Sports Nutrition, one of my favorite topics!
So what is the better way to work out…working out for an long time with a low intensity, a short time with a high intensity, or somewhere in between?
Come back tomorrow for your answer…in the meantime, I will welcome any guesses/explanations!
-Are you an average American? I sure hope not!
-RednavelRacing
3 Comments
Post a comment
Ryan Levander 
Somwher in between. Everthing in controlled moderation. (Excuse me ,I have to go let my dog out side. she has to pee about 3 more times B4 10:00) Ok. I’m back. I hope I am not average I work hard at not being average but the results might scare me.
Stop going out Bails! Wish I was there to take you out, miss you girl!
Ok so moderation is the spice of life, exactly…
…if you are looking to increase your VO2 max (how well you can take in oxygen and use it efficiently when exercising), looking to train your muscles better (lactic acid build-up, prolong when the build-up actually starts, so you can go longer), or if you are just looking to loose weight; working out at a higher intensity if what you want! Why?…
…well when you workout at a higher intensity you 60% or more of your max heart rate, so are going to be burning carbohydrates aka your glycogen stores. Our glycogen stores come from two areas: our muscles and liver. Anything 30 minutes will be from your liver storage. So your total energy expenditure is going to be higher and your fat oxidation is also higher, which is the biggest difference in working out at a higher intensity vs. a lower intensity, the fat oxidation levels.
Fat oxidation happens at a greater rate when your burn more energy, which is the case with the higher intensity, carbohydrate burning. This also speeds up your metabolism, because you are depleting your carbohydrate stores, so you can fill them back up again with food. If you don’t deplete them you just store the extra carbs as fat!
But of course, working out at any intensity is better than nothing! Just know, those low-intensity gimmicks you see on TV so often are certainly just that, gimmicks. They do burn more fat, yes, but not the fat that is on your body, the kind your use as fuel, and we all should be eating waay more carbs than fats!
Whatever type of eating you follow, whether your Paleo, Atkins, Vegan, or a meatatarian, you should always get in equal amounts of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Now you might be surprised you see fat should be equal in there with carbs and protein, but you need to be extremely picky about what kind of fat you are eating, I’m talking about Omega 3, and 6 fatty acids. In fact, here is a great like to some flax seed that should be in everybody’s kitchen:
http://www.netrition.com/udos_choice_page.html
More sports nutrition talk next week!
your good