Why is fat burnt quicker when you exercise first thing in the morning?

[Warboss Alex]

We're still missing a point here - different cardio works for different people.

check_mate_kid_uk, without meaning offence, but I picture you as an athletic teenager under 200lbs. The people I'm talking about such as myself, are hardcore bodybuilders wanting to push past the 250 mark. I definitely wouldn't do the same cardio as you would, just as you wouldn't do the same weights workout as me.

The trick to burning fat constantly (and staying lean, thus avoiding multiple bulk/cut cycles) is to keep your metabolism up throughout the day - cardio in the morning or other time of day, green tea, eating protein first, keeping active etc are all ways to do this.

Re glycogen depletion: if I cut carbs off a few hours before bed (starchy carbs) I'm guaranteed to wake up starving. My body is hungry and needs food (there is no glycogen present just to start the day). I find that eating starchy carbs (pasta, rice, bread) before bed will have me waking up quite sated - hence combining a carb cutoff with a.m. cardio is an effective way to hit fat first (take BCAAs beforehand to avoid muscle loss).

 

[harwell]

Originally posted by check_mate_kid_uk
harwell although you are right high intensity excerise burns muscles it will still burn more fat then low intensity.

35-40 min of light excersize will not raise your motabilism by much at all, for a start it takes at leats 1 hour and secondly that is refering im quite sure, to higher intensity excersize.

Hey what ever works for you man. I've lost ~6 lbs of fat and gained ~1.25 lbs of lean body mass doing what i'm doing over the last month. My strength has also been increasing every week (not by much, but non-the-less... increasing). Obviously this is all on a reduced calorie diet, too.) If you don't mind lossing mass then more power to ya, but i'm pretty small and muscle is hard to come by for me.

(I've also been workout for more than a year, so any gains aren't due to being new to weight training.)

Whatever form of aerobic exercise you decide on, your diet will soley determine whether you succeed or not.

 

[medjaun]

I read that even if you do lose a bit more fat by doing cardio in the morning your body just compensates by storing more fat later in the day. It's basically always going to try and balance your different energy sources out. If you have a calorie deficit you will lose weight. As long as you are working out and eating enough protien then your body will choose fat to burn since you are making muscle retention a priority.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Your body never wants to use protein as a fuel source - it's just a last resort.

Look at it this way: you work out hard and keep fairly active - you need a fuel source, but you also need to keep your muscles to lift heavy. Your body will turn to fat for fuel.

That's why I'd always advise exercise (weights, cardio) to anyone looking to lose fat rather than dieting alone. Diet still IS paramount, but I'd rather have my body adapt to the exercise by growing muscle and using fat as a low-intensity fuel source..

 

[AFK Protector]

hey guys I started a fitday account and the graphs show me that I am burning about 2500 calories a day on average with exercising (i didn't count weight lifting).

My consumed calories are about 1500-1600 daily as I had been lowering it by 100 weekly for the past 2-3 weeks. Anyhow, shouldn't this mean that I will lose fat? Wasn't it 3000 calories burned for 1 pound of pure fat? I've been drinking shakes....eating well (meat, no carbs after 7, crap load of water), exercising (lifting 5x a week, cardio daily), 8 hours of sleep/.. is there somethign I'm missing?

maybe I just gotta keep doing nit for a while before it kicks in. But if I'm missing anything please post.

 

[Schlep]

Following those calculators isn't good for people who aren't done growing. You should probably be eating closer to 2500. Browse some articles on WebMD. The nutritionist on the board there will give you an exact calorie count if you give her your info.