Originally Posted by fit chickett

Amen to that! People give such different advice but at the end of the day, what works for one person doesn't work for another.

Originally Posted by BikeSwimLaugh

GREAT QUESTION.....one I've often pondered.

From what I gather, the moment you eat something and the digestion of that nutrients results in the infusion of glucose.....your blood sugar will rise and the oxidation of fat will be reduced.

Fact is, energy is energy and when you eat something that energy will not be stored so long as your body is in a good exertion mode; it'll be burned! So it stands to reason that bringing-in some 300 calories from a protein shake WOULD redirect the body from burning that amount from your storage.

Understand, your body is getting it's energy from a combination of sources...fat, glycogen, etc......but yeah; a portion of that energy is coming from fat and if you import some energy by eating it'll be used in addition to what your body has in storage. Hope that makes sense and it's prime for debate.

So here's the conflict: you SHOULD replace & replenish your carbs & take-in some protein immediately after weight-training...but in doing so you'll be taking-in calories that will offset some fat you could burn when you continue to do cardio after your weights.

If you REALLY wanna gain muscle, then hit the shake and avoid cardio for fear of catabolism.

If you wanna catch some prime fat-burn zone, then do some cardio after weights, but try to keep it to a low to mid intensity, something your body can fuel using fat and do it for about 20-45 minutes. Still concerned? Pop a few BCAA's to avoid catabolism, and sip about 1/3 your protein shake. The protein will take a while to digest and it'll inhibit the digestion of the carbs a bit too...long enough so that most your energy will come from stored fat.

There is no "selector-switch" that will allow you to burn only pure fat, but after weight-training and given a continued low intensity demand, fat is the bodies primo fuel and you'll be in high-ratio to burn it.

It's a lot of info and Lord knows it varies with people, circumstances and all sorts of other stuff....but I say run with it, fuel the obsession and find what works for you. Hope that helps or at least confuses ya!

Originally Posted by Bard

I understand how after a decent weight session your fuel reserves are depleted and a follow up cardio session will burn fat, but does the protein shake after the weight session affect the bodies ability to burn fat ? Does cardio session immediately after the weight session affect the ability for muscles to recover ?