Reason behind Morning cardio?

[GoneForever]

I have always had good success with morning cardio in the past, first thing in the a.m. on empty stomach with a good 16oz water and some lba's before hand. Now i presume morning cardio is best b/c you havent had carbs for a long time and your body is in a "fat burning" zone, the same as after a weight training session. Those seem to be the only two times where you only tap into fat while doing cardio and dont have the first 20min wasted to get into the fat burning zone. Well, i have a ?. I your not able to do morning cardio anymore, and say you have to do it after work, how do you get into the state of only burning fat. I presume its all about carbs right? So maybe if you went 4-5hrs with just protien/fat you'll be in that zone, even if you had carbs much earlier in the day? Hows it work?

some studies have shown that the difference in term of fat loss between cardio with empty stomach and not empty is minimal

don't worry

 

[Loch Ness]

Its all about heart rate. That is what determines what fuel you are more likely to burn whether it be muscle glycogen or fat. You can actually get your zone figured out by doing a VO2 test

 

[Blade_HST]

Fasted/morning cardio is NOT necessary. I don't think anyone of Layne Norton's guys are doing morning cardio, and they all seem to get crazy conditioning nonetheless. It's a good way to start the day if you enjoy it, but if not - do it anytime it suits you.

**broken link removed**

 

[Pekkerwood]

Fourth:

The "idea" behind the morning cardio, lower glycogen levels, less depletion needed to tap fat stores certainly seems plausible. I have not seen studies to back it up.

I will have to say that since I do my cardio at the end of my weight workout, I believe I am close to depleted already, so the differences may be minimal for me. However.... doing it in the morning gives me two periods during the day when my metablolism is raised rather than one. I hope the "lingering" effects helps from having two workout periods some days.

I disagree in principle, (Though offer no Proof) with the idea that what you burn is solely dependent on your efforts/heartrate. I do think I know where this is coming from however, if you subscribed to that theory, all you would need to tap glycogen/sugar/carbs after an hour long cardio session would be to then double your pace and you could magically tap glycogen/sugar/carb store again.


The idea of intensity dictating carb/fat burning seems only valid if stores are not depleted via workout, or sleep/fasting. I do believe that the twice a day workouts raising your metabolism twice instead of once is a large reason when morning cardio may be considered to be "better". Again I realize I have offered only reasoning, and no "Scientific Double Blind Studies". LOL

Pekkerwood

 

[muscledoc1]

Quote:

I your not able to do morning cardio anymore, and say you have to do it after work, how do you get into the state of only burning fat. I presume its all about carbs right? So maybe if you went 4-5hrs with just protien/fat you'll be in that zone, even if you had carbs much earlier in the day?

Probably a good idea.

 

[buselmo]

I just do it to increase my apetite and stay awake and focused at work. ver low intensity... just walking at 3.5 mph for 45 minutes...
I don't believe you will "tap into fat stores faster" and all that stuff, cuz i tried it before... nothing but muscle loss. wouldn't it tap into muscle faster instead?

I don't know, just speaking from experience. but cardio for fat loss will just make you look smaller and your muscle will appear "stringy". the higher the intensity of cardio, the worse you'll look. that's just me though.

 

[Mash1]

I just do it to increase my apetite and stay awake and focused at work. ver low intensity... just walking at 3.5 mph for 45 minutes...
I don't believe you will "tap into fat stores faster" and all that stuff, cuz i tried it before... nothing but muscle loss. wouldn't it tap into muscle faster instead?

I don't know, just speaking from experience. but cardio for fat loss will just make you look smaller and your muscle will appear "stringy". the higher the intensity of cardio, the worse you'll look. that's just me though.

High intensity for shot amounts of time...(just like 10 minutes) is my favorite type of cardio. I do feel that high intensity for like 25-30 minutes does tap into muscles though.

 

[GoneForever]

Wow so I always thought in order to strictly burn fat you need to be in a depleted glycogen state.

 

[buselmo]

Wow so I always thought in order to strictly burn fat you need to be in a depleted glycogen state.

actually, that's a really nice way to burn off muscle if you aren't careful

 

[Mash1]

actually, that's a really nice way to burn off muscle if you aren't careful

When you say this...isn't your glycogen depleted in the morning before your first meal/protein shake etc...

 

[Big Bapper]

Your glycogen stores are not depleted first thing in the morning. However you have also not eaten anything so the signal will not be sent to your muscles to releace glycogen for energy. So you have to get energy from somewhere so it gets it from stored body fat.

 

[mikeyt869]

imo morning cardio on an empty stomach should be done at very low intensity, and for no longer than one hour. Shorter if your off cycle and trying to hold mass. About 3 mph with like 2-6 percent incline

 

[GoneForever]

I'll usually have a few tsps of peptopro and a few tbsp of lbas's before cardio to prevent muscle loss.

 

[LVGuns]

imo morning cardio on an empty stomach should be done at very low intensity, and for no longer than one hour. Shorter if your off cycle and trying to hold mass. About 3 mph with like 2-6 percent incline

What about High Intensity cardio in the 25-35 minute range on-cycle 3x week in the morning?

 

[GoneForever]

I have a ? So if you do cardio on an empty stomach first thing in morning with some amino acids in you v.s. doing cardio say after breakfast or later on in the day after a few meals,etc.. if the cardio is done at the same intensity, will the same amount of fat be burned? Even if you had carbs before hand? Thanks

 

[HawaiiMuscle]

I'm not completely sold on lower glycogen levels will help burn more fat. I think it has more to do with lower insulin levels.

I read (lyle mcdonald- keto diet) that an "average" person can store 400g (1600cals) of gylcogen in their liver and muscle. And most of here are not average meaning we could probably put away more gylcogen because of the increase in lbm. If we fasted over night, I'm sure that most of us would still have at least 1/2 to a 1/3 tank left of glycogen by morning. I mean think about...at rest, sleeping, are body should be burning more fat then any other macro nutrient, sparing glycogen. I can't see anyone burning up all their gylcogen stores unless they are already low carbing it.

So taking this into consideration...I believe we get such great results doing morning cardio on an empty stomach due to lower insulin levels, not low glycogen levels. Same goes for cardio after a weight training. Its very unlikely you've used up all your glycogen...whats happened is that you've lower your insulin levels.

 

[HawaiiMuscle]

Your glycogen stores are not depleted first thing in the morning. However you have also not eaten anything so the signal will not be sent to your muscles to releace glycogen for energy. So you have to get energy from somewhere so it gets it from stored body fat.

BigBapper I over looked this before posting up. Right on.

 

[GoneForever]

Ok I always kinda thought of glycogen levels on par with insulin levels. Carbs equals in increase in both, so what other way can you lower insulin levels before cardio to get the better fat burning effect?

 

[Big Bapper]

fasted state upon waking should be enough.

 

[ojs]

What if you are on a cyclic keto type diet where most of your carbs are ingested only once a week. Shouldn't your insulin levels be pretty low through most of the week?