First off. This question is NOT what to do if you RESISTANCE train (with or without cardio) in the a.m. That has been made clear; take Surge either after your resistance training OR after the cardio you do AFTER that same resistance training (Whether its in the a.m. or p.m.)
My question is if you do cardio ONLY in the a.m. AND IN A FASTED STATE. Supposedly, fat burning occurs up to 1-1.5 hours after we complete our cardio IF we remain in that fasted state. HOWEVER (and this is the question); do the benefits of cutting catabolism and increasing anabolism by the immediate ingestion of "Surge" far outweigh any fat burning benefits we may derive by remaining in a fasted state for an hour or so?
This is just Dozers opinion but staying in a fasted state after a cardio session just leads to muscle loss, you should either eat before your cardio session or right after…as for surge I think it has to many calories for a post cardio shake, maybe use half a serving but I think it’s unnecessary not to mention expensive. I generally just eat breakfast …egg whites, oatmeal, OJ…after my morning cardio.
-Dozer
I believe John has stated that waiting to eat after cardio, especially in a morning fasted state ,is a bad idea. (catabolic)
No disagreement that it’s catabolic. But it’s also a window of increased fat metabolism. So the question remains; are whatever extra fat burning benefits we derive far outweighed by the degree of catabolism?
Dozer: I also agree with the meal after the cardio. But how long afterwards? Again, is that “window” of increased fat metabolism “worth it” so to speak? Do we delay that meal an hour or so? Or do we eat it ASAP?
Lion King…I’m not the guy to answer your questions and I see the exact question you’re posing: a lil’ cost-benefit analysis. I’m sure JB won’t leave ya hangin’ but am fairly certain I remember him saying that using Surge after cardio-only sessions was optimal for recovery and that his endurance athletes do such. However, I highly doubt your or anyone’s cardio sessions are at the same level as those athletes. If you’re doing the fasted state cardio in the morning, I really think you need a meal immediately after it–Surge may be optimal, but that’s a bit pricey–and this is also a period of increased insulin sensitivity. You may also try some glutamine before and after your sessions. I’m going to throw this out too: the purpose of cardio is to not only to expend calories and burn fat during the duration of the session, but to also raise the metabolism and therefore calorie expenditure following the exercise. That doesn’t mean don’t eat! It means the metabolism will be raised regardless, so eat and save muscle!
Mufasa - I eat immediately after I finish my cardio, I don’t let 3 hours pass while I’m awake without eating so the fact that Dozer must fast 8 hours while sleeping I doesn’t like…I would get up in the night to eat again, but I’ve read that it’s counter productive to the body to disturbe your sleep pattern, so when I wake in the morning I want my fist meal as soon as possible. which means Dozer spends as little time as possible getting cardio done and breakfast made.
OUTSTANDING, guys! Great thoughts. This really falls under the catagory of “fine tuning” our program. Hope it wasn’t too “picky”.
Hopefully we’ll get some other thoughts, including JB…