What sources of energy does your body use with different types of exercise

[Lao Tzu]

There are tons of types of energy from what i know (free ATP, glucogen, fat, muscle, etc).

What type of exercise burns each?

I am having trouble losing weight on a reduced calorie diet so im thinking of a very low calorie diet (around 2000 kcal a day w/900 kcal in cardio). However when i tried this before i had severe metabolic slowdowns. But when i did them i did moderately high intensity cardio like ellipticals. Instead of doing that i am thinking of doing low-moderate intensity cardio like walking and light biking. WIll this make a difference in what fuel sources the cardio uses. i figured when i was using ellipticals (and burning about 1200kcal/hr) i was using alot of muscle, but if i do something light like walking (600kcal/hr) or light biking (800kcal/hr) that i will use fat stores instead.

 

[VictorBR]

this is very debatable . Some people thinks that more the intensity the better because you burn more cals , and then lose more FAT ( assuming you are in caloric defict )

BUT

Some people thinks that low-moderate intensity aerobics burns LESS OVERRAL CALS BUT most of them will come from your stored body fat . So it would be better .

THe most important thing is to TIME your aerobics . empty stomachs OR right after weight training , when glycogen levels are depleted . Then , you should burn a lot fat . Just take some BCAA and Glutamine to preserve muscle and you shouldn't lose any muscle at all if you keep the aerobics at low OR moderate intensity .

You just gotta try different things untill you find what is the best for you .It is just like diet , you gotta experiment untill you see what is the best for you Me , personally I get the best results when I do cardio right after weight training . I lose fat and don't lose muscle . When I do it on empty stomach , I feel tired all day AND I end up losing some muscle . Oh , and I always do moderate intensity cardio , not light but not heavy .


Victor

 

[Lao Tzu]

I always thought low intensity burned fat and high intensity burned sugar

 

[wootoom]

totally true.

 

[VictorBR]

I always thought low intensity burned fat and high intensity burned sugar

>>> That is true in theory , BUT what happens IF you go for a HIGH intensity aerobics ( which will probably become an ANAEROBIC training , because you will be over 80 % your maximum heart rate ) on empty stomachs or right after weight training ?

You should have no sugar ( carbs ) in your system . So what would happen ?

Like I said , very debatable

 

[maccer]

depends on the person, the fitter you are the more fat you burn at a high intensity, low intensity may draw mainly from fat reserves evryone has a threshold where the body stops drawing from fat and starts to only burn carbs. You can have a test done that actually tells you you body's RMR and FAT/CArb burn rate for all your heart rates - called the new leaf programme or something like that

 

[Dante Alighieri]

>>> That is true in theory , BUT what happens IF you go for a HIGH intensity aerobics ( which will probably become an ANAEROBIC training , because you will be over 80 % your maximum heart rate ) on empty stomachs or right after weight training ?

You should have no sugar ( carbs ) in your system . So what would happen ?

You have plenty of glycogen stores in your muscles and liver (the average adult male holds about 400-450 grams of glycogen/ glucose in their liver, skeletal muscle and blood). Nobody burns 1'800-2'000kcal (that is if your body were running on 100% glycogen) of glycogen in one training session, with the exception of someone doing an ultra endurance event such as a marathon, though even then the most advanced marathon runners (such as Paula Radcliff) use approx. 80% of their adipose stores for energy during the event.

The average athlete such as you and I will in 99% of any situation find that they have sufficient glycogen stores providing you eat sensibly (or almost anything for that matter as your body will prioritise the carbohydrate foods you eat into reloading body glycogen stores before fat storage, if your diet is high carb based).

As for Nordstrom's original query, many people *suffer* from varying degrees of insulin resistance due to eating high carb for decades, and as such, rather than lowering your total caloric intake, perhaps look into modifying your CFP ratios (leaning more towards fats and proteins). With ordinary cardio/ endurance orientated work, look into performing at 50-70% of your MHR over longer periods of time and with greater frequency (days/ week. The idea being that a sufficiently *trained* athlete will switch their energy utilisation ratios more towards fats than glycogen, which does work in practice providing you follow a consistent, progressive cardio endurance program), or, alot of people experience positive results following a resistance HIIT style program, or even circuit training.

 

[brianzganjar]

There are tons of types of energy from what i know (free ATP, glucogen, fat, muscle, etc).

What type of exercise burns each?

I am having trouble losing weight on a reduced calorie diet so im thinking of a very low calorie diet (around 2000 kcal a day w/900 kcal in cardio). However when i tried this before i had severe metabolic slowdowns. But when i did them i did moderately high intensity cardio like ellipticals. Instead of doing that i am thinking of doing low-moderate intensity cardio like walking and light biking. WIll this make a difference in what fuel sources the cardio uses. i figured when i was using ellipticals (and burning about 1200kcal/hr) i was using alot of muscle, but if i do something light like walking (600kcal/hr) or light biking (800kcal/hr) that i will use fat stores in
stead.

Don't forget the time factor. If you have any glycogen stores they are going to be used first no matter what. If you have "normal" glycogen stores it can take 20 to 30 minutes to use them up and only then will you start using fat to generate ATP