In this lesson, you will learn how to burn fat faster. First, you should know that when you sweat, you don’t actually melt away your fat stores. When you exercise, your muscles work and use energy. This energy can come from your last meal or from your fat stores. In this article, I will explain how and why you can encourage your body to use energy from fat stores first. You will also learn why a muscular person can burn fat much faster than a thin person. Find more information about bodybuilding, weight training, and fitness at bodybuilding main.
Why does excess energy turn into fat?
No matter if you eat only egg whites, sweets, or drink 10 liters of oil every day, any excess calorie can turn into fat very fast. If your body needs 2000 kcal and you eat 3000 kcal, your body will probably store 1000 kcal as fat. Your body basically thinks it’s preparing for a period of scarcity. You might wonder why the excess energy isn’t stored as protein (pure muscle) or sugar. The answer is that fat is the best way to compress energy. One gram of fat contains 9 kcal, while protein and carbohydrates only store about 4 kcal per gram. Your body can store 10,000 kcal in just 1.1 kg of fat. If the same energy were stored as muscle (protein), it would weigh almost 5 kg.
How can you tell your body to use fat stores first?
The trick is simple: Normally, when your muscles work, they use glycogen from your last meal. But when you wake up in the morning, your last meal was 8 to 10 hours ago, so glycogen stores are low. If you exercise before breakfast, the only energy source your body can use is fat. However, this effect lasts only for a limited time. After 20 to 30 minutes, your muscles will start breaking down protein for energy, and you’ll suddenly feel weaker. Another concern is that you shouldn’t train too hard without eating first. Keep your heart rate around 130 beats per minute, which is ideal for burning fat fast. If you are over 30 or have health problems, please consult your doctor before starting morning workouts.
Why does a muscular person burn fat faster?
To simplify, imagine you are a car. Your muscles are the engine, and your fat stores are the fuel. If you were huge and muscular, you would be like a Ferrari with a powerful engine; the fuel (fat) would burn quickly. If you were a very thin marathon runner, you would be like a moped with a small engine that can run for a long time on the same amount of fuel. That’s why bodybuilders can burn fat so fast (in just a few weeks). Of course, some drugs can increase body temperature and fat burning, but that’s another story—a bad one.
