[chrispghmuscle]

As fat-loss exercises go, running is right at the top. Although you may hear that lower-intensity exercises such as walking and jogging are better for fat-burning, it's not entirely the case. It is true that the proportion of fat to carbohydrates burned is higher with low-intensity exercise - the same is true for sitting in front of your computer right now. But high-intensity exercise, like running, burns more total calories per minute (and marginally more per mile), including a higher absolute number of fat calories.

That said, this does not mean that you should necessarily do heavy, intense sprinting to burn the most fat. It's the law of diminishing returns. As you increase the intensity of your workout to maximum effort, your body uses fewer and fewer calories of fat and more from carbohydrate-supplied glycogen. This is because it's easier for your body to convert glycogen into energy - when your body works at peak effort it seeks energy from the most efficient source. So the key is finding the right balance: an exercise level that is sufficiently intense to burn more calories, but not so intense that you stop burning fat altogether.

To burn this fat most efficiently, it is ideal to run for at least forty minutes per session. While you burn mainly carbohydrates in the first minutes of your run, your body switches to fat as its primary fuel after about 30 minutes.

The key is managing the intensity of your workout. When your running becomes very labored, you're not burning much fat. If you can keep up an easy comfortable pace for 40 minutes, that's ideal. If 40 minutes is a stretch for you, or if you start becoming very tired, take frequent breaks of brisk walking. You will burn more fat with three of these 40-minute workouts a week than you will with six 20-minute workouts.

Over time, too, as your body becomes more and more accustomed to exercise, your muscles become trained to use more fat as fuel, rather than carbohydrates. Because muscle feeds on fat, it becomes a snowball effect: the higher your percentage of muscle, he more fat you burn all day long. Keep in mind that as you lose fat, you may not necessarily lose by the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat.

Chris

[42gunz]

runnings the only thing that works for me...

[Kirk]

stairs, running, and elliptical all done at low intensity works for me. nice thread chris.

[chrispghmuscle]

Thanks guys, yeah I workout on my eliptical machine in the winter to stay in shape, then when the weather breaks is outside..

[st.george]

i find that a fast paced walk on an incline for 30-40 mins works for me...sometimes i switch to bike half way through

[Jojo_L.]

I prefer jogging, and chirs, all u've said is right...thats why the bodybuilders have to eat so much calories, cause their muscles burn fat all the time, even when they sleep...i find that very impressive though...jogging is the best for me

[42gunz]

Originally Posted by chrispghmuscle

Thanks guys, yeah I workout on my eliptical machine in the winter to stay in shape, then when the weather breaks is outside..

thats the good thing about San Antonio... i can run all year long. i dont even own a coat or a jacket. i just get too bored with the bike and elliptical.

[chrispghmuscle]

Originally Posted by 42gunz

thats the good thing about San Antonio... i can run all year long. i dont even own a coat or a jacket. i just get too bored with the bike and elliptical.

Aren't you special.. huh... yeah well,,, I'm going to FED Ex you some snow...LMAO

[ZiR RED]

Originally Posted by chrispghmuscle

That said, this does not mean that you should necessarily do heavy, intense sprinting to burn the most fat. It's the law of diminishing returns. As you increase the intensity of your workout to maximum effort, your body uses fewer and fewer calories of fat and more from carbohydrate-supplied glycogen. This is because it's easier for your body to convert glycogen into energy - when your body works at peak effort it seeks energy from the most efficient source. So the key is finding the right balance: an exercise level that is sufficiently intense to burn more calories, but not so intense that you stop burning fat altogether.

To burn this fat most efficiently, it is ideal to run for at least forty minutes per session. While you burn mainly carbohydrates in the first minutes of your run, your body switches to fat as its primary fuel after about 30 minutes.



Chris

I have a few things to say.

First, the elyptical is the most inefficient cardio machine you can use. The amount of mechanical work and your O2 consumption is dramatically less in relation to your heart rate than if you were to workout on the tread mill.

Second, if you look at the research, the more carbohydrates you burn during exercise the more fats you oxidize for fuels when recovering. Keep in mind anaerobic exercise can only run on glycogen and glucose.

Which is why sprinting and other high intensity interval training programs are king.

Your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is dramatically higher. This means your you are burning more calories over a greater period of time to recover. And during this time, as your body is trying to restore hormone balance, Ph balance, replenish and resynthesizes cellular fuel stores, cellular repair, repolarization of nerve cells, and other forms of anabolism, it is oxidizing fats for fuel.

How much longer? Some studies show up to 9 times longer. If the average aerobic bout is 2 hours for recovery, your metabolism is staying elevated for up to 18 hours after. Thats quite a bit of time of raised fat oxidization.

But theres more benefits:

1. Sprint training increases nutrient partitioning far greater than aerobic training. Essentially, you will become more insulin sensitive, store more carbohydrates as glyocogen, oxidize more fats for fuel, and store less fuels in your adipose tissue.

2. Sprint training results in a greater increase in mitochondria (than aerobic training), the only place in your cells where fats can be oxidized for fuels. Greater and larger mitochondria means a greater ability to oxidize fats.

3. Sprint training is anaerobic, the same metabolism used when you train with weights. By sprinting, you will increase your anaerobic endurance/power thereby having a positive impact on lifting performance.

Br

[mperk]

Dudes;
So how does all this jive with the theory that running 1st thing in the morning on an empty stomach burns more fat than later in the day? Still 30 mins to get into fat burning?

Just wondering...
Thanks

[chrispghmuscle]

Originally Posted by ZiR RED

I have a few things to say.

First, the elyptical is the most inefficient cardio machine you can use. The amount of mechanical work and your O2 consumption is dramatically less in relation to your heart rate than if you were to workout on the tread mill.

Second, if you look at the research, the more carbohydrates you burn during exercise the more fats you oxidize for fuels when recovering. Keep in mind anaerobic exercise can only run on glycogen and glucose.

Which is why sprinting and other high intensity interval training programs are king.

Your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is dramatically higher. This means your you are burning more calories over a greater period of time to recover. And during this time, as your body is trying to restore hormone balance, Ph balance, replenish and resynthesizes cellular fuel stores, cellular repair, repolarization of nerve cells, and other forms of anabolism, it is oxidizing fats for fuel.

How much longer? Some studies show up to 9 times longer. If the average aerobic bout is 2 hours for recovery, your metabolism is staying elevated for up to 18 hours after. Thats quite a bit of time of raised fat oxidization.

But theres more benefits:

1. Sprint training increases nutrient partitioning far greater than aerobic training. Essentially, you will become more insulin sensitive, store more carbohydrates as glyocogen, oxidize more fats for fuel, and store less fuels in your adipose tissue.

2. Sprint training results in a greater increase in mitochondria (than aerobic training), the only place in your cells where fats can be oxidized for fuels. Greater and larger mitochondria means a greater ability to oxidize fats.

3. Sprint training is anaerobic, the same metabolism used when you train with weights. By sprinting, you will increase your anaerobic endurance/power thereby having a positive impact on lifting performance.

Br

LOL,, I use what is avalable to me. I have great success with my eliptical machine in my training routine. Regardless of your comments.

I'm not a statical person. Those mean absolutely nothing to me.

The thread was intended to place emphasis on the benefit's of running.

Chris