So are you inferring that Caffene is not productive when used with cardio for fat loss?
Whether to burn more fat or start the fat burning process faster?
Snip from an article by: Bill Phillips
Caffene:
There is something you can do that helps; in fact, I've discovered something very powerful which helps you increase the amount of fat burned during aerobic exercise, as well as increasing the release of adrenaline, which helps psyche you up a bit--especially early in the morning! This stuff also helps prevent the exercise-induced decrease in intramuscular potassium, which also plays an important role in keeping water inside the cell. This compound even helps spare glycogen. When you are running out of glycogen, there is a signal to start the breakdown of muscle protein and convert it to glucose. This process is called "gluconeogenesis." Glycogen will also assist in keeping water inside the cell, which, as we've already discussed, is very important.
Fortunately, the compound I'm talking about is readily available, legal, affordable, and has no serious side effects. It's called caffeine. Yes, regular ole caffeine. Not only does it do all the stuff I already mentioned,2,10,13,23,30 studies show caffeine helps increase performance, too. For example, in one study caffeine users were able to bicycle for 96 minutes until exhaustion, instead of 75 with a placebo, and gluconeogenesis decreased by 55%.30 What this means is that the muscle was using just half as much glycogen when caffeine was present--intramuscular triglycerides were used; thus, less water left the cell. In another similar study, but with competitive cyclists, caffeine users exercised for 90 minutes until they gave up, compared to 75 minutes for non-caffeine users. And what is even more interesting is that the caffeine group burned 1.31 grams of fat per minute, compared with .75 in the placebo group.10 That's almost twice as much! Yet another study showed that exercising subjects who were using caffeine were able to work for 79 minutes versus 49 minutes [placebo group] until exhaustion.18 Caffeine also increases resting metabolic rate by up to 15%.1,3
All of these studies were using dosages producing urinary concentrations below the level accepted by the International Olympic Committee [12 mcg/ml].29
Now keep this in mind: the optimal effect from caffeine is when the glycogen deposits are low33--for example, after an overnight fast--and when the user is not tolerant or used to caffeine use.14 Thus, you should definitely cycle caffeine. Taking caffeine all the time not only lowers its effects but could also induce insulin resistance,26 which is something we must avoid.
I try to use caffeine only on the mornings I do aerobic exercise, which, during the dieting phase of my Anabolic Burst Cycling Program, is 3 or 4 mornings a week, for 30-45 minutes per session. I drink one liter of water five minutes prior to exercise. I also take in a couple hundred milligrams of caffeine as soon as I get up. Optimally, I like to take this caffeine at least 30-45 minutes before I start my cardio.
BP: What if someone eats lunch at noon and then does aerobic exercise at 6:00 p.m.? Is this enough of a fast to get the full benefits of aerobic exercise?
TA: I'm afraid this would not work out very well. You see, the "starvation time" must be longer than six hours before you encounter a significant increase in fat burning. The ideal time of fasting for optimal fat loss is around 10-12 hours, depending on the amount of glycogen you have stored at the onset of the fast.
It's also not a good idea to go six hours during the day without eating. As I described already, during the anabolic phase you will not get maximum results unless you eat often throughout the day. And during the dieting phase, fasting during the day will likely produce low energy levels, making it difficult to exercise at all.
It's a lot easier to fast during the nighttime--our bodies were obviously built for this. Some researchers now believe that one of the most important functions of this "hot" fat-burning hormone called "leptin" that you hear about in the news is that it inhibits hunger during the night hours.28 I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but it's actually pretty easy to go from 8:00 at night to 8:00 in the morning without eating. Think about why this is. There's got to be some type of physiological mechanism that makes this possible. Leptin could have something to do with this. Think about how difficult it would be to go from 8:00 in the morning to 8:00 at night without eating--it would be literally painful.
), but I don't really buy into the notion of primarily burning either fat or glycogen during exercise. The EPOC tends to cause a balance with regards to substrate consumption.
