Thursday, December 20, 2012

Should You Do HIIT On An Empty Stomach?

By Russ Howe


Most people who perform HIIT don't support their workout with the proper nutrition. Today we clear up the fog surrounding what you should do with your diet and supplements to make the most of high intensity interval training.

Today we will clear up a few of the myths for you and help you enhance your workouts.

One of the most common myths in the gym is training on an empty stomach. When it comes to fat loss this is actually yesterday's advice. In the last ten years there have been countless scientific studies which have shown that you can gain far more from a workout if you get the right nutrients into your body before you hit the gym.

The majority of gym users discovered high intensity interval training in the last ten years but this technique has been used in sports for over twenty years, so research into the nutritional aspect is anything but sparse. The problem is, however, most people short change themselves by not taking any time out to discover what they need to change with their diet to make the most of this new way of performing cardio for fat loss.

Most people who perform high intensity cardio are doing so because they have heard it helps you to lose weight much faster, so today we're going to specifically focus on how to get the most from the fat loss benefits. These two rules are very important:

* Ignore the theories about doing high intensity training on an empty stomach because that's all they are, theories! Studies show that people who consume a whey protein serving of around 20 grams before their gym session are able to burn calories and lose fat at a greatly enhanced rate over an entire 24 hour period compared to those running on empty before their session.

* Essential amino acids are also fantastic. These will work with your protein supplement to help you retain lean muscle while you burn off fat in the gym.

Most people who are in the habit of training on an empty stomach wait until after their workout before consuming protein, amino acids or any other supplements they might be taking. Again, this is yesterday's advice.

Studies also show that individuals who use essential amino acids get more from them when consumed before a workout as opposed to after. One particularly useful experiment showed us that our body is able to use up to 42% of this supplement if taken prior to a big gym session, compared to just 16% when taken afterwards.

And that's it. Pretty simple stuff in the end, right? By ensuring your body has enough essential amino acids and a nice serving of whey protein around 20 minutes before you do your next HIIT session you will greatly improve your results.




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