There’s new evidence that coffee can boost fat burn and that your level of fitness affects fat oxidation, especially if you’re female. To help you make the most out of your workouts, we’ve summarised this information below. Take a look!
Caffeine to boost your fat burn
Caffeine has long been a commonly-consumed product some use to enhance athletic performance, but the science behind its performance benefits has been scarce – until now. A new study not only confirms caffeine is beneficial for fat burn, but has also highlighted the ideal dose we should be drinking and the best time of day to do so.
The findings come after scientists from the University of Granada put a group of men through an exercise test on four different occasions, each seven days apart. All elements were standardised, except 30-minutes before the workout some participants were given 3 mg/kg of caffeine, others a placebo. Researchers measured the participant’s fat oxidation and found that those who had the equivalent of a strong cup of coffee half an hour before aerobic exercise experienced greater fat burn. They also found that the effect was more dramatic in the afternoon than in the morning.
So if you want to increase fat burn during exercise, a strong brew before your afternoon workout is the way to go!
The fitter you are, the better you burn fat
There is plenty of evidence that exercise is a great way to burn fat and now new research indicates that the fat burning benefits of exercise increase exponentially. It seems that, for females anyway, the fitter you are, the better you become at burning fat.
These findings come after researchers put 73 healthy adults through a cycling fitness test, measuring key lifestyle and biological indicators for optimal fat burn. To find out why fit females were such efficient fat burners, the scientists delved deeper into the molecular elements of muscle and fat tissue by taking fat and muscle biopsies from participants. They found a correlation between muscle proteins that break down stored fat and the proteins that transport fatty acids into the muscle, resulting in a greater ability to burn fat. Interestingly, the correlations were only apparent in females and researchers say they’re yet to understand why.
The research mentioned above points out one important fact; while our ability to burn fat as a fuel can mitigate future weight gain, fat burn alone does not lead to weight loss. Weight loss relies on a calorie deficit, which all comes down to consuming fewer calories than we expend.
There’s some great points to consider here, especially for those of you who are trying to maximise our fat loss. Remember that strong brew in the afternoon before you train and calorie deficits lead to fat burn and greater weight loss!
