HIIT Cardio in the morning=bur fat even after few hours?

[nvedia]

ok so we believe that
doing cardio first thing in the morning for 20 min as described in body for life burns fat much effectively compared to other methods
30 minutes after doing my cardio I have a heavy breakfast( glass of milk+egg white+ corn flakes )
Would my body still burn the fat or it would burn the carbs of the food I just ate?

Also, cardio isnt related to muscles (at least not much)
does that means I can do it in the evening too?

Offtopic: (not important to answer)
Does any activity which can increase the heart rate burns fat?
When we get scarred, then our heart beats faster
does that means our body is burning fat that time?

[Chris]

You bring up an interesting point... Regular cardio (i.e. not intervals) only burns calories while you are doing it. This is why they say to do it for long periods. Interval cardio not only burns calories while you are doing it, but it also raises your metabolism for an extended period post workout. So depending on whether you like my following explanation or not, you can at least see why it's good to do in the first place...

Ok.. After a workout your body shifts from digesting fat to digesting muscle as its source for sugar (glucose). The idea is that you need to eat to stop your body from doing this, and so you feed it. The new intake of food needs energy for digestion, which comes from your stored fat. So you eat to refuel, but your body shifts over to the stored fat to process it. At least this is how I understand it to work... So the short answer is yes, your body does both, it continues to burn fat while it burns the carbs for fuel. Slow digesting carbs take more energy to process.

But even if the above isn't true, you've still got the deficit created by the workout. Let's say you eat a quantity of food per day that yields x calories. As long as you continue eating x calories each day your metabolism will get used to processing this amount. If you do some cardio, then your daily amount is x - y (assuming y is the amount of calories you burn during exercise).. now your body "thinks" it needs to process x, but you gave it x-y for the day... provided you've given yourself enough calories for the day this deficit will be made up internally by fat digestion. Now figure in the additional deficit created by the HIIT cardio and you've got a plan for some serious fat reduction.


Elevated heart rate is the goal. So just about anything you do that raises your heart rate will burn calories... however stress hormones cause your body to go catabolic and therefore hold onto stored fat and instead digest muscle tissue. So scarred probably won't help you lose weight.

[bluexj]

So Chris..... I was just thinking about this subject over the last couple of days and how exercise raises your metabolism post exercise... So after HIIT will my resting heart rate be higher for x amount of time? If elevated heart rate is related to burning calories I would make this assumption. Or is there another way the body burns more calories without elevating heart rate?

[winnie]

I know I'm new to this, but I think Bill says on page 65 of the first edition (not the Champions one) that you shouldn't eat until one hour after a cardio exercise.

I think you are supposed to eat within 30 minutes of doing weights though.

This assumes you are trying to _lose_ weight. I think if you're gaining, Bill says to eat before, during, and after.

Again, I'm new to this, so don't take my word as accurate.

Can someone confirm?

[Chris]

Winnie: I think that's based on older research. In my mind it doesn't make sense, metabolically speaking, to wait to eat after a workout. Gaining or losing weight is primarily a function of daily caloric intake. Eating after a workout is all about keeping your body in "burn mode". The stress of working out tends to signal your body to slow down and/or digest muscle tissue for energy.. eating reverses this...

blue: Good question... I don't know...
My best guess is that it's both. Elevated heart rate is related to burning calories, but that's not the whole story. If your heart rate stays elevated for long periods after workout, that tends to be a signal of overall cardiovascular fitness level. As you get in better shape your resting heart rate drops, and it will drop faster as your fitness improves... this doesn't mean you stop burning calories. So I doubt elevated HR is the whole story.

[bluexj]

Yeah, I didn't think it was the whole story Chris.... My heart rate is back to normal resting rates shortly after exercise. I shoulda majored in exercise physiology.

[nvedia]

Hey Chris
You seem to be knowledgeable therefore I am going to bug you with one more question if yo dont mind...

I remember like 4 years ago, my gym instructor used to ask me to eat salads(dont exactly remember it was after or before the cardio)

As you stated

Ok.. After a workout your body shifts from digesting fat to digesting muscle as its source for sugar (glucose). The idea is that you need to eat to stop your body from doing this, and so you feed it. The new intake of food needs energy for digestion, which comes from your stored fat. So you eat to refuel, but your body shifts over to the stored fat to process it. At least this is how I understand it to work... So the short answer is yes, your body does both, it continues to burn fat while it burns the carbs for fuel. Slow digesting carbs take more energy to process.

Does that means if I eat a lot of fibre food eg, salads, since body would be busy digesting it, I would actually be burning fat?

[Chris]

Originally Posted by nvedia

Does that means if I eat a lot of fibre food eg, salads, since body would be busy digesting it, I would actually be burning fat?

Yes, I think that's correct. I don't really think of salads as the best pre or post workout meal though. They are mostly non-digestible fiber. Although they contain a lot of nutrients, salads don't give you a lot of energy. This isn't to say a salad isn't good for you, it just isn't what I would consider fuel for a rigorous workout. A good pre workout meal is something slow digesting like oatmeal or a banana. I like to consume a small meal like this 1 to 1.5 hrs before my workout. (I mean I want to be done eating it by 1 to 1.5 hrs before workout) These same foods could be eaten post workout as well.

[zzdub]

The best time to do cardio is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. The second best time is right after your lifting workout because by lifting, you deplete your bodies glycogen (energy) stores, so when you do cardio, you're burning fat. I prefer to do it after I workout because I'm not much of a morning person.

[yakubu]

Originally Posted by zzdub

The best time to do cardio is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. The second best time is right after your lifting workout because by lifting, you deplete your bodies glycogen (energy) stores, so when you do cardio, you're burning fat. I prefer to do it after I workout because I'm not much of a morning person.

i wudnt recommend that cos u need to rest after ur lifting workout. if u do cardio sytraight after lifting ull hamper ur lifting results

[yakubu]

Originally Posted by nvedia

ok so we believe that
doing cardio first thing in the morning for 20 min as described in body for life burns fat much effectively compared to other methods
30 minutes after doing my cardio I have a heavy breakfast( glass of milk+egg white+ corn flakes )
Would my body still burn the fat or it would burn the carbs of the food I just ate?

Also, cardio isnt related to muscles (at least not much)
does that means I can do it in the evening too?

Offtopic: (not important to answer)
Does any activity which can increase the heart rate burns fat?
When we get scarred, then our heart beats faster
does that means our body is burning fat that time?

winnie is absolutely right - u shud leave 1 hour after cardio before eating. think about it , when u wake up there is no fuel in ur body cos u havent eaten at all that day yet. u do a cardio session and then straight after or 30 mins later u eat , so wot is ur body gonna do ? its gonna burn all that fuel uve just put in ur body.

on the other hand if u dont eat for 1 hour then the only thing ur body can burn is fat. that results in a lot of fat loss.

u can do cardio in the nite but its always best first thing in thre morning on an empty stomach. if u do it in the night ull still burn fat but just not as much cos remember ull have eaten a lot so that will be the primary source ur body turns to to burn before fat
also if u do cardio in the nite make sure u leave 3 hours after uve eaten before u start the cardio.

with lifting wieghts its different. cardio is for fat loss, wieghts are for muscle growth. u need to eat within 1 hour of weight lifting, preferably straight after uve finished ur workout. ur muscles need the fuel to grow so u must feed them. u need carbs and protein and preferably both as liquid form cos that reach the muscles far quicker that way

u can eat straight after cardio, 30 mins after cardio and u can even do cardio in the night if u want and ulll still burn fat but remember that if u do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and u leave an hour after it before u eat then ull burn a hell of a lot more fat