Can I increase my body's fat-burning ability during running by ‘Training Low?’
Yes, ‘Training Low’ can enhance your body’s fat-burning ability during running. This strategy involves scheduling runs and adjusting your meal timing, composition, and portion sizes to ensure your carbohydrate (glycogen) stores are low during runs. With less glycogen available, your body can adapt by using fat as primary energy source.
Why does Training Low boost fat burning?
Training Low boosts fat burning by forcing your body to rely on fat as an energy source when glycogen is low. This can leads to key metabolic adaptations:
- Enzyme Activation: Low glycogen triggers enzymes that promote fat metabolism
- Mitochondrial Efficiency: It improves your muscles' ability to burn fat by enhancing mitochondrial function, the energy powerhouse of cells
Over time, this can make your body more efficient at using fat as an energy source, even during harder workouts.
How can I bring my Training Low to boost fat burning on point?
To bring your training low to boost fat burning, try these practical strategies:
- Morning fasted runs: Perform low-to-moderate intensity runs, such as steady-state running, in the morning after an overnight fast. This forces your body to rely on fat due to the depletion of liver glycogen during the night
- Twice-a-day training: Plan two runs within the same day but reduce your carbohydrate intake between sessions. By the second run, your muscle glycogen stores will be lower, promoting higher fat oxidation
- Low-Carb training: Aim for less than 30g of carbs per hour during prolonged endurance runs (>1.5h) to enhance fat oxidation during training
- Low-Carb recovery: After a run, try consuming little to no carbohydrates. This extends the low-glycogen state, further encouraging your body to adapt to using fat as fuel. However, balance is key—use this strategy selectively to avoid compromising recovery
- Mistiming Training Low: High carbohydrate availability is required on days when performance is crucial, such as during key training sessions or races. Training low can compromise performance on these days
- Nutrition periodization Alternate between high and low carbohydrate availability periods to optimize both performance and metabolic adaptations without compromising overall training quality
Training low is a strategic tool that can be used to enhance fat adaptation over time. However, it should be used selectively within your training plan. As always balance is key. Use these strategies selectively to avoid compromising performance or recovery.
The FoodCoach app helps you track carbs and adjust your meal plans based on your training. Use the "Fuel During Training - Gold" challenge to practice low-carb strategies and ensure you're balancing fat adaptation with performance.
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Definitions
- - Training low: Exercise with reduced glycogen levels by fasting, not eating carbs before training, or limiting carbs between two-a-day sessions to boost fat metabolism
- - Glycogen: The stored form of carbohydrates in the muscles and liver, used as a primary energy source during prolonged or high-intensity exercise
- - Enzymes: Proteins that speed up biochemical reactions in the body, for example, enzymes play a crucial role in breaking down nutrients for energy production during exercise
- - Mitochondrial function: Refers to the ability of the mitochondria, the energy-producing structures in cells, to efficiently generate ATP, which fuels muscle contractions and endurance during exercise
- - Fat Oxidation: The process by which the body breaks down fatty acids to produce energy, especially during prolonged, low-to-moderate intensity exercise, helping to preserve glycogen stores
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