My buddy told me, it’s much better to jog in the morning because it’ll burn more calorie. How much of this is true?

Sexy Kevin Says…

Actually there is a reason why it’s “better” to jog in the morning. Let me explain about jogging and aerobics.

Jogging is a form of aerobics, an activity that is performed over longer periods of time. People always ask, “I don’t have a place where I can run, can I swim for cardio?” Answer is Yes! Any form of sports activity performed over longer periods of time is considered cardio, including badminton, futsal etc. Obviously if you play goalie and just stand there, that’s not much of a cardio session.

How Long Should I Do Cardio For?

For at least 20 minutes! Like you know, one of the main goals of cardio is to burn fat. Sounds simple? Not quite! When you do cardio, your body burns energy it has stored. But what it burns first is glycogen that is stored in your muscles. Glycogen is the first thing your body will look for before looking elsewhere (fat). Glycogen levels rise/fall depending on your carb consumption. Your body only has about a couple pounds of glycogen stored in your muscles. For the average Joe, its takes about 20 minutes for your body to use up all glycogen before turning to fat. Hence, you should maintain your cardio session for at least 20 minutes.

When Should You Do Cardio/Jogging?

It’s up to you! It’s best in the morning only because your glycogen level are low right after you wake up (unless you eat) and you will then start burning fat right away. But it’s not quite practical for the working adult. So, what you can do is “duplicate” this scenario by avoiding carbs 3-4 hours prior to your run to deplete glycogen levels. So say you wanna jog @ 6pm, your last carb meal should be around lunch!

This is good for fat burning but not ideal for performance athletes who need quick energy from glycogen. That’s why football player like Ronaldo are not super lean (although they train daily) as they burn glycogen and not fat.

So, cardio rule of thumb for fat burning: avoid carbs before your session and maintain the activity for at least 20 minutes!

Kevin Zahri is a US AFTA Certified Personal Trainer & Nutritionist and has been active in the Health & Fitness industry for the last couple of years. He’s a well known Malaysia’s Fitness Celebrity.