Exercise on empty stomach in the morning when glycogen and blood sugar levels are low, which are perfect for burning fat instead of carbohydrate.
OK, we go to the basics first.
When you exercise, your muscle burns both fat and glucose (carbohydrates in the blood) in different proportions. How you exercise affects how your muscle can burn more fat than glucose.
Since fat is a slow burning fuel that needs oxygen and if you deliver oxygen to your muscle cells in sufficient quantities, your cells can easily burn fat for most of their energy requirement or what it means is that you burn a much higher percentage of fat.
This happens when you exercise at a light and easy tempo.
But this isn't good if you wanna lose weight because lighter exercise burns fewer total calories.
Everyone knows that (I suppose you know?) if you exercise at a high intensity, you burn more calories but the trouble is you can't deliver sufficient quantities of oxygen to the muscle cells which in the event forces your cells to burn less body fat and more carbohydrates, to keep pace with the increasing demand.
If the intensity and exertion continues to increase, then eventually glucose becomes the primary source of energy for your muscles as it doesn't need oxygen.
So in order to burn body fat directly, the best way is to exercise at a lower level of intensity for a longer period of time.
This is fine if you've the time but we are all hard-pressed for time (a universal problem).....
What's next then? Well, you could give anaerobic (meaning without the presence of oxygen) exercise a shot, to increase your metabolism so you burn off the fat indirectly.
Timing, Timing, Timing.....
When's the best time to exercise (cardio), to optimize your body's fat-burning capacity?
Apparently, any time you fancy as long as you do it. Just exercise continuously for at least 30 minutes, you'll burn body fat no matter when you do it.
But if you want to optimize the fat-burning process and max out the time and effort you throw into your workouts, time your cardio exercise first thing in the morning, before you eat breakfast.
I find this is best because the levels of your muscle and liver glycogen (stored carbohydrate) are low due to the "overnight fast" when you sleep.
You wake up with depleted glycogen and lower blood sugar which is the optimum environment for burning fat instead of carbohydrate.
How much more you burn? Some studies claim that one could burn body fat up to more than 300% when cardio in a fasted, glycogen depleted condition.
How this happens? Simple.
Carbohydrate (glycogen) is your body's primary energy source. When this primary source is low, your body taps into its secondary or reserve energy source - body fat.
If you cardio immediately after eating breakfast, you'll still burn fat, but you'll burn less of it because you'll be burning off first the carbohydrates you ate.
Just now I've shown you that we always burn a combo of fat and carbohydrate for energy. But when you exercise is crucial as you can burn a greater proportion of fat relative to carbohydrate.
If cardio first thing in the morning is a "taboo" thing for you, then the second best time for it would be immediately after weight training, which is anaerobic by nature, hence depletes your muscle glycogen.
Another good thing about doing cardio in the morning is that you continue to burn body fat at an accelerated rate after the workout. I label this as the "after burn" effect.
The cardio exercise can keep your metabolism elevated for hours after the session is over. If you cardio at night, you still burn fat but the night cardio fails to get you to enjoy the "after burn" effect because your metabolism drops like crazy when you sleep.
Burning Body Fat - Grasp the "when" and the "how"
To burn body fat is really not that hard.
Just master the "when" and the "how" and you're right on to optimize your body's fat-burning capacity!
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