3 TIPS TO INCREASE FAT COMBUSTION
1. AVOID LACTATE ACCUMULATION
Let’s say your athlete is performing an intense interval training.
During the high intensity effort, lactate will accumulate. In the
resting phase, their intensity may be at the level where lots of fat
would usually be combusted. However, in the recovery phase
between or after high intensity intervals, fat combustion is low.
Instead, the preferred fuel for muscles in this period is the
accumulated lactate.
Intuitively, you know this already. You would not prescribe high
intensity interval training and ask your athlete to rest completely
and not move in between efforts. The low intensity phases are
needed to combust lactate and recover faster.
The same is true during training intended for “fat burning”. Any
time lactate is accumulating during the exercise, fat will be
pushed out of the aerobic metabolism. Until muscular lactate
levels decrease again, fat combustion will stay lower.
All of this means that it is of utmost importance to avoid short,
high intensity bouts which cause high lactate levels during
training which is meant to be in the Fat Max zone.
2. LOWER CARBOHYDRATE INTAKE
Low carbohydrate diets, and training in low carbohydrate state,
have become more and more popular in endurance sports. This
idea is based on findings that a state of low carbohydrate
availability can increase adaptation to training in terms of
mitochondrial biogenesis.
A lowered carbohydrate intake due to an altered diet can
decrease the capacity of carbohydrate metabolism. In doing so,
fat combustion will be elevated. The result of this is not just an
immediate elevation in the percentage of fat combustion, but
also an increase in the capacity of the enzymes involved in fat
combustion. This can lead to a prolonging of the higher capacity
to combust fat.
Bear in mind that after your athlete’s diet is back to a higher
carbohydrate content, the effect previously described can easily
be reversed. The activity of enzymes involved in the
carbohydrate metabolism will go back to a normal state.
During a period of lowered carbohydrate intake, it is crucial to
minimise high intensity workouts in which carbohydrate
combustion is high. This is because, during high such efforts, the
body needs to use carbohydrates as fuel.
3. INCREASE VO2MAX
A higher VO2max will lead to better fat combustion in your
athlete. This is because it creates more mitochondria, improved
blood flow due to higher capillary density, and a shift from high
glycolytic muscle fiber types to “endurance” types (slow twitch
fibers). All of this means a better aerobic metabolism, which
then pushes back the involvement of the glycolytic (anaerobic)
metabolism.
This results in an improved ability to burn fat. As combusting fat
requires more oxygen for the same energy spend compared to
combusting carbohydrates, an increase in VO2max will always
result in an improved capacity for burning fat. This is true
whether accomplished with many hours of low intensity training,
or with very hard interval workouts.