What do you burn if you have little or no carbs in your system (say you didn’t eat anything yesterday or today) and you work out with weights? Does it burn fat or just muscle? And how does what substance you burn differ between running(cardiovascular) and weight lifting?
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What Do You Burn Without Carbs?
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the body always utilizes substrates from amino acids, glucose and fatty acids for energy, never just one source. when muscle and liver glycogen stores are depleted the body will be forced to utilize a higher amount of substrates from amino acids and fatty acids. since the body has no storage capacity for amino acids the body has to catabolize muscle proteins for amino acids to convert those into glucose.
at rest the primary fuel of skeletal muscle are free fatty acids, the brain only needs 5 grams of glucose per hour to function properly. under normal conditions the body utilizes about 10-15% of it’s energy from amino acids. so when energy demands from muscle get too high and the body can not convert free fatty acids at a fast enough rate the muscle tissue switches to using glucose as the primary energy source. the body compensates by utilizing the opposite energy source at the conclusion of exercise. so when glucose is used as the primary energy source during exercise a higher amount of free fatty acids will be used after exercise. this is why moderate to high intensity exercise will always be optimum for fat loss. real fat loss occurs after exercise as the result of an elevated metabolic rate not during the actual exercise session.
Weight training, cardio, walking, sitting, sleeping…it all burns from the same source, so that should answer your question.
What happens when you workout is that your body pulls from its “glycogen stores,” which are little storages of glucose. Glucose is the simplest form of sugar, which means your body can use it very easily.
However, when you deplete your glycogen stores, your body begins to burn fat, which is nothing more than your long-term energy source. Your body needs to replenish its glycogen stores, which is why people who do any regular exercise know that they need to replace their storages with sugar. In the Marine Corps, they gave us apples after we went on our long, gear-laden hikes. This way, we could have simple sugar go back into our blood stream and refill the lost glycogen.
Lifting weights takes a lot of effort, which means you need a lot of energy. Lifting after not having eating a balanced diet is a bad idea. You may notice that you are feeling sick, weak, or tired because of it. When you don’t supply your body with what it needs (natural carbs, good fats, and lean protein), then it doesn’t perform.
So, to answer your question, you will burn any remaining glycogen, you will metabolize and burn your fat, and you won’t get nearly as good results when you lift weights like that! Bodybuilders notice that before a competition, when they cut out almost all carbs, their muscles look flatter and they are much weaker.