2 Secrets for Staying Lean

I am going to let you guys in on 2 of my trade secrets for staying fit and keeping lean.

As most of you would know by now, I believe nutrition to be one of the most important factors in achieving both good health and of course achieving those all important aesthetics. So, my first fitness tip is of course a nutritional one.

I've mentioned in previous Energy Bulletins the importance of what you eat, now I'd like to share a little secret about the best times to eat.

Secret Number One- Whenever possible, try to train on a near empty stomach.

I know, I know. This tends to go against a lot of what you've been told in the past but hear me out here.

Whenever you're training you need to find a balance point as to how much blood sugar(glycogen) you have in your system. The idea is to have as little glycogen (sugar) in your blood as possible so that your body isn't looking to use that as a fuel source over your stored body fat.

Too little blood sugar however will cause a hypoglycemic state which is basically where you're body will start stealing sugar from your brain to feed your working muscles. Common symptoms of being hypoglycemic is that you'll feel bloody awful(nausea, etc).

Here is a basic rule of thumb when trying to figure out how big a gap you should leave between eating and training for maximum fat burning results.

• Heavy weight lifting- 1.5-2 hrs
• Lighter lifting (includes smaller muscle groups) 2-2.5 hrs
• Short duration but high intensity training 1.5-2 hrs
• Endurance training (over an hour at lower intensity) 3 hrs

Keep in mind we are all individuals and everyone will be slightly different but with time and a rough starting point you should be able to find what works best for you.

Training Secret Number 2- Train in the morning or as early as possible.

If you remember nothing else remember this. YOU DO NOT BURN FAT WHILE EXERCISING!!!

Strange but true kids. What we do is set our metabolic rate during exercise which basically sets the fat burning dial for the rest of the day. This means that if you train in the morning, your metabolic rate will be dialed up for a lot longer, thus burning far more calories than if you were to train in the afternoon or evening.

The only exception to this rule is for those athletes that train at a low intensity for a couple of hours at a time. Some cyclist and runners would fall into this category.

So there you have in crew. Time your nutrition in accordance with your training schedule and get that workout done as early in the day as possible.

For those worriers among you, (and I know there is a few) don't stress if your sessions are later in the day or you can't time your nutrition perfectly with your workouts. The most important thing is to train when you can and eat well balanced small meals frequently.

Duncan