I just read that a recent study concluded that eating raisin's were as equally effective as all these high-tech endurance drinks/bars!

It's almost as if they're trying to sell us something that we can't already get....nahhhh

Good summary.

My sense is that after you do cardio, your glycogen stores are low ( or lower ) and the enzymes that are needed to create more replacement glycogen are at peak levels ( i.e active ) and ' raring to go ' as it were. To create that glycogen the enzymes need glucose and they need energy. If you eat carbs soon after exercise, they're converted to glucose. Your body / enzymes then breaks down your body fat to get the energy ( ATP ) it needs to ' create ' glycogen from glucose. So, if you wanted to enhance fat oxidation after exercise, wouldn't it also makes sense to have glycogen replacement ( which burns fat for energy ) as one of the main mechanisms to burn fat ...after exercise ?

Only reason I ask, is that it would seem to me that this 45 minute theory should purport to yield significant results...otherwise ...why bother. I just didn't know what ' significant ' difference there is ...or shall I say means ......between 15 minutes and 45 minutes.

Is it 50%, 25%, 10% better ? Just curious in trying to quantify it in some rough way.

Fair enough

I fact, I read somewhere that this " heat ' is actually related in part to your body's processes involved in replacing glycogen after exercise.

Agreed.

In fact, it's that 15 minute window I mentioned earlier.

Again, I don't know much about nutrition, but it just seems to me that under normal circumstances it is usually the case that your body only begins to store macro nutrients like carbs, fat and protein as fat when all it's other primary needs for which those macros are intended for are met ...be it protein for tissue repair / synthesis, carbs / glucose for glycogen replacement etc.

Then again, you've got EPOC to consider.

You may burn 800 calories of stored glycogen DURING exercise - but - how many calories of fat are you going to burn over the next 24 hours to get the energy ( from fat ) needed to replace that glycogen.

Trust me ...it's the latter.

I look at each day as yet another opportunity to confirm in my mind how very very little I little really know about health & fitness. The only way I'm going to hope to learn anything is to ask questions. As your friend Alan himself said.....

" Question fitness advice given to you by others. "why" is one of the most powerful words you can put in your vocabulary. I encourage my clients, students, and colleagues to question everyone's advice " -- Alan Aragon

It's a little weird the way you have so many quotes from Alan....but I'll be hitting him up with some of these questions when I next see him.

The thing is....there are theories, understandings and clinical studies that rather contradict eachother. The good news, according to Alan, is that we're really splitting hairs and it's not really as relavent to the average person as we'd like to figure. Every time I bring him another supplement (CLA, Red Rice Yeast, etc)...he just pulls out some real studies that show little to no effects. The most he'll go along with is a good multi-vitamin and maybe some fish oil....that's about it.

I keep thinking that perhaps if I take a certain combination of supplements, eat 72.4525 calories of an exact mixture of carbs/protein at certain intervals during my routine I'll suddenly unlock a magical combination of genetic codes...fat will melt off, muscle will build, hairlines increase and I'll send out pheromones that will draw super-models to me.

There's just too much hype on the market. Alan keeps telling me....at the end of the week, it's how much came in, how much was burned-off and to just eat a well-balanced diet...and to be "good" about 90% of the time. Everything else is just splitting hairs and it would take Mr.Spock with his tricorder to read the minute differences.

It's like my investments...I'm always looking for safer, better or higher returns on my money. Same with health, I want results from my efforts, but in the end it's really pretty brain-free & simple.....but from habit I still ask & question what more I could do to get the most out of it.

As for the idea of holding-offon eating to allow the body to burn more calories as it continues to pull-up fat reserves...Alan just rolled his eyes and told me not to worry about it. He said the body won't store fat after eating so just eat anyways. It may trigger a slow-down of fat-burning, but it's pretty much a dismissable amount.

I just took them from Leigh's interview with Alan - posted in another sub-forum here.......

http://training.fitness.com/articles...gon-29984.html

I'll add a few quick comments later - 4 computers in the house and my I'm still being bumped by my son for my own computer

So long as you're not lactose intolerant, you could always have a big glass of chocolate milk .

http://www.indiana.edu/~hplab/resear...JSNEM_2006.pdf

It's actually really beneficial to have a high carb snack/meal after you workout. It helps replinish the glycogen stores. There is a certain time limit after your workout where your uptake is significantly increased. Let me check and i'll give the time frame. Greg

Wait, here it is, paraphrased, from a sports nutrition book that was written by the dietitian from the Denver Broncos "The time period in which carbohydrate is consumed relative to exercise is also important. One study examining glycogen repletion after exercise found that, when 2g of carb/kg was consumed immediately after exercise, muscle glycogen synthesis was 15 mmol/kg, when consumed 2 hrs after exercise muscle glycogen synthesis was cut by 66%, down to 5 mmol/kg....."

So, re-paraphrased, take in 2 g carb/kg bodyweight immediately following exercise and you will optimally replete your glycogen stores. Good luck, Greg