I know that both David Barr and Dr.Lonie Lowery have said that they are not fans of consuming carbs before and/or during exercise if fat loss is your main goal. Dr. Berardi, on the other hand, has said that despite what many people believe, carb consumption before and/or during training, while blunting fat burning during the workout, actually increases fat burning post workout.
Now, I’ve recently started using Surge (and I LOVE it by the way). For about 6 weeks I’ve been having a 1 scoop serving ~ 15 min. before my workout. For the past couple of weeks I’ve cut this Surge out. I can really tell the difference in my energy and strength levels during workouts!
I’m on a cutting cycle, eating a hypocaloric diet and fairly low carbs–higher carbs on workout days, lower on non-training days.
Do you think this 1 scoop serving of Surge before my workouts will affect my fat loss efforts to a noticible degree? I’m eating ~2400 Kcal on non-training days, ~ 2700 Kcal on training days.
Thanks,
Crowbar
[quote]crowbar524 wrote:
For about 6 weeks I’ve been having a 1 scoop serving ~ 15 min. before my workout. For the past couple of weeks I’ve cut this Surge out. I can really tell the difference in my energy and strength levels during workouts![/quote]
You can really tell how? Is it good or bad?
Yeah, as I was writing this post it suddenly dawned on me that I already know the answer. I was merely falling into the “lay out every conceivable detail for me, oh guru” mentality–very uncharacteristic of me, I must say.
The Surge allows me to have such better workouts, to put out that much more energy, that the small additional caloric load is not an issue–it can be compensated for. Further, even though the Surge may blunt fat burning during the workout, I’ve noticed no real effects in terms of lower, or slower, lipolysis.
Crowbar
crowbar524,
I, myself consume carbs prior to a weight workout. And caffeine oftentimes. Intensity is paramount at this time. Go for it!
Carbs prior to steady, moderate pace cardio, however, is another story altogether. The insulin response will blunt lipolysis. There is a mountain of published data on this and I’ve seen it myself countless times using a metabolic cart and biochemical techniques. Whether this is noticeable over time, in a free living person, could involve many confounders, of course.
Note1: Carbs consumed during exercise does not affect insulin in the same way and is indeed generally recommended.
Note2: Cardio above a panting pace focuses on direct carb breakdown and a shift away from direct fat oxidation anyway. So, those who can afford to add intense cardio to their existing training volume wouldn’t be affected. (I personally train too close to the overtraining threshold to add-in intense cardio without muscle loss and staleness.)
To elaborate on what Dr. Lonman wrote, I have my Surge 15 minutes before my workout. This should crash my blood sugar by the time I hit the gym, but I’m okay due to the catecholamine response.
I swear, my epinephrine starts pumping as soon as I mix up the drink.
As long as you’re in a similar situation, you’ll be fine WRT lipolysis.
Cheers