Theoretical Question on AM Cardio

[xenithon]

Hi All,

I know that AM fasted cardio is a hotly debated topic, and the point of this thread is NOT to instigate an argument. So if you have thoughts about whether fasted cardio is good or bad, please hold them back for other threads

My question is as follows: the idea behind fasted AM cardio is that your glycogen levels are depleted/low and thus doing low intensity cardio uses your fat stores immediately without burning any carbs/glycogen in the system, correct? The fact that you just slept 6-8 hours cause this depleted state. Now, from what I know the body slows down, especially the metabolism, during sleep. So...

...would this mean that 3-4 hours during an active day could eat up as many calories as 6-7 hours of sleep? If this is the case, then would cardio lets say in the afternoon, after work for example, 3-4 hours after your last meal, not leave you in a similarly low state of glycogen? Especially since I read that so many wake up especially early to fit cardio in first thing in the morning, and they get 5-6 hours sleep those days. Would doing cardio later on after 3-4 hours of fasting not give you the same type of results?

I am sure there may be factors I am not aware of and these I would like to find out about. So if anyone knows/understands the human physiology more your insight would be appreciated.

X

[511220]

I believe ~SC~ just started doing a noon time cardio on empty. Dont know the particulars, but I'll bump in case he wants to chime in...

511220

[SwoleCat]

Yeah, I did, but I am now back to my morning sessions as I wanted to do them more than just on my off days from training.

I was going to take my time and experiment w/a few things, but I have some endeavors on the horizon that have just presented themselves that I must prepare for, so it's time to step it up one more notch.

~SC~

[longhornDr]

It has more to do with hormone levels than liver glycogen (though it is a factor). The hormonal mileu is ideal for lipolysis following an overnight fast.