Great post from FitnessSpotlight
So to sum up….want to burn fat? Then do the following:
– Workout with weights 2-3x a week, or do bodyweight resistance exercises. You need to challenge your muscles and keep them around (use it or lose it). With muscles comes more fat burning furnaces, as fat is burned in the muscle….and if you lose muscle you also lose more fat burning furnaces. There is a reason people with muscle do little aerobic exercise and still keep lean.
– Stop doing “excessive” cardio trying to get fat loss. Honestly do you even know if you are burning fat or glycogen at that point? You don’t. While activity is important it must be balanced with what you are eating and your hormonal signals. I enjoy my activities, but maybe only a couple times a week. It’s important to be active daily but it is also important not to over do it, keep it at 30-40min max depending on your intensity. This is not to say to not do anything, just do it correctly and not all the time and you will get results. That and focus on where most of the results come from anyways, what you eat!
– Intervals/Intensity programming works for a reason. This will get those Catecholamines and GH going to release more FFAs. You don’t want to overdo this either, but about 10min (15 max) of intervals or intense lifting above the lactate threshold will get the hormones up. From there you can keep going with lower intensity activity knowing you are burning more fat and without putting yourself into a state of overtraining and excess cortisol release. In fact it may be more advantageous to do repeated bursts of smaller intense activities throughout the day rather than one big longer one when it comes to fat loss and GH response (since GH comes in temporary pulses and you can now spread multiple pulses throughout the day…and we know that we can burn fat all day long right?).
– Stop calling it cardio and make it a lifestyle activity. Enjoy what you do and don’t do it at the same pace. Go run a trail but stop when you need to (I usually sprint hills, walk a bit, sprint, walk…never one steady pace). Do different activities, go dancing, rollerblading, hiking, running, swimming, canoeing….mix it up and your body will never get bored (and efficient at burning calories).
– Get your Sleep. If you don’t get to bed early or sleep enough you are setting yourself up for increased cortisol, messed up GH cycles (your biggest release is in the first couple hours of sleep, but can be lower the later you go to bed), and overall increasing insulin resistance and decreasing immune system. Not a good thing. Get your sleep and you will make a better fat burning machine. Stay up late and you will see more cravings for carbohydrates and sugars, which are not the road to fat loss (including the fact that high insulin levels before bed will lower the GH response during beginning stages of sleep).
– Get rid of Sugar and Processed Carbs – Insulin goes up, then fat burning shuts down. Simple as that. Glucagon goes down (fat releasing hormone) when Insulin rises. Keep your insulin lowered and your glucagon higher, then you can burn fat more often. Most importantly, NEVER have it right before bed….that is unless you don’t want GH released.
– Stop Stressing Out – Keep your cortisol under control, to keep your insulin at bay. We all know stress is not a good thing when overdone or chronic, and guess what exercise is a stress. So keep your exercise under control or suffer the consequences. (tip try adding in some Vit C around workouts too, may help to control cortisol levels). Also by increasing chronic cortisol output you will eventually burn out the organ it comes from, the adrenal glands. Guess what that gland also produces, Catecholamines….you know those hormones that can help increase FFA release. So burned out your adrenal gland and you lower some of your fat burning hormones in the process. Not a good trade off.
http://lifespotlight.com/fitness/2008/10/02/is-your-exercise-keeping-you-fat/