To maximize fat burning I suggest to all my clients to perform two cardio sessions, one in the morning and when after you train in the afternoon. This technique works well because of the thermal effect that occurs after you do cardio. After a good cardio session your Metabolic Rate is higher and you actually will burn extra calories for several hours later. The calories that you will burn literally while doing nothing, will most probably exceed the calories initially burned during the exercise.
Doing cardio in the am before eating carbs is beneficial because your body's glycogen levels will be lower in the morning (assuming you last ate at dinner time and have essentially fasted for 10-12 hour fast).
Doing cardio without eating causes your body to mobilize more fat because of the unavailability of glycogen. Blood glucose levels are also lower after an overnight fast so you will burn more fat which will be used for energy.
After fasting your insulin levels are the lowest. When you consume a meal, especially one with carbohydrates your body releases insulin, which interferes with the mobilization of body fat. Because there is less insulin present before eating after a 10-12 hour fast more body fat is burned when cardio is done in the morning. Note: this is also why many “fat burning” or carbohydrate blocking products contains several ingredients, which have shown to reduce or regulate blood insulin levels.
Eating immediately before cardio also inhibits fat burning because you will first have to burn off what you ate first before your body will burn stored body.
When you do cardio in the morning, your metabolism stays elevated for a period of time after the cardio workout is over.
Cardio in the morning will also give you an energy boost throughout the rest of the day and can also regulate your appetite and assist you with controlling cravings and binging.
By doing an afternoon session you will be able to elevate your metabolism a second time for another period of a few hours. Therefore your body burns extra calories while doing no extra work. This is similar to the calories that will be burned by extra lean muscle you develop. Once you add the muscle you burn more calories without doing any additional exercise. Isn’t that great? These are those little tricks that must people do not hear about.
