Scientific Basis for Morning Cardio

These are excerpts taken from an article in Muscle Media (ABCDE Diet) ) by a scientist named Torbjorn Akerfeldt. He is presently studying medicine at Uppsala University in Sweden.

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Some people fear that if they do aerobics at all, they'll lose muscle mass. This is not the case. Recent studies [using a sophisticated procedure called "stable isotopes"] have revealed that, "Although aerobic exercise may stimulate muscle breakdown, this does not result in a significant depletion of muscle mass because muscle protein synthesis is stimulated in recovery." In this particular study, they experimented with aerobic exercise that was moderately intense [40% of VO2max, which corresponds to a heart rate of around 120 beats per minute]. 8 Also remember that one study with aerobic exercise during dieting indicated an increase in lean body mass. 38 And yet another recent trial showed that combining a low-calorie diet with the combination of resistance training and aerobic exercise was the most efficient method of burning bodyfat. 24

I want to emphasize again that the best way to maximize the benefits of aerobic exercise is to do it in the morning, after an overnight fast--after not eating for at least ten hours. Some time ago, at our metabolic lab here in Sweden, we found that subjects burned around three times more fat in the morning [after an overnight fast] during aerobic exercise compared to afternoon exercise in a fed state. We presented this information at the 1996 FASEB conference. Even more interesting was the finding that the proportion of protein being burned decreased rather than increased during early morning exercise. In other words, at a heart rate of about 120 beats per minute, you will not experience muscle catabolism, even though you are fasting. Actually, we discovered that over a 24-hour period, a positive nitrogen balance of around 5-9%, depending on protein intake, was measured with something called "leucine isotopes," which is one way we try to trace how much protein is being built up or broken down in your body in response to exercise

Here's one more tip: drink a liter of water on an empty stomach in the morning, about five minutes before your cardio. This will make your blood "hypo-osmolaric" which helps push fluids into muscle, where they may act to prevent protein breakdown according to Häussinger's theory on cellular hydration, which states that, "Protein loss is triggered and maintained by reduced cell volume, secondary to loss of intracellular water." 19
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The numbers after certain sentences refer to the studies cited. Unfortunately, Bill Phillips didn't see fit to match the numbers with the publications. Frustrating that I can't verify the information from the publications, however, I see no reason to doubt what has been cited by Mr. Akerfeldt.

[WarPoet]

This is pretty much what I have experienced, I do tons of cardio and lose little to no muscle when I cut down.

[Steve]

The morning cardio-saga continues.....


Good post, Iron.

Steve
P.S. I'll make post on hydration soon. Just got to type it out.

[Fudomyo]

Originally posted by WarPoet
This is pretty much what I have experienced, I do tons of cardio and lose little to no muscle when I cut down.

You do all your cardio while fasting?

It's too bad Iron has gone to the dark side. *Sniff*

[WarPoet]

No I do plenty of morning cardio with only a protein shake in me. It's just that a lot of people think cardio si going to make you lose muscle, this simply isn't true in my case. Without cardio I don't think I could get the low body fat I need to compete, I know this isn't the case with everybody, the amount of cardio should reflect the speed of your metabolism I guess. Some people don't have to do any, others have to do lots.

[galileo]

Muscle Media is not a reliable source for any scientific study. It's an interesting read but you can't be certain that any of it is true.

Bwahahahaha, Fudo. Sorry to disappoint you, but I do need cardio. My metabolism isn't what it was at 33.

Danugi, I do agree with you about MM and BP. I sincerely doubt their integrity. However, I don't think that Akerfeldt, who Phillips was quoting, would make references to bogus studies. Here is one he quoted -- D. Häussinger, "The Role of Cellular Hydration in the Regulation of Cell Function," Journal of Biochemistry 313 (1996) : 697-710 -- and it is a valid study. Over time I have realized that there is a lot of bull**** floating around any genuine work. The trick is to find the nuggets of gold.

[cursor]

Originally posted by Danugi
Muscle Media is not a reliable source for any scientific study. It's an interesting read but you can't be certain that any of it is true.

Amen to that. Frequently they'll print the revelation of a "new scientific study" that makes a particular claim ... while right on the opposing page is an advertisement for a product whose use is directly justified by that "scientific study." The mating of the two is intentional of course.

[Fudomyo]

Originally posted by IronMan
Bwahahahaha, Fudo. Sorry to disappoint you, but I do need cardio. My metabolism isn't what it was at 33.

I never meant to say that cardio is "bad" all the time. It is just counter productive on an empty stomach, and before/after your workout. ...IMHO...

You'll be happy to know I even did some cardio on my rest day, Sunday.

[Jalopy]

anyone ever tried the ABCDE diet?

or the warrior diet?

[AdamJM]

Oh thanks alot! Now you got rid of my only excuse not to run in the mornings! :-)

hehehehe That was my plan all along Adam....

Jalopy -- I'm thinking of giving the ABCDE a try. Figure that it can't hurt anything.

[Jalopy]

after reading about the ABCDE diet i think it is
1) harder to follow exactly (time consuming)
2) not very likely to work

but then again only one way to find out

Curious as to why you don't think it will work. Care to enlighten us?

[Fudomyo]

You figured out what the ABCDE plan is?

I wouldn't follow anything my someone who quoted Myosin references, and uses HMB which clearly does nothing.

Insulin is also know to reduce GH, not increase it as he suggests in the "loading" phase. Increasing muscle triglycerides is very usefull for endurance and energy, but all you need to do is eat more fat (healthy).

Someone who figured out the plan, post a summary.