Cardio – Tap Into Your Fat Stores and Start Burning Some Fat!

Note: This is for those who want to shed some excess pounds.

Just a quick something I wanted to share as I believe that many people still struggle with weightloss even after adding in lotsa cardio to their exercise routine. Of course, any carefully planned out weightloss plan that involves cardio + calorie reduction will result in weightloss, but there are ways that we can actually enhance this process and burn more bodyfat instead. Personally, my body responds better when I practice the following.

We all want to burn fat when we exercise, right? But what if I told you that your body’s preferred energy source is not fat, but glycogen? (Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles and releases glucose (sugar) into the blood when your body needs the energy. Glycogen is the PRIMARY SOURCE of stored fuel in the body). So how do you use your cardio more for burning fat rather than burning glycogen?

The trick is, if you really want your body to tap more into your fat stores instead of glycogen for energy during your cardio, get your cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, or right after weight training.

The reason?

Cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach will tap more into your bodyfat as your body is pretty much in a ‘starved’ state since you slept all night without any food. And weight training uses up stored glycogen so your body is forced to rely on stored fat for energy when you get your cardio. Just remember that even though FAT is your body’s way of storing energy, it is NOT your body’s preferred fuel source. Your body will always opt for the readily available glycogen stores when available.

You gotta ‘force’ your body to really dig into its energy stores. Yeah it sounds crazy.. but give it a shot.. it works for me. A 15 minute warmup on a cardio machine before weight training is fine… but I wouldnt go all out and exhaust myself on cardio before I hit the weights. Save that for a more suitable time.

Burn, Baby! Burn!

Josh Stone, also known as DM, is the author behind the site http://www.dailymuscle.com which offers the author’s personal views on real-life fitness, bodybuilding, sports nutrition, cardio, fat loss, training information, and on all things that surrounds fitness.

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