If you're trying to get toned, lean and fit then you must do cardio. It not only lowers your heart rate and moderates your blood pressure but develops a sense of well-being and, of course, burns the bodyfat. In fact, it’s the only way of getting rid of that last bit of flab on your butt and abs. You just can’t get shredded without it. Yet, what most people do is get on a treadmill for 20 to 25 minutes then jump off to lift weights. Unfortunately, this is exactly backwards. See, cardio burns off your glucose (blood sugar), which you have about 20 minutes of stored in your body.That’s a fact. So if you're doing cardio for 20 minutes, well, you may be warming up, but as to burning your bodyfat… phttt! Not happening. Actually, doing more than a 5-minute warmup before lifting weights is counterproductive.
That’s because you need your blood sugar to power your workouts!
Hit the gym floor without any glucose and you’re asking for trouble. Not only will you feel lightheaded and unfocused, but your body will be left with just two fuel-burning options: fat or muscle. As fat can only be burned aerobically, that is, “with oxygen,” and weight-lifting is anaerobic, or, “without oxygen”, that leaves you with only one option for fuel. Muscle! And believe me, you don’t want to be using your hard-earned muscle as cheap fuel. Unless you’re into the sickly skin-hanging long-distance runner look that is, in which case you’re definitely on the wrong page.
Keep this in mind: weight-lifting is not and can never be aerobic. You won’t be burning very much bodyfat working out with the iron.
Do this instead: Do your strength-training first. Always. This demands power, and power demands glucose, which exactly delivers the explosive bursts of power needed to lift weights. And here’s the kicker. Doing it this way burns off your blood sugar and readies your body for burning the fat. So now when you start your aerobics you’ll go straight into fat-burning mode. Voila!
Now all you need is a good 20-30 minutes of really intense cardio to melt off those pounds!
Your second best time to burn bodyfat is when you wake up. Upon rising, your body is in a glucose-depleted state. That’s because your brain utilized your blood sugar to maintain your body all night. So, there you go—no more glucose! Your body will default immediately into burning fat during any aerobic activity. Don’t blow it, tho’, by having juice or coffee with milk or sugar. Have it black, instead, or straight tea or water. Then strap on your running shoes and hit the trail. Remember, all you’ll need now is a good half hour of intense cardiovascular activity to burn off tons of fat as fuel!
Twice a day—when you get up, and right after you weight-train—your body hands you a gift. It’s giving you the opportunity of burning lots of bodyfat in half the time of any aerobics class. Appreciate it, and get lean!
