Cardio before strenuous class? Advice please

kristilovescake

I've been going to a boot camp class and total body toning class on Mondays and Tuesdays (I know, probably not a great idea to do it back-to-back but it's the only thing that works with my schedule). Both classes kick my booty and give my muscles a pretty good work out.

I typically have between 30-60 minutes between work and the class to either stay at work later or get in some extra cardio before the class. Usually I just do some easy warming up cardio (walking about 3.0 mph), but I'd like to get some running in since I barely make it to the gym aside from 2 or 3 times a week and I need to burn some extra calories. Doing cardio after the class is tough since I usually need to get home after the class to finish up some home "chores" and eat dinner before bed.

Question is: should I get in a good cardio workout before class or keep it nice and easy so I can work harder in the classes? What are your thoughts?

kristilovescake

No advice yet?! Maybe I'll just try it today and see how it goes.

cutmd

I say you want to have a lot in the bank so you get the most out of the class. Would recommend trying speed walking at 4mph before you think about doing a light jog....

As for the other days, why not try an exercise DVD? Even if you can't make the gym you can surely make 30 minutes...

bbb84

When you eat carbohydrates, your body stores them as
glycogen in your liver and waits for your body to use them as fuel. When
performing an aerobic activity, like walking or running on a treadmill,
your body has the option of using glycogen stores or fat stores. The
problem is that your body won’t use any fat stores until your glycogen
stores are used up. On the other hand, during anaerobic exercise, like
weight lifting, your body can only use glycogen as fuel.

So here’s how
it plays out. Studies have shown that it can take as much as 29 minutes
of cardio to burn your glycogen stores. So if you start your workout off
with 30 minutes of cardio, not only did you burn fat for a whopping one
minute, but you also depleted your body of the fuel it needs (glycogen)
to do your resistance training. Now, in order to manufacture glucose
(glycogen) during your weight training session, your body may actually
break down muscle tissue to use certain amino acids as your fuel. You
could end up losing muscle instead of gaining.

To make things
simple, if you do your weight training first, you can use your glycogen
stores as fuel. Then, when you move over to your cardio, you’re right
where you want to be… with depleted glycogen stores, giving your body
the opportunity to burn fat as a fuel source.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/37114

kristilovescake

bb84, thanks for the article. interesting stuff!