Understanding the Fat Burning Process

Understanding the Fat Burning Process

Article by Jon Rodriguez

The enzymes in muscle which burn glucose are emergency enzymes designed to be retained even when not in use. Even if you have been bedridden for weeks, you don’t lose your stable sugar-burning enzymes. In contrast, fat-burning enzymes are lost very quickly. This is the essence of getting out of shape. Muscles lose their ability to burn fat, which is the body’s primary fuel.

If you have gained some weight over the last five to ten years by overeating and not exercising, your muscles have now lost their ability to burn the primary furl. They don’t know how to handle fat any longer. When you go for a walk, your muscles burn glucose which is not very efficient since you run out of it very quickly. Fat is not easily lost since the muscles have forgotten how to burn it.

As you relax in a chair reading a book, your muscles are idling, waiting for you to move, just like a car idling at a traffic light. At rest with not movement, you burn about one calorie a minute. Big people burn more calories than small people. Part of the calorie you burn comes from sugar and part comes from fat. At rest, muscles burn approximately 70 percent fat and 30 percent glucose.

On a treadmill, you burn one calorie per minute standing still. If you start walking very slowly the treadmill slowly progresses into first a slow walk and then a fast walk, the number of calories burned per minute increases as well. As the number of burned calories per minute increases, the percentage coming from fat decreases. The faster you go, the harder it is for muscles to burn fat. Although the muscles use more calories, they are burning mostly sugar calories.

Elite marathon runners burn 70-80 percent fat while running. According to research studies, a famous marathon runner named Frank Shorter can run a five-minute mile while having a conversation. Studies of his muscle indicate that he burns about 80 percent fat and 20 percent glucose. Frank Shorter is therefore running aerobically while running a mile in just five minutes. Athletes such as Frank Shorter have developed the ability to burn twelve calories per minute, 80 percent of which is fat. Thus, about ten calories of fat would be burned of by Frank Shorter as he runs.

In contrast, a fat person who has just gained five pounds and decides to run a bit to try and get rid of it, would burn mostly sugar. If he ran fast enough, he would burn about twelve calories per minute most of it being sugar stores. What he needs to do is slow down until he reaches a point where he is burning a significant amount of fat. He needs to exercise as hard as he can without getting out of breath to maximize fat burning rather than glucose or sugar burning.

People who are out of shape and want to lose fat cells will need to do something strenuous but easy enough to do for a longer amount of time than usual. Brisk walking, light swimming or moderate bicycling are ideal for maximum fat burning.

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