Why Cardio Is Crucial: How to Prevent the Starvation Response

 Why Cardio Is Crucial: How to Prevent the Starvation Response

Exercise, Calories, and the Body's Reaction to Hunger
People usually go for the most recent fad diet when they decide they want to reduce weight. But these fad diets don't work nearly every time (95%). The lack of regular physical activity is the main reason they don't work. A calorie deficit is necessary for fat loss to occur. To rephrase, for fat storage to become an energy source, calorie expenditure must exceed food intake. Despite first impressions, this turns out to be more complex than it first appears. Two methods exist for achieving a calorie deficit. Reducing caloric intake is the initial step. Second, increasing caloric expenditure through physical activity. If you want to lose fat without reaching a plateau and giving up, you need to do both. Reduce your caloric intake and increase your caloric expenditure. If you attempt to achieve a calorie deficit solely by consuming fewer calories, your body will enter a "starvation mode" where it slows down its metabolism in anticipation of a period of low food intake. This is likely an evolutionary response from a time when food was scarce, rather than a modern-day phenomenon. Another reason the metabolism slows down is because the body takes extra precautions to safeguard the brain during periods of reduced food intake. Glucose, which are carbohydrates found in the body, is essential for brain function; however, glucose cannot be stored in the body. Muscle can be converted to glucose, therefore eating your own muscle is the sole option for the body to receive glucose. However, this reduces your metabolism and triggers the starvation reaction. In this way, the body gets two benefits from digesting its own muscle: first, it supplies glucose to the brain; and second, it lowers your metabolic rate, which means you need less food overall. Fat loss stalls and fad diets fail when the hunger response kicks in.

Regular exercise makes your body more used to maintaining a high metabolic rate. Regular exercise sends the message to your body, "Hey, I'm doing something, so I guess there's a surplus of food around here, and I shouldn't stress out." Because of this, the starving reaction is generally disregarded. Weight training and aerobic exercise (cardio) are two main types of exercise that can provide this effect. But cardiovascular health is the main focus here.
Exercising aerobically helps burn calories without triggering the body's hunger reaction. The word "exercise" or "cardio" sometimes elicits negative connotations about the insurmountable difficulty of actually engaging in such physical activity, yet this perception is commonly mistaken. Eventually, your body will adapt to cardio, and it becomes easier, more gratifying, and even enjoyable.
How Cardio Gets Easier Without Decreased Calorie Burn
Cardio makes your body adapt so that it can do the same amount of work with less effort as you do it more often. The body undergoes a plethora of changes that would fill an entire textbook, including the development of new capillaries, an increase in mitochondrial content (the cellular powerhouse), a stronger heart, increased blood production, and countless more. The most important thing to remember is that calorie expenditure remains constant, regardless of how your body adjusts or how easy cardio gets. But now that your body has adapted, you can exercise in a way that burns significantly more calories, leading to deeper fat loss. For example, a one-hour and forty-five minute walk would burn 300 calories. Jogging, on the other hand, for 25 to 30 minutes (varies with speed) will burn 300 calories. Unless you're a complete sloth, the latter is the more sensible choice. Similarly to how running and jogging produce an endorphin high, walking does not (more on this later).
Principal of Overload
You should aim to adapt to the point where you can burn enough calories when you begin an aerobic routine. The overload principle is at work here. The overload theory is straightforward: increasing the intensity, duration, or frequency of your workouts is the surest way to trigger adaptations in your body. Your adaptation will be based on the overload type you choose, whether it's intensity, duration, or frequency. To run the same distance faster, for example, you need just run faster, and your body will adjust. Simply increasing your running distance will cause your body to adjust and allow you to run farther. This principle goes hand in hand with a great deal of specificity, but that is for another piece. Basically, the overload principle shows that you won't adapt if you stick to the same pattern without increasing your effort. For example, your body won't adapt any farther if you perform the same aerobics tape every day. There's no need for it to. If you were to use a more sophisticated tape, nevertheless, your body would adapt; but, you'd have to locate an even more challenging tape to trigger any more adaptations. However, if you're only looking to lose fat and don't want to change your exercise regimen, maintaining your current fitness level will result in the same calorie expenditure.
Why Not Jump Right In?
Obviously, ease into it if it's been a long since you've done any cardiovascular exercise. You should ease into it by walking quickly at first, then adding little jogs here and there, and eventually you'll be jogging the entire time. Then, when you're satisfied with your results, you may start increasing your times and speeds. Getting things rolling is the true challenge. Even if you have to start out little, the hardest part is already over as you get your momentum going by exercising for the first time.
The Benefit to Your Body: A Feeling of Euphoria
The "endorphin high" is a side effect of cardiovascular exercise that helps you feel better overall. Feelings of calm, improved mood, increased clarity of thought, and general well-being are all brought on by this all-natural high. Theoretically, this is why a lot of people who run long distances are "addicted" to it: they enjoy the rush that comes from finishing a run. These will encourage you to stick to your program and keep burning fat after you've had one.
Morning Exercise Routine?
While counting calories is essential for fat loss, you should be aware that different types of calories have different effects. Your blood sugar level drops to a dangerously low level when you first open your eyes in the morning. Glycogen is just another name for the carbs that the body stores. Glycogen, rather than fat, is the fuel of choice for physical activity. Glycogen and fat are the two primary fuel sources for your body's operations, but the proportions change depending on what's readily available. So, your body burns fat at a higher ratio than when you just ate because it is short on glycogen in the morning. So, if you want to burn more fat when exercising, try doing cardio while fasting instead of after eating. According to one study, this strategy can increase fat burning by 17% compared to eating just before (1). Another research paper concurs with this by noting, "our results support the hypothesis that endurance training enhances lipid oxidation (lipid oxidation means the burning of fat) in men after a 12-h fast at low relative exercise intensities" (2). Make sure to drink plenty of water before your morning cardio session (you'll be dehydrated after waking up) and wait to eat breakfast until after your workout if you want to maximize the fat-burning response.
The endorphin high you get from an early workout can improve your mood and mental clarity throughout the day, which is just one more reason to get your workout done first thing in the morning. The likelihood of you engaging in cardiovascular exercise first thing in the morning is higher than that of you doing it in the afternoon, when you may be "too tired" to feel motivated.
Drink Plenty of Water
Always drink enough of water before beginning a new cardiovascular program. You can workout and think more efficiently when you drink water. Almost every chemical reaction occurring within your body need water. The majority of individuals constantly feel dehydrated. A heat injury, fainting spells (the author has been there), or even death can occur as a result of exercising. Have you ever worked out and felt a thick, cottony sensation in your mouth? If you've ever had cotton-mouth while exercising aerobically, you should know that you might have avoided the unpleasant side effects of dehydration and performed considerably better if you'd drank more water before your workout. Instead of waiting until you're about to exercise to drink water, try to spread it out throughout the day.
Music!
Incorporating music into your cardio routine is a certain approach to motivate yourself and create a pleasant association with the exercise. Cardio will seem more enjoyable and improve your performance in ways you never imagined.
Beginning an exercise program is, as mentioned earlier, the most challenging aspect of it. Always drink enough of water, put on some music, and use the overload concept to your cardio routine if you want to trigger an adaptive response. You might even decide that you'd want to do your exercise first thing in the morning so you can feel great, have better focus throughout the day, and burn even more fat. After you get over that initial stage and start to feel the benefits of cardio, like continuous weight reduction, a sense of achievement, and that incredible endorphin high, you will get addicted.

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