Which Do You Burn First, Carbohydrates or Fat? People tend to exercise in the low- intensity “fat- burning” mode under the impression that they will burn more fat. Although that is partly true, the total amount of calories you burn is more important than which calories are burned. Once you have a basic understanding of how energy is used, you may you see more results from your exercise routine - - and enjoy it too. Understanding Carbs, Proteins, and Fats. Fuel for the human body takes three basic forms: carbohydrates. Why not burn fat first? Which Does The Body Burn First? I have always maintained that our body burns fat first, muscle next. Which Do You Burn First, Carbohydrates or Fat? Not only does this burn more fat calories, it also burns twice the overall. Start a strength training program two to three times per week focusing on the major muscle groups. Which Burns First, Fat or Muscle? Does Building Muscle Burn Fat. First Trimester; Second. This helps build muscle mass, and muscle tissue burns more. Vanderbilt University School of Nursing; author, The T-Factor Fat Gram Counter. Here are 3 compelling reasons why you should lose fat first before building muscle. Metabolism and weight loss. Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than do women of the same age and weight. Energy Sources. Carbohydrates and fats are two of the three types of energy sources, the other being protein. All three sources must be processed and converted into energy before your body can use them. Carbohydrates are converted into energy the quickest, so the human body relies heavily on the easy access of stored carbohydrates as its main energy source. Fat isn’t as quickly available as carbohydrates; it must go through additional processes before being converted into energy. Protein contributes very little energy. Calories In, Calories Out. It comes down to the calories you eat and the calories you burn. Fat calories are burned during low- intensity, prolonged exercise, but fewer overall calories are burned during this type of exercise. According to fitness expert Jessica Matthews, one hour of low- intensity exercise burns 2. However, exercising at a high intensity for an hour burns 4. Not only does this burn more fat calories, it also burns twice the overall calories. Cardiovascular Exercise. To burn both fat and carbohydrate calories, mix up your workout routine. Vary the speed and incline on the treadmill or elliptical machine. This will prevent a plateau in weight loss and performance by keeping your body from adapting to the same exercise day in and day out. The varying intensity improves the body’s recovery process and keeps it interesting. Change cardiovascular machines. If you normally walk or run on the treadmill, try the rowing machine for a total- body challenge. Implement a circuit program by spending 1. Rotate to different types of machines each time you visit the gym. Other activities include swimming, hiking or playing tennis. Keep challenging yourself and increasing intensity when your program gets too easy. Strength Training. Start a strength training program two to three times per week focusing on the major muscle groups. More muscle mass means more calories burned, even while at rest. Many challenging strength training exercises can be done with body weight alone. Incorporate the help of a nationally certified trainer occasionally for new ideas or routines or attend a strength training class using resistance bands, hand weights or body weight. All of these promote varying levels of intensity for burning fat and carbohydrate calories. Photo Credits: In the exercise machine image by Albert Lozano- Nieto from Fotolia. This article reflects the views of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Jillian Michaels or Jillian. Does Building Muscle Burn Fat, Calories & Increase Metabolism? How many times have you read an article about weight loss that contained a list of “fat burning tips” or any kind of advice aimed at helping you lose fat better, faster or easier? And how many of those times did you come across the suggestion that weight training is super important, because it will allow you to build muscle? The human body naturally burns more calories each day to maintain a pound of muscle than it does to maintain a pound of fat. Therefore, the more muscle you build, the more calories your body will naturally burn each day at rest. Which means, just by building muscle, you’ll significantly increase your metabolism and turn your body into a calorie burning, fat melting machine? Technically speaking, it kinda is. For example: FACT: Your body really DOES burn more calories maintaining muscle than it does maintaining fat. FACT: This means that YES, the more muscle you build, the more calories your body will naturally burn each day on its own. FACT: Which means that building muscle DOES increase your metabolism. FACT: And this all means that building muscle definitely has the potential to help you lose fat. With me so far? Good, because here’s where it all starts to get a little screwy. You see, the problem with this theory/advice isn’t so much that it’s wrong but rather that it’s just highly exaggerated, way over- hyped (usually to sell some crappy product), and extremely insignificant in terms of the actual effect building muscle will have on helping you lose fat. How Many Calories Does Muscle REALLY Burn? To get to the root of the problem, you need to understand how many calories muscle actually burns. Depending on where you get your diet and fitness information from, you may come across the suggestion that 1 pound of muscle burns as much as 2. If this were true, then building 5lbs of muscle would lead to as much as 5. Unfortunately, muscle doesn’t burn anywhere near that amount of calories. Instead, based on all the research I’ve seen, the actual numbers are more like this! I can feel my metabolism increasing as we speak! This would mean that building 5lbs of muscle would lead to you burning an additional 2. Building 1. 0lbs of muscle would lead to a whopping 5. You’d have to build the maximum amount of muscle that your body is capable of building in your entire lifetime before the amount of calories it burns gets even close to the crazy “significant” levels people incorrectly assume. And in case you’re wondering, 1 pound of fat burns about 2 calories at rest. So yeah, muscle does burn more calories than fat. I mean, if you lost 5lbs of fat and gained 5lbs of muscle, your metabolism would increase by a whole 1. I think that deserves another sarcastic wow? It’s pretty simple. While I will always recommend weight training during fat loss (primarily because it’s a requirement for maintaining muscle while losing fat), the idea that it’s helping you build muscle and this muscle is having a significant fat burning effect is mostly just exaggerated bullshit that is often: A) Repeated by people who don’t know what they’re talking about (like most fitness myths are). B) Used to help sell some junky product built mostly on hype and fancy marketing. However, while every little bit helps, it’s unlikely it will ever make anywhere near enough of a difference to truly have a significant effect on your fat loss efforts. Instead of trying to increase your metabolism, you’ll be better off trying to eat less total calories (or trying to increase activity to burn more of them). This will always have the legit significant fat burning effect you’re looking for. More about that here: How To Lose Fat.
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