Timing Your Cardio Workout For Maximum Fat Loss

Timing Your Cardio Workout For Maximum Fat Loss
There is a theory that you can time your cardio workouts to
burn more fat. Typically the theory goes that if you do
your cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach
you will be burning more fat. The idea is that after a meal
you will most likely be burning some of the sugars from
that meal instead of stored fat. From a scientific stand
point this doesn't make any sense. Let's review exactly how
we store and lose fat.

We store fat when we consume more calories than we burn.
Simple, end of story, no arguing this point.

We lose fat when we burn more calories than we consume.
Also simple, also end of story, also no arguing this point.

The timing of your workout is completely irrelevant for
either of these things to happen. We are only talking about
calories in vs calories out. It doesn't matter when those
calories go in, or when they go out, it just matter how
many go in vs how many go out.

Picture the following example.

Let's say your body needs 2000 calories per day for regular
functioning (in other words your basal metabolic rate).

Now let's say you eat 1900 calories today, and do a workout
that burns 200 calories. It won't matter if you ate 1 meal,
or two meals, or three meals, and did two workouts that
burned 100 calories each, or one workout that burned 200
calories. It still adds up to a 300 calorie deficit for the
day.

If your metabolism is going to burn 2000 calories today
regardless of how much you eat, then eating 1900 calories
will force your body to find another 100 calories from
stored energy, and likely most from fat.

Burn 200 more calories at a workout, and now you have
created a 300 calorie deficit for the day. If you can do
this for about 12 days you will have most likely burned off
a pound of body fat.

The time of day you do your workout or decide to eat will
have no effect on this overall fat loss over time. There is
no magic to doing cardio on an empty stomach in the morning
or any other time of day for that matter. Your body doesn't
store or lose body fat so fast that it will make any real
difference when you workout or eat over the course of one
day. Consistency over the course of weeks and months will
be the key to fat loss. Not the timing of any one single
workout.

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John Barban is a professional strength and conditioning
coach and nutrition expert. He has extensive experience
designing nutritional supplements and has developed his
trademark workout for women 6 Minute Circuits. John is an
expert contributor to
http://www.efit-today.com/public/department59.cfm and
recomends the diet program http://www.eatstopeat.com , and
believes it is the best new diet for easy and effective
weight loss.