Dieticians might beg to differ but I always thought that your body used different types of energy at different times.
First 60 seconds is energy stored in muscle. Then simple carbs get used. This is where alcohol has an impact. The chemical formula is very close to sugar and you won’t burn more complex carbs or fat until the energy from sugar/alcohol gets depleted.
Fat is the last source of energy to be burned off - or at least not until 30-40 minutes into exercise like a longish walk. Then the brain takes action to stop you using up all of your carbs by turning you into a fat burning vehicle.
That’s my take on it. 24 BMI and alcohol in moderation. No Guinness.
I think that’s sorta half correct.
It’s why you can bench press close to your 1 rep max very few times, and you rapidly get weaker as you deplete your ATP (I think?? please correct me if I’m wrong) in your muscles.
It’s also why, if you train heavy (5 reps to failure sort of effort ~80% of your 1 rep max) then you need a few minutes between sets to recover. Your energy stores are being replenished (and there’s a whole lot more of physiology stuff going on too).
Longer efforts, like walking or easy jogging will burn more fat, but you need to train specifically to use this energy store as a fuel. It’s very steady, slower than a lot of people realise. Look up your heart rate zone online. There’s loads of Zone 2 calculators online, but its usually below 75% of your max heart rate.
For me, my max is about 185, and so 75% is about 140 beats per minute. Any faster than that, and I’ll be using different energy stores.
For the hardest cardio vascular (CV) efforts, you’ll be using carbohydrates.
For me, I can burn energy at a rate of 700 calories per hour, but I can do that for literally 12 hours straight. Brisk walk over mountains, orlong slow run, or steady cycle.
If I burn energy at a rate of 700-1000 calories per hour, that drops to a 2hr max. Think hard effort for a half.marathon best effort attempt.
Anything over 1000 calories per hour rate, and I’m firmly in 60 minutes or less. 10km run best effort.
Any CV exercise under about 2 minutes at MAX intensity will be anaerobic, which is a similar energy use to lifting heavy weights for sub-10 rep sets. It’s also why the best sprinters for 50m to about 400m don’t appear to be breathing hard. They’re almost entirely reliant on stored energy and oxygen in their muscles.
Heavy weightlifting also has benefits to do with Central Nervous System too, and other bodily processes.
The takeaway here is; 150 minutes of aerobic CV per week, and strength training a few times. You can use your CV warm ups and cool downs to count your CV minutes too - 15 minutes slow jog on the treadmill before and after weightlofting 3 times a week, and then all you’d need to do is find 60 extra minutes. Walk to the shops at a brisk pace, get off the bus a stop or two earlier, take the long way back from walking your kids to school…
It doesn’t have to be torturous, and you’ll make the best most consistent progress if you modify little elements of your life with an eye to being a tiny bit more active.
Finally, if you’re in the gym and you’re getting intimidated by the big guy/s, don’t be! If you want any lifting advice on form, technique or inspiration to develop lower back stability or shoulder streagth or core strength… ask them! 99/100 times they’re mega friendly, mega knowledgeable, and will be a pretty big ego boost for them that someone approached them to ask for advice.
“… I’m a bit overweight. I’m fit and very strong, but too heavy. I’m about 6’2”, and 110kgs… still like to drop 15kgs / 2 stone."
Muhammed Ali was reasonably fit and healthy by all accounts - being the greatest heavyweight boxer of his era, perhaps of all times!
He was 107 Kg at his peak and 6’3". So I don’t think you have a significant problem by his standards.
Cheers mate, but unfortunately I’m not a legendary heavyweight boxer… so I’ve gotta put my big boy pants on, and take ownership of the fact I’m a little overweight 