If you’ve ever asked a question about how to burn fat, you may have been told that lower intensity workouts are the most effective. While there is some truth to this, that’s only part of the story.
What’s important to understand when it comes to the intensity of your workouts, is the type of fuel your body uses to expend energy. There are two types of energy sources your body can use to supply your muscles during exercise. One is fat and the other carbohydrates. The conversion of stored fat into energy is a much more efficient source than carbohydrates, due to the fact that there is more energy per gram of fat.
So for example, if you are sitting on the sofa watching TV, or at your computer reading this, your body is using its preferred store of energy which is from fat. This means you are actually burning fat while sitting around! Don’t get too excited however, as this is pretty minimal energy, and is just an example. Similarly, walking is a fat burning activity, as your body draws on its fat stores again as its energy supply.
Now if you were to break into a run or perform a similar high intensity activity, the fat stores in your body can’t keep up with the amount of energy your body needs. As a result, your body starts to draw on stored carbohydrates to supplement the energy supply it requires. Your body will still be burning fat at the same time, however, but now its not the only energy source. In fact, you will still be burning the same amount of fat as you would with a low intensity exercise.
Your body will always compensate as the intensity of your exercise changes. It will use stored fat or stored carbohydrates to fuel your activity and adjust the amounts as it needs to. If you are performing an extremely high intensity exercise, the rate of fat burning will drop while the faster supply of carbohydrates will kick in.
So back to the initial question, how to burn fat? If you have limited time to exercise each day, say 20-30 minutes, you’re much better off using that time in high intensity zones. If you take full advantage of the amount of energy you burn, the fat will take care of itself. Alternatively, if you have a couple of hours to exercise, then by all means take it a bit slower.
photo credit: akunamatata
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