Strategies to Enhance Fat Metabolism with Exercise

1. Incorporate low to moderate-intensity metabolic training workouts

-In other words, do a cardiovascular exercise (jogging, biking, elliptical etc.) for 60-80 minutes at a “conversational pace.” The “conversational pace” should be a pace at which you could carry on a conversation without getting out of breath.

-It has been proven that keeping the intensity low, but the duration high leads to greater fat utilization.


2. Incorporate some high-intensity, short duration workouts (intervals)

-Alternate 1 minute of high intensity cardiovascular exercise (sprint) with 3 minutes of low intensity cardiovascular exercise (active rest) for 15-20 minutes. The accumulation of sprints equals the 15-20 minutes, in other words, the active rest time does not count towards your 15-20 minutes.

-The increase of intensity increases the number of calories burned


3. Incorporate multi-mode training

-Try different modes of cardiovascular exercise to avoid over-use injuries, and to strengthen different muscles.

-Jogging, biking, elliptical, swimming etc.


4. Avoid high glycemic foods up to 2 hours prior to the cardiovascular workout

-Eating high glycemic index foods prior to cardiovascular exercise increases insulin, which inhibits fat burning.

-If you are exercising first thing in the morning, make sure you are eating something before your cardiovascular exercise , but make it low glycemic index rather than high glycemic index.


**Learn more about what the Glycemic Index is HERE!