The Hierarcy of Fat Loss

http://sbcoachescollege.com/articles/SmartCardiotoBurnFat.html

Yet another vote for interval training. In the article linked above, Dr. Perry Nickelston states that intervals are more efficient at burning fat than long steady state cardio. Why? Because steady state cardio eats all that precious muscle you want to hold onto. You see when we are dieting or even training for sports, we want to have as much muscle as we possibly can, it helps to burn more calories throughout the day, and ramps up our metabolisms. So all that hard work we have done in the weight room is now wasted because of what we do after or even worse BEFORE we train hard.

Dr. Nickelston also states that there is a hierarcy of energy usage, and to train smart and get to #4 we must plan our workouts in a certain order, and it works as follows.

1. Muscle glycogen

2. Liver glycogen

3. Blood Borne Amino Acids

4. Fat Stores

When we train cardio first and it is long steady state cardio, we use up 1-3 and finally get to #4. 1-3 are what fuel our STRENGTH TRAINING. So will our strength training be the best it can be after we have done 30 minutes on that damn treadmill?

HELLLLL NO! Because we won't have any energy left. The smarter way to do it, and I use it with all my clients, and anyone else I see that tells me cardio burns more fat, is I strength train first, and do my interval/cardio second. It just makes more sense, if you are dog tired after running for a half hour chances are you are going to not lift optimally, or you are just going to skip it all together.

Weight lifting and interval training helps us to maintain and increase that lean body mass (muscle), and gives the tone and definition that all women want. It helps burn more calories THROUGHOUT the entire day, and possibly 2-3 days after you lift. Whereas, long cardio only helps you burn more calories for the time you are on the bike, treadmill, or that dumbass eliptical.

MAKE SENSE?

Read the article above, and have a good one folks.