If Losing Fat Is All About Kcals In Vs Kcals Out...

[Vanchatron]

...Then what difference WHATSOEVER will it make whether you do your cardio in a fasted state as soon as you wake up, or at any other time of the day?

I don't get why people say morning cardio on an empty stomach is the best way to lose fat, if it's all about burning off more calories than you take in. If morning fasted cardio used stored fat purely as an energy source to fuel the session, then this would mean that you can lose fat AND gain muscle at the same time, but according to MANY this isn't possible because (like I said above) it's all about "Calories in Vs Calories out".

To Build Muscle - Eat more Kcals than you burn
To Lose Fat - Burn more Kcals than you eat

^^ This is the general rule of thumb right? Therefore each goal contradicts each other which means you can't do both... But this thinking that doing cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the morning is optimal for fat loss (because it uses stored fat as energy, thus burning it off in the process), would obviously go against this.

Can anybody shed some light on this? Thanks.

 

[[CinnamonBuns]]

i think thats just a simplified way of looking at it
gymnasts are cut and relatively big (yes they are short, but still)without doing bulking/cutting cycles
read into "g-flux"
i have no judgement on it, ive never tried it. but some aspects seem to make a bit of sense

 

[joe d]

if you burn more cals than you are consuming then you have to be using stored resorces (fat/muscle) you will lose weight. if you do cardio at the end of an 8 hour fast no matter what you ate the day before you will only use stored resorces.

there are different opinions on how to alter the fat/muscle ratio. on is low pace for a longer time to burn more fat and less muscle (this is the more popular one) . the other is short intense cardio sessions.

 

[rikishi]

Many desire to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Good luck doing that by taking in less calories than your maintenance.

 

[cobracock1979]

I think the theory behing morning cardio is that with no food reserves in the stomach, the body uses up muscle glycogen much faster for its initial source iof energy. When thet runs out it swutches to fat for enegy.

Same applies to cardio after weights, rather than before.

This is also the basis for Keto diets.

 

[Vanchatron]

I think the theory behing morning cardio is that with no food reserves in the stomach, the body uses up muscle glycogen much faster for its initial source iof energy. When thet runs out it swutches to fat for enegy.

Same applies to cardio after weights, rather than before.

Yeah exactly, but then if this is the theory, it throws all that "Kcals in Vs Kcals out" stuff completely out the window. This theory would mean that it is completely possible to burn fat & build muscle at the same time, but like many have said, it just isn't.

So what is it...

Kcals in Vs Kcals out for losing fat
or
Early morning fasted cardio for losing fat.

I was always told that it was the first option (Kcals in etc) therefore, whether you do your cardio in the morning, at night, or straight after the gym won't make a blind bit of difference as long as you're burning off the calories.

I'm just not sure whether to carry on doing Early Morning fasted Cardio or not, or whether to just do cardio at any other time of the day, if it's all about burning more calories than you take in.

 

[lockdownd7]

The simple answer, is no, a calorie is not just a calorie, and there is far more to it than calories in v. calories out. If that were the case, then we might as well toss out the idea of postworkout meals/supplements as well.

When people say that losing fat is "all about calories in vs. calories out", the take-home point should just be that it generally requires a caloric deficit to lose fat. In other words, while there may be plenty of variables that can be adjusted to create fat loss, the simplest, easiest, most universal one to adjust is caloric intake. The point in worrying about other factors is mostly to optimize fat loss vs. muscle loss to acceptable levels.

And that's basically what it comes down to on the decision of timing of cardio. There is no doubt that you will burn more fat doing cardio in a glycogen-depleted state, but you'll also be catabolizing muscle. The benefit/detriment ratio can only really be determined by the individual, but, imo, if you're managing your diet properly, you shouldn't need to do cardio on an empty stomach.

 

[Jocques Straap]

IMHO, the most important factor, is calorie in/out. The other significant factors being meal timing, and macro ratio. If you don't have your total caloric value under control, then you don't even really need to be concerned with timing/macros/ or other "tricks" used to help speed the fat loss process like fasted cardio.

 

[Vanchatron]

The simple answer, is no, a calorie is not just a calorie, and there is far more to it than calories in v. calories out. If that were the case, then we might as well toss out the idea of postworkout meals/supplements as well.

When people say that losing fat is "all about calories in vs. calories out", the take-home point should just be that it generally requires a caloric deficit to lose fat. In other words, while there may be plenty of variables that can be adjusted to create fat loss, the simplest, easiest, most universal one to adjust is caloric intake. The point in worrying about other factors is mostly to optimize fat loss vs. muscle loss to acceptable levels.

And that's basically what it comes down to on the decision of timing of cardio. There is no doubt that you will burn more fat doing cardio in a glycogen-depleted state, but you'll also be catabolizing muscle. The benefit/detriment ratio can only really be determined by the individual, but, imo, if you're managing your diet properly, you shouldn't need to do cardio on an empty stomach.

^^ Perfect example of why you should never judge a person by their post count alone!

Thanks a lot.

 

[the small soldier]

many people burn muscle and burn fat simultaneously when the begin a workout program simply by altering their macro ratios and working out, but keeping Calories the same.