Welcome to another episode of The Matter Over Mind Experience
I am your host, Master Trainer & Weight Management Expert, Narado Zeco Powell
This episode is Q & A 7
I will answer 5 questions from listeners & followers who emailed or sent me a DM
If you have questions about health, fitness & fat-loss, feel free to email me @ narado@zecohealth.com or DM on my IG @zecohealth
Visit the zeco recommendation page for products I recommend for fitness, health & weight management. My discount codes are there so you can save some money.
Let’s begin
Question1-
Should I do intense cardio fasted to burn more fat?
Always carb up before an intense workout. Your body mainly uses glucose for anerobic work. If you do not, you may also burn muscle.
It doesn’t take a lot, depending on the intensity, a fruit may do. You will have to experiment.
I have mentioned many times on the show, the importance of cycling carbs.
If the plan is to burn bodyfat, then in a fasted state you want to train in zone 2
Question2-
During a fast, maintenance of blood glucose levels initially relies on glycogen stores in the liver and skeletal muscle.
These are stored as carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are broken down and use to supply your body with needed sugar for survival.
So is it fair to say that this is not necessarily “stress mode”, but rather the body just doing what it’s designed to do?
Well yes and no. During a fast, the goal is to promote fat oxidation, and use less stored glycogen for energy.
So, it is not a linear equation where the body just do one or the other. The human body is much more complex.
Also keep in mind that most of our glycogen is stored in our muscles so by using them up, we will damage muscle strength, recovery & performance.
Question3-
I have been looking for more muscle growth. How much protein is adequate? I eat 1 gram per pound of body weight.
1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is great for maintenance because at that point you are breaking even .
To build muscle you need to move beyond breaking even and have a positive net protein balance.
You can do few things to accomplish this:
1. Eat 1 gram per goal body weight
Or
2. Eat 1.1 to 1.3 grams per body weight
Or
3. Add creatine and EAAs to your routine (if you are sticking to 1 gram per pound of body weight)
Question4-
Are you familiar with Up-Regualation Breathing?
Can it help with fat burn?
Up regulation breathing is great to shift your body into a parasympathetic state which promotes lower stress & fatburn while keeping cortisol & adrenaline low.
There are many factors that promote fatburn i.e quality sleep & guthealth.. This is why lifestyle is so important.
Managing stress by activating your vagus nerve promotes fatburn as well. That’s why proper breathing is important.
Pay attention that I use the term “promote.”
I do a breathing and meditation practice every morning to activate my vagus nerve, lower stress, cortisol & adrenaline. High cortisol creates a stress response which promotes carb usage
Question5-
How do females determine what a good fasting time is for their body? I currently fast 11 hrs daily
If you are only fasting 11hrs, then that should not be an issue. I recommend that females fast 12-14 hrs. So, I recommend you add an hr.
Then, you can slowly increase your fasting window based on how you feel (likely adding an hr every month) Topping out at 14.
