relative to those who didn’t. The trick is not to fast every time you go out an train, but do it more selectively. Obviously, if you are trying your first marathon, the last thing you want to do is not eat before the race. Good luck getting past mile 6 if you do.
The recommendation was to go for one or two hard training cardio workouts before breakfast once or twice a week to get your body into fat burning mode and then use small snacks sparingly before the rest of your workouts.