When Is The Best Time For My Cardio Training?

Sunday, August 2, 2009

So let’s clear up the confusion of when is the best time to do your cardio training. Most people who come in to the gym tell me all the time that they do their cardio first then their workout, but they are not seeing any results and are getting frustrated. Well you are going to kick yourself in the rear after I tell you how simple this is. Let me first explain where your body gets its energy sources from and how to better understand how carbohydrates are used within the body. There are many functions for carbs, and one of them is for energy. Here is a brief explanation.

The consumption of carbohydrates is stored into the body in a few ways. It is converted into glycogen and stored in the liver, converted from glycogen to ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in the muscles, and any extra excess of carbs are then converted and stored into the body as fat. So when you first perform any exercise you are running off of the ATP in the muscles and the glycogen stores in the liver. Once these are depleted then the body will use the fat as the energy source.

There are two optimal times that you would want to do your cardio training. Your ideal time of day to do your cardio would be first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up on an empty stomach. Why? Because at this time of day your glycogen levels are very low due to them being used up after your last meal while you are sleeping to sustain the body’s nutritional needs. So now that you are about to perform an energy intense cardio session the body needs an energy source and it will be primarily using the fat as that source since the glycogen was almost if not fully depleted during your sleep.

Your second optimal time to do your cardio session, if you are not available to perform it first thing in the morning, would be immediately after your work out. Why? For the same reasons stated above. Even though you have been eating during the day and have filled your body with carbohydrates, fats, and proteins you will be using this build up of bodily energy during your workout to aid you in the lifting of the weights that you will be performing. As you are exercising you are depleting the build of stored energy leaving only the fat as a last source of energy.

So just know that if you are one of those types that come in the gym after breakfast or full day’s worth of eating and you just jump onto the cardio machines and do about 30 – 45 minutes, you may want to stay on there for another 30 minutes. Depending on your intensity level of cardio training and the amount of food you have eaten during the day, it may take you anywhere from 20-45 minutes to deplete those glycogen levels and really utilize the fat as a primary source of energy. You will still burn fat while you use the glycogen levels but it is pretty balanced and not focused on fat.

So you want to make sure that you are performing good intense exercises to deplete those levels first or come in first thing when you wake up from a good nights rest when your levels are low and optimal for fat expenditure. I have all of my clients do a minimum of 30 minutes cardio training right after we are done training to burn away the fat and help keep their metabolism high.