Want to stay lean and sexy? Start planning a morning bike ride!

sunrisebikerideThere’s probably a few of you out there looking at your indoor trainer and wondering just what it’s going to do for you and your body this winter. We’ve been there, especially on those days when you’re really looking for some serious motivation to ride that darned machine.

What might be even worse to learn is that you may well have been sweating away at the wrong time of day! We’ve just come across news that various doctors and health experts are now saying that to achieve maximum results, pedal away in the morning – as soon as you wake up!

So if you’re looking to stay fit and healthy (we mean sexxxxy!) over the coming months, wake up early and head over to that trainer!

SEE ALSO: 7 ways your trainer will change your life!

Various studies on fat burning exercises have revealed that we burn stored fat faster and therefore lose more weight when we do our workouts in the early morning, or when we exercise on an empty stomach.

Some research has indicated that when we exercise before eating breakfast, our body burns fat more efficiently, which in turn results to better muscle building. It is also reported that an empty stomach will produce hormones that promote fat burning and the building up of muscles. That’s in contrast to when our stomach is full, as our body’s activity is more focused in digesting the stored food, so the body building and fat burning hormones are not readily released.

The science behind burning all that fat…

The science behind all that fat burning is pretty darned interesting too: carbohydrates supply our body with fuel that boosts our energy and keeps us going. It is metabolized into glucose, a type of sugar that is stored in our muscles and liver as glycogen (carbohydrates, or the metabolized glycogen, is our body’s primary source of fuel). When an abundant supply of glycogen is available, this is what our body burns as fuel when we exercise. You may be thinking – and hoping – that you are burning stored fat, but in reality, you are just using up your body’s primary fuel. This is why we have to eat after performing strenuous workouts or doing physical work.

Our blood sugar drops during the period overnight when we sleep, because we’re obviously not in-taking any carbs, so our glycogen level is also lowered. When we exercise early in the morning while the level of glycogen in our body is low, our body turns to the fat stored in our muscles and uses it for fuel. Thus, we burn more fat compared to exercising with a full stomach when glycogen levels are high.

However, that morning training session shouldn’t be too intensive (but just enough to give your heart a good workout) – since fat is metabolized slowly our body turns back to the glycogen if it is really pushed during a hard session, and the adverse consequence is that our body sugar will be depleted. Therefore an early morning bike ride without pushing too much is best for really burning that fat off.

And once you’ve finished your early morning session, be sure to eat food rich in carbohydrates and protein to replenish body fuels. Perfect foods for the job include bread, eggs, baked beans and a nutritional drink; they’ll all help give your body the energy that it needs after your morning workout.

SEE ALSO:
5 Awesome Nutritional Tricks for Cyclists!
How a daily ride on your bike trainer can help prevent cancer

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