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When LCD or Keto, does Fasted Cardio make a difference?

socalprincess1
socalprincess1 Posts: 52 Member
edited November 21 in Social Groups
Just wondering your thoughts on this, it's something I've always wondered. If you're in fat burning mode 24/7, and you're not replacing muscle glycogen after a workout anyway, does it make any difference whether your workouts are fasted or not?

Replies

  • wabmester
    wabmester Posts: 2,748 Member
    What is "fat burning mode?"

    You're always burning some glucose. 40g for brain and hemoglobin. More if you do anaerobic exercise. You'll make it from protein if none is in the diet.

    Fasting will boost ketone production. Exercise seems to as well.

    Some of the excess shows up in the urine, and this will cause sodium loss. That can be a bummer if you don't replace the loss. Other potential downside of fasting is muscle mass loss.

    If you're eating fat, you'll burn what you eat, so fasted exercise will always burn more body fat, which is what most people want, right?
  • socalprincess1
    socalprincess1 Posts: 52 Member
    But if you're at
    wabmester wrote: »
    If you're eating fat, you'll burn what you eat, so fasted exercise will always burn more body fat, which is what most people want, right?

    But if you're already at a deficit for the whole day, doesn't it all even out? Won't the fat you don't burn during non-fasted cardio because you're burning food, be burned later in the day because you're at a deficit and your body doesn't have the food that you burned during the exercise?

  • wabmester
    wabmester Posts: 2,748 Member
    You're right -- in the longer term, the deficit is what matters for weight loss.

    In the short term, fasted exercise gives you a unique opportunity to have some control over your metabolism. Or at least the illusion of control. :)

    For example, you can:
    • deplete glycogen after eating too many carbs
    • increase ketone production
    • stress your muscles in a low-glucose environment to speed-up fat-adaptation

    Minor points for most people, but I like having that illusion of control. You can also sort of guess how you're partitioning fuel by monitoring your heart rate.

    At least one guy has taken this to the extreme by calculating his glycogen storage capacity and adjusting his carb dose during exercise to stay in ketosis and fuel his anaerobic exercise at the same time:
    http://eatingacademy.com/sports-and-nutrition/ketones-carbohydrates-can-co-exist
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