Cardio Question

I

indyrockrules

0
I have been told that before running or any other cardiovascular activity i should have something to eat to stop my body using muscle as fuel. If i have a high protein snack (say a protein shake), will i be more likely to burn fat than muscle. will this also help with my muscular definition or is that all down to resistance training?
thanks for you help!
 
You should have carbs before exercising, protein after. Theres a huge debate going on (not here, we tend to sidestep debating hehe :) )about whether or not cardio actually does burn muscle. The consensus seems to think that cardio over an extended period of time does tend to burn some muscle (over an hour most people believe).
 
aevans410 said:
You should have carbs before exercising, protein after. Theres a huge debate going on (not here, we tend to sidestep debating hehe :) )about whether or not cardio actually does burn muscle. The consensus seems to think that cardio over an extended period of time does tend to burn some muscle (over an hour most people believe).
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I eat protein before, adn protein + carbs after. But either way, it's best to eat before.
 
spockafina said:
But either way, it's best to eat before.
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A respectable opinion but it is just an opinion...heres another one...

"The argument in favor of fasted early morning cardio goes something like this:

1. When you wake up in the morning after an overnight 8-12 hour fast, your body’s stores of glycogen are somewhat depleted. Doing cardio in this state causes your body to mobilize more fat because of the unavailability of glycogen.

2. Eating causes a release of insulin. Insulin interferes with the mobilization of body fat. Less insulin is present in the morning; therefore, more body fat is burned when cardio is done in the morning.

3. There is less carbohydrate (glucose) "floating around" in the bloodstream when you wake up after an overnight fast. With less glucose available, you will burn more fat.

4. If you eat immediately before a workout, you have to burn off what you just ate first before tapping into stored body fat (and insulin is elevated after a meal.)

5. When you do cardio in the morning, your metabolism stays elevated for a period of time after the workout is over. If you do cardio in the evening, you burn calories during the session so you definitely benefit from it, but you fail to take advantage of the "afterburn" effect because your metabolic rate drops dramatically as soon as you go to sleep."

Read the entire article here...
 
thanks, thats cleared that up. What carbs do you guys eat usually before cardio and what protein after (at the moment i dont have any protein shakes - my local store doesnt sell them but im gona get some)? I'm currnetly running 2miles a day 4x per week. (also is this enought/too much?)
thanks!
 
karl78 said:
A respectable opinion but it is just an opinion...heres another one...

"The argument in favor of fasted early morning cardio goes something like this:

1. When you wake up in the morning after an overnight 8-12 hour fast, your body’s stores of glycogen are somewhat depleted. Doing cardio in this state causes your body to mobilize more fat because of the unavailability of glycogen.

2. Eating causes a release of insulin. Insulin interferes with the mobilization of body fat. Less insulin is present in the morning; therefore, more body fat is burned when cardio is done in the morning.

3. There is less carbohydrate (glucose) "floating around" in the bloodstream when you wake up after an overnight fast. With less glucose available, you will burn more fat.

4. If you eat immediately before a workout, you have to burn off what you just ate first before tapping into stored body fat (and insulin is elevated after a meal.)

5. When you do cardio in the morning, your metabolism stays elevated for a period of time after the workout is over. If you do cardio in the evening, you burn calories during the session so you definitely benefit from it, but you fail to take advantage of the "afterburn" effect because your metabolic rate drops dramatically as soon as you go to sleep."

Read the entire article here...
Click to expand...

I heard that with no carbs present muscle is more likely to be burned as it provides more energy??
:confused:
 
indyrockrules said:
I heard that with no carbs present muscle is more likely to be burned as it provides more energy??
:confused:
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This is why I posted the link to the entire article...

"A common concern about doing cardio in the fasted state, especially if it’s done with high intensity, is the possibility of losing muscle. After an overnight fast, glycogen, blood glucose and insulin are all low. As we’ve already concluded, this is an optimum environment for burning fat. Unfortunately, it may also be an optimum environment for burning muscle because carbohydrate fuel sources are low and levels of the catabolic stress hormone cortisol are high. It sounds like morning cardio might be a double-edged sword, but there are ways to avert muscle loss.

All aerobic exercise will have some effect on building muscle, but as long as you don’t overdo it, you shouldn’t worry about losing muscle. It's a fact that muscle proteins are broken down and used for energy during aerobic exercise. But you are constantly breaking down and re-building muscle tissue anyway. This process is called "protein turnover" and it’s a daily fact of life. Your goal is to tip the scales slightly in favor of increasing the anabolic side and reducing the catabolic side just enough so you stay anabolic and you gain or at least maintain muscle. "
 
indyrockrules said:
What carbs do you guys eat usually before cardio and what protein after (at the moment i dont have any protein shakes - my local store doesnt sell them but im gona get some)?
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Before lifting, I eat 1/2 cup chicken and 1T natty PB; after my work-out I eat whey protein powder, and a steamed yam w/ organic applesauce.

Before cardio, I eat 1/2 cup chicken, 2 cups green veggies lightly sauteed in 1/2 T olive oil; afterwards (my last meal of the day) I eat 1/2 cup chicken and 1/2 cup raspberries.
 
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spockafina said:
yes, this is a very debatable subject.

I'd rather not risk my body burning muscle, so I eat.
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That's fine, I was just informing Indy that there are 2 schools of thought on the subject.
 
Interesting

I always do my workout in the morning. I've tried eating before but I seem to get that pukey feeling. When I get done with cardio I have to wait for about 30 mins before I can eat. The only thing I have before my workout is coffee to wake me up.......m
 
i usually dont eat right before any workout, got so much fat that my body is more unlikly to catabolize first, but i always have a whey protein shake, a huge one right after a work out.
 
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