How to Burn Fat and Feed the Muscles

So you feel like you need to do something about being a chunk? You feel like your knees are hurting all the time, poor sleep, back pain and annoying your spouse with piggy-snoring? Do you feel like everyone is noticing that “KEG” instead of a 6-Pack abs wherever you go? You are not alone in this struggle. Millions of people throughout the world are struggling with the same issue but only a few knows what to do to burn the fat and feed the muscles.

Understanding Your Skeletal Muscles

If you thought you just stumbled on a method on how to lay down on the couch with a remote and a beer and burn the fat at the same time, find a red button on the top right corner of this article and close this page because I am just about to show you how to burn fat with diet and exercise.

Cardio exercises are popular but not so many people know the physiology behind cardio workout and fat burning. Hoping now that you understand the effects of cortisol hormone and foods that can help you burn the fat, let us talk about cardio exercises and fat burning.

A human body has two types of skeletal muscles, something you may have not heard so far. There are those muscles that are adapted for movement or locomotion. These muscles are white in color, poor blood supply compared to the next group and have long fibers. They fatigue first, they make first movements and usually found on extremities. Due to the fact that they have poor blood supply, they demand high oxygen levels to burn calories into energy. These are the muscles we exercise when doing cardio exercises.

The next group of skeletal muscles is supercharged with good blood supply. They are deep red in color and primarily give the body a posture. They are found in the body trunk, they have high threshold to fatigue, and they remain contracted always, even when asleep. They are the best bet to burn more calories if they are well built. These are the muscles that hold the body upright, hold the ribs in place and other organs.

How to Burn Fat: The Cardio Method.

To maximize body metabolism during and after workout, oxygen supply and expenditure must be put on overdrive. Think of oxygen the same like welding gas where propane gas is ignited with high levels of oxygen to produce a super hot welding flame. The higher the oxygen levels, the whiter the flame becomes and the hotter it gets.

To get similar effect, the heart rate must be put at about 50-75% faster than normal, anywhere between 120-150 beats a minute. This fastens the rate at which the calories in the body will be burnt. The body always have free floating glucose in the blood and it constantly get utilized for normal activities and supporting life. This free floating glucose must be depleted before the body can switch gears to the next source, called glycogen. Glycogen is how glucose is stored in the liver but only in small amount, only for emergencies.

Once glycogen and free floating glucose is depleted, the next source comes from the fat deposits, especially those around the neck, things and extremities. This fat is white in color and breaks down easily to give energy, heat and ketones. Once these fat deposits are depleted, then the body goes to the next fat category located around the trunk muscles and surrounding the internal organs. This fat is yellow in color with high blood supply. It is the last resort before the body starts breaking down muscles to give energy.

How to Burn Fat with Cardio Exercises:

To get to a fat burning zone, exercises must be maintained for about 20-25 minutes with a heart rate of about 125 beats per minute. After 25 minutes, the free floating sugars and glycogen from the liver gets depleted and the body automatically starts breaking down the fats. If exercises are continued in this phase for about another 25-30 minutes in presence of oxygen (aerobic), significant amounts of fats are broken down to give body the energy it needs.

This fat burning zone is temporary and Low carb fat burning can only be continued with either more exercises or with the next surefire way of burning more calories and fat over the next 24 hours. The next method is intense but shorter and can yield much more calorie burning effect than cardio fat burning method.

Turbulence Training or High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Method:

This method required one to have good cardiac health because it not only puts body metabolism on overdrive but also exerts the heart, the lungs and the muscles. The results are astronomical and significant weight loss with fat burning can be reached within a short time period.

High intensity intermittent training involves small outbursts lasting for about 1-2 minutes (1 min usually) followed by medium intensity (recovery time) exercises for another 1-4 minutes, depending on your tolerance. The cycle goes for 6-10 patterns that must be well coordinated and executed to get the effects.

The high fat burning effect of HIIT is achieved because the body takes time to recover from the workout muscular exhaustion.

Fat Burning Summary:

1. Fat burns on a carbohydrates flame, meaning that you must burn carbohydrates before you can burn the fat
2. Fat deposits around the abdominal region are the hardest to burn because they are meant to be the last resort of energy storage before the body can start breaking down the muscles.
3. Cardio exercises are effective in burning fat if they are continued consistently for over 30 minutes with a heart rate above 120 beats per minute.
4. HIIT exercises are more effective in burning fat because the body takes time to recover from these exercises.
5. You should be in good cardiovascular and pulmonary health before trying HIIT exercises.
6. HIIT is also called turbulence training method.