A common question I hear being asked, how long does it take for the
body to enter fat-burning mode when doing cardio. The common answers
floating about are 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and I have seen
30 minutes be given as the answer. However, technically speaking, all
those answers are wrong. Our bodies are always in a state of fat
burning (actually, technically speaking we don't even "burn" fat so to
speak, what we refer to as fat burning is actually a process called
gluconeogenesis, a process which converts one substance, in this case
fat, into glucose, the primary and prefered energy source of the body
and especially the muscles).
For decades, it was thought by doctors
and scientists that our fat stores were generally immobile and static,
except in adverse conditions such as aerobic exercise or famine. But in
1935 the biochemist Schoenheimer using radioactive Hydrogen-2 tracers
demonstrated our fat stores are highly mobile and dynamic, undergoing
constant turnover. This means we are always burning fat, this is good.
However, it means much of our carbs and fats we eat are immediately
converted to fat, which is bad. This actually made sense to me when I
first read this report. Our 50+ trillion cells constantly need energy,
and it seemed to me that what we eat could not constantly supply the
energy our cells need to function. I've gone as long as 36+ hours
without eating, and still survived. But reading the results of
Schoenheimer's research, now I see how. What we think of fat burning
during cardio, then, is simply an existing ongoing process that becomes
accelerated, triggered by biochemical signals produced during extended
strenuous activity, such as cardio. Knowing this information, you can
"tease" and trick your body to constantly burn off fat, but without
feeling hungry, and without depriving yourself. Eat whole grains, lean
meats, and raw leafy vegetables during the day; they have low density
in calories and will maintain constant blood glucose levels. Right
after a workout, you can eat more liberally thanks to elevated
metabolism. In fact, that is a common practice of mine; on a day I plan
to go out for fun for the evening, I will perform an extended intensive
cardio workout so that I may enjoy the evening without worry that I
have jeopardized my weight loss.
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Comments (1)
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