How do I get my body to use fat for energy during exercise?

I would like to begin by wishing everyone a good evening. This is my first attempt at starting a blog so if it is not great, feel free to let me know so I can improve for the next time.

The purpose of this blog is to tackle topics that I hope the readers are interested in learning about. The information found within these blogs will be entirely evidence based with the resources provided to support the evidence, while allowing for the occasional ancedote. I hope you find this information useful and interesting. Please, feel free to share your viewpoint whether contrasting or agreeing. Also, feel free to leave comments on topics you would be interested to learn about in the future.

To begin I thought it would be worthwhile to examine the use of fat as an energy source or fat oxidation during exercise. My reasoning for this lies in the rising obesity rates as well as increasing instances of type 2 diabetes in the US. Interestingly, it may not just be fat in and of itself leading to these issues but more likely where the fat is located on the human body. Primary areas for concern include increased levels of adipose tissue in the abdominal area, particularly visceral fat, are more likely associated with metabolic disease risk (Slentz, Houmard, & Kraus, 2009).

 So, how do you burn fat during exercise? The simplest answer I can give you, is to exercise. Simply put, a regular exercise program meeting at leaast the minimum recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine would assist in burning fat. I am sure that this is not the answer you were searching for. Therefore, we will examine the research to determine some of the best methods to as they say "melt the fat away".

There are several factors to consider when determing the cause of fat loss during exercise. One must observe intensity, type of exercise, length of time engaged in such exercise, and how often it is completed. Of course, we cannot forget the almighty diet. In a recent study Irving et al., 2008, examined the effect of exercise training intensity on abdominal visceral fat and body composition. Three groups were utilized in this study including a non-exercise group, a low intensity exercise group, and a high intensity exercise group. In the low group, exercise was performed 5 days per week at somewhat of a moderate intensty while in the high group, high intensity exercise took place on 3 days of the week and moderate intensity on 2 days per week. Of the three groups, the only group which yielded a significant loss in abdominal visceral fat was the high intensity group. Each group only exercised for the amount of time it took to expend 400 kcal. Therefore, time and energy expended were well controlled within this study.

So, what does this tell us? Higher intensity training burns fat more effectively than low to moderate intensity training. Not to mention, when you workout harder, you do not have to workout as long to achieve similar carlorie expenditure. I understand that this is only one study, and that the population of the study was small, and the sample was middle aged, obese women, with metabolic syndrome. Therefore, this information may not be applicable for all but it is a good place to start.

If this blog is received well, I will be sure to follow up with more information. The focus will shift to examing different types of exercise such as High Intensity Interval Training or low intensity longer endurance training and their effects on fat oxidation (fat burn).

Thanks,
Joe