Burn Out Drinks

Burning out, also called Bonking, happens when you are exercising. It is like hitting the wall, but is caused when glycogen stores are depleted. Long distance runners load up on high calorie supplements like Gu Energy Gel

Bonking is a very rare condition, and usually only shows up during extreme exercise. I wanted to mention it so that people understand the effects of extreme exercise. While I understand the push to get fit fast - trying to undo years of abuse to the body in a few months - the effects of overworking can hurt your health.

Many people do try to overwork when they start a fitness campaign. This drives them to overeat, which can have the reverse effect, especially if the person eats a lot of carbs. Many of us do not drink these high calorie, sugary drinks, but we do use a poor cousin - Gatorade. This type of power drink may take away the feeling of exhaustion, but it just puts weight back on the body, and can reverse any positive health aspects of the exercise.

Consuming sugary goo is counter-productive to the goal of weight loss. If you have the determination to work out for more than one hour, this is great. Instead of grabbing a sugary drink, eat a half of a banana before working out. This will accomplish the same thing.

There is also some belief that doing extreme exercise before breakfast, when glycogen levels are low, burns more fat than exercising after eating. This hasn't been proven - but it does lead to dizzyness. Above all, listen to your body.