HEALTH PRODUCTS ARTICLE
Eat THIS Before Your Workouts
By Jon Benson
One of the
most common questions I get asked is:
"What should I eat before my workouts if I want to get rid of body
fat?"
The answer?
Nothing.
I've been saying this for almost a decade now, and research is catching
up with
the idea.
It's nice to be right. : )
Several studies now confirm that exercising while your body is low on
food may
be a good way to trim excess fat.
European researchers found that cyclists who trained without eating
burned
significantly more fat than their counterparts who ate. Now, this is
important:
Cycling requires a lot of energy. Far more energy
than you need to get
rid of body fat.
Working out with weights and doing moderate to intense (but short)
cardio will
take care of 99% of your needs when it comes to fat burning.
But with weights, and especially with the cyclists that were tested,
performance may be an issue.
In fact, the members of the group of cyclists who didn't eat performed
worse on
the intensive training. Yet, they burned a higher proportion of fat to
carbohydrates than the group that ate. (Medicine & Science in
Sports &
Exercise, the Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.)
Why? Simple. Your body's blood sugar is lowest in the morning prior to
eating. When
you train, moderately or with intensity, most of your fuel comes from
your body
fat and not ingested carbs. Isn't that cool?
Which would you rather burn, body fat or carbs?
Yeah, me too. : )
About performance: I have found that my performance suffers
only slightly
when fasting and training for the first few weeks. After that my
performance
increases. The body starts to burn its own body fat far more
efficiently so I
find I have plenty of energy.
This was not a lone study on fasting and training. In a 2008 study,
Hespel and
colleagues tested the effects on men who did endurance training without
eating
versus those who ate. In the athletes who hadn't eaten, the researchers
found a
spike in the amount of proteins needed to process fat, meaning their
bodies had
been primed through fasting to get rid of more body fat.
So, now you know the answer to the old question: "What should I eat
before
training?"
Nothing, or as little as possible.
***
Jon
Benson is a
fitness and weight loss expert and the author of Fit
Over 40.
You
Should Sign Up for his ebook
Here.
Health and Humor
Voltaire
(and your grandmother) recognized long ago
that humor and laughter are good for you. You've probably noticed
yourself that
you simply feel better after a good belly laugh. The problem, of
course, is
that your sense of humor generally abandons you right when you need it
the most
– on the tough days. But if you manage to bring your sense of humor to
your
daily conflicts on your job, your relationship with your spouse and
children,
and your health or financial problems, you'll go a long way toward
improving
the quality of your life; and you'll boost your physical health and
well-being.
– Paul E. McGhee, PhD
“Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. ”
- Erma Bombeck
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