Well I have amazing news for everyone out there who hasn't started a serious workout routine but really wants to cut the unwanted excess fat.....high intensity cardio for a long, consecutive period of time anywhere more than 15 minutes is going to put you into a state called catabolic instead of the anabolic burn you want. Here is the difference:
Catabolic(what we don't want)- is the metabolic breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones to be used for energy....ie the breaking down of muscle tissue
Anabolic is the state we want to stay in and is the repairing and building stage of the muscle tissue.
So here's the deal, that high intensity cardio makes your body run through the "at hand" energy and say "hey I need some energy". Your muscles store 2/3 of your bodies glucose. So as you can guess your body says, well I have all this supply here I can use, and I'm going to burn that instead of fat because I know I'll have enough stored energy to burn through during this hard workout. So now you have just become conterproductive. Muscle burns more fat and keeps your metabolism higher, so we DON'T want to burn our muscles, we want to build them up. As you can see in the picture above 5 lbs of fat looks much differently than 5 lbs of muscle. You could never see the scale move but become a whole new you by building lean muscle and getting rid of that excess fat, and this catabolic burn will eat away at that muscle tissue we want!
When you exercise at a rate where you can still converse....yes you do have to be doing more than a poky walk, its more like a rate that is quick but at which you can still carry on a conversation with your girlfriend.....your body doesn't see the need to jump to that reserve in your muscles and just continues to slowly eat away at the available energy in your fat stores which are simple molecules and don't need to be broken down.
Now that does not eliminate all types of High intensity training, a very popular type of training is called H.I.I.T. (High Intensity Interval Training), where you go through a short burst or sprint and then slow down and bring your heart rate back down. This is GREAT as your body while in the sprint is such a short time that it never sees the need to switch to the catabolic burning of glucose in the muscles because your confusing it by bringing your heart rate back down. This gives you an optimal burn of those unwanted lbs because those short bursts really burn through your readily available pudge and the short walks keep it doing just that!!
So there the brisk Mall Walkers and easy bike riders got it right after all. That's why they are such healthy people, they keep their body in the anabolic burn! Great news right, no need to die on the treadmill or bike tomorrow.
Now my word of advise is doing this in the evening, this maximises the benefit! 30 minutes of this cardio in the evening before bed will burn away the extra carbs from the day. Doing this prior to bed will send you off to bed with an empty stomach. Now if your building lean muscle you can eat a slow digesting protein before bed, like some of the snacks I've mentioned in my previous posts, but if your looking to burn that fat this is great. You have burned off the extra carbs and this means your body will go directly to your fat stores for energy throughout the night while your sleeping! Yay burn baby burn all while I get my 7-8!
So I hope this was good news for you, I know it was great news for me and my knees when I found out this tidbit of information.
Happy Cardio!
~Recipe of the Day~
Jamie Eason's Pumpkin Protein bars
(My afternoon snack is 4 of these yummy bars, and you get 24 from one 9x13!!!)
Nutrition Facts:
Nutrition (without walnuts): 1 square = 47 calories, .7 g fat, 8 g carbs, 3.7 g protein
Nutrition (with walnuts): 1 square = 63 calories, 2.3 g fat, 8 g carbs, 4 g protein
Ingredients:
- ½ C Xylitol Brown Sugar Blend (Ideal) (I do 1/4 cup xylitol and 1/4 cup brown sugar to make the blend)
- 1 - 4 oz. jar baby food applesauce
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ½ tsp. ground clove
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 - 15 oz. can of raw pumpkin
- 2 C oat flour
- 2 scoops vanilla whey protein
- ½ cup almond milk
- ½ C chopped walnuts (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Spray a 9 X 13 Pyrex dish with non-stick spray.
- Combine first 11 ingredients and mix well.
- Add the final 3 ingredients (4, if adding walnuts), and mix until incorporated. Spread batter into the Pyrex dish and bake for 30 min.
- Makes 24 squares.
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