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Gym on empty stomach

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  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    I eat late into the night (11:30pm), so skipping breakfast isn't an issue for me. I've well fueled as I do sessions with clients from 9:00 to 11:00am, then workout afterward.
    Don't know why people don't think you CAN'T keep glycogen storage high enough for 12 hours before use. I'm sleeping for 8 hours (fat for fuel not glycogen) and the other 3 hours is driving to the gym and instruction. Hardly a glycogen depleter.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Really interesting question. I am eating at a ever so slight deficit. My meal at night is over by 6pm, and is never more than 30% of my overall intake, I tend to eat big in the morning, medium at lunch. I am on empty by 6am the next day, in fact, I am sure I am fat burning and glycogen depleted from 3-6am as I often wake up alert and hungry.
    This is my plan.
    I then fuel up for the mornings workout, high carbs, get really great results 2/3 hours later.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    pie_eyes wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    I heard you'll get most benefits from it and personally believe that

    As long as you have good diet, which mine is bad and good depending on the day and mood

    If you're stomach is empty and you didn't have a good meal your heart attack risk increase exercising on empty stomach

    source for all this?

    All that is just common sense

    Look it up it's out there

    It's not one source it's just from a ton of stuff I've read

    Exercising on empty stomach in theory you're burning your absolute body fat
    So when you eat something later, it won't be burned in exercise and will be stored as fat, resulting in a net wash (assuming overall diet remains the same despite difference of timing around exercise)

    Exercising on full stomach your body is still working through what you're still digesting
    Which means that food will be burned for fuel, giving you energy for your workout and won't be stored as fat.

    It takes like 12 hours to be on an empty stomach

    See my responses above in bold.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    pie_eyes wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    I heard you'll get most benefits from it and personally believe that

    As long as you have good diet, which mine is bad and good depending on the day and mood

    If you're stomach is empty and you didn't have a good meal your heart attack risk increase exercising on empty stomach

    source for all this?

    All that is just common sense

    Look it up it's out there

    It's not one source it's just from a ton of stuff I've read

    How is "working out on an empty stomach increases risk of heart attack" just common sense? And if it's claimed in "a ton of stuff you've read" I'd like to know what you're reading because I've certainly never heard such a claim and have a hard time imagining how that working out while hungry could put me at risk for a heart attack.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    pie_eyes wrote: »
    Erfw7471 wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    If you're stomach is empty and you didn't have a good meal your heart attack risk increase exercising on empty stomach

    Do what now?! *spoken in my thick Southern drawl*

    ndj1979 wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    pie_eyes wrote: »
    I heard you'll get most benefits from it and personally believe that

    As long as you have good diet, which mine is bad and good depending on the day and mood

    If you're stomach is empty and you didn't have a good meal your heart attack risk increase exercising on empty stomach

    source for all this?

    All that is just common sense

    Look it up it's out there

    It's not one source it's just from a ton of stuff I've read

    i was not aware that having an empty stomach increased your risk for heart attack ...again, do you have a source for that beside woo.com...?

    Anybody is at risk for having a heart attack at any time

    I can't go into detail but just look stuff up about diet and heart disease

    It's very simple

    The bold is because your claim is false.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    V_Keto_V wrote: »
    us1htpjb2gyk.png

    Yeah, I'm totally making up that reoccurring 2-3 hour thing...references cited. I guess there is no bending or recumbancy in exercise according to some "expert" opinion

    Dude, a screenshot of recommended treatments for reflux disease saying "avoid meals 2-3 hours before bedtime" as a measure to prevent symptoms does not even begin to hint at evidence that avoiding food for 2-3 hours before exercise is optimal in healthy individuals.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    I think he was referring to 'avoid stooping, bending', so the jury is still out.....
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    I think he was referring to 'avoid stooping, bending', so the jury is still out.....

    Ah, but that's regardless of meal timing so I guess his "references cited" indicate that squats and deadlifts are not optimal (if we're seriously going to use a list of vague recommendations for people with GERD as a reference for what is optimal in regards to working out).
  • Annabanana525
    Annabanana525 Posts: 10 Member
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    Can't say I'm a keen morning eater myself. Never was. I always worked out on an empty stomach if I did a morning gym session but a friend suggested I should take a smoothie before hand, just for energy purposes. I have to admit, I felt like I put more into the workout just on a 300ml blueberry smoothie. I say up to you. However you're comfortable I say
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited March 2016
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    I eat late into the night (11:30pm), so skipping breakfast isn't an issue for me. I've well fueled as I do sessions with clients from 9:00 to 11:00am, then workout afterward.
    Don't know why people don't think you CAN'T keep glycogen storage high enough for 12 hours before use. I'm sleeping for 8 hours (fat for fuel not glycogen) and the other 3 hours is driving to the gym and instruction. Hardly a glycogen depleter.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Really interesting question. I am eating at a ever so slight deficit. My meal at night is over by 6pm, and is never more than 30% of my overall intake, I tend to eat big in the morning, medium at lunch. I am on empty by 6am the next day, in fact, I am sure I am fat burning and glycogen depleted from 3-6am as I often wake up alert and hungry.
    This is my plan.
    I then fuel up for the mornings workout, high carbs, get really great results 2/3 hours later.

    I strongly doubt you're glycogen depleted from 3-6 am unless you're doing a depletion workout prior to going to bed or doing massive exercise while you sleep. Glycogen is not the main energy source when at rest (fat actually is), so you're not depleting glycogen while relaxing in the evening and/or sleeping at night.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    edited March 2016
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    I eat late into the night (11:30pm), so skipping breakfast isn't an issue for me. I've well fueled as I do sessions with clients from 9:00 to 11:00am, then workout afterward.
    Don't know why people don't think you CAN'T keep glycogen storage high enough for 12 hours before use. I'm sleeping for 8 hours (fat for fuel not glycogen) and the other 3 hours is driving to the gym and instruction. Hardly a glycogen depleter.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Really interesting question. I am eating at a ever so slight deficit. My meal at night is over by 6pm, and is never more than 30% of my overall intake, I tend to eat big in the morning, medium at lunch. I am on empty by 6am the next day, in fact, I am sure I am fat burning and glycogen depleted from 3-6am as I often wake up alert and hungry.
    This is my plan.
    I then fuel up for the mornings workout, high carbs, get really great results 2/3 hours later.

    I strongly doubt you're glycogen depleted from 3-6 am unless you're doing a depletion workout prior to going to bed or doing massive exercise while you sleep. Glycogen is not the main energy source when at rest (fat actually is), so you're not depleting glycogen while relaxing in the evening and/or sleeping at night.

    Interesting. I thought having gone through my calorie allowance I'd be dipping into glycogen stores. So you're saying I have potential stored energy for my workout the next day where I wouldn't be dipping into fat and or lean tissue? Or would I be using glycogen, fat and body tissue?

    Why do I bonk so quickly when I run fasted then? It's very difficult to get any speed up.

    I somehow don't see where glycogen use could happen if I was in defecit for many hours before workout..

    I might try a fasted workout and see if I feel the g stores kicking in. Not looking forward to that...

    Another factor is I quite often eat a lowish carbed dinner, compared with my high carb breakfast. This is often after a fast 30 minute cycle home, it's quite possible my g stores are low evening and night.
  • V_Keto_V
    V_Keto_V Posts: 342 Member
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    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    I think he was referring to 'avoid stooping, bending', so the jury is still out.....

    Ah, but that's regardless of meal timing so I guess his "references cited" indicate that squats and deadlifts are not optimal (if we're seriously going to use a list of vague recommendations for people with GERD as a reference for what is optimal in regards to working out).

    2-3 hours is the general amount of time for Gastric emptying...I wish I could hit people over the head with textbooks via internet.

    So much for this "debate" section...do what you subjectively feel works "best" bro...."because at the end of the day, you can do whatever the **** you want to do." -Wise advise from the Hodgetwins
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    V_Keto_V wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    I think he was referring to 'avoid stooping, bending', so the jury is still out.....

    Ah, but that's regardless of meal timing so I guess his "references cited" indicate that squats and deadlifts are not optimal (if we're seriously going to use a list of vague recommendations for people with GERD as a reference for what is optimal in regards to working out).

    2-3 hours is the general amount of time for Gastric emptying...I wish I could hit people over the head with textbooks via internet.

    So much for this "debate" section...do what you subjectively feel works "best" bro...."because at the end of the day, you can do whatever the **** you want to do." -Wise advise from the Hodgetwins

    still waiting for the reference on your claim that exercise is optimal on an empty stomach two to three hours beforehand…

  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    V_Keto_V wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    I think he was referring to 'avoid stooping, bending', so the jury is still out.....

    Ah, but that's regardless of meal timing so I guess his "references cited" indicate that squats and deadlifts are not optimal (if we're seriously going to use a list of vague recommendations for people with GERD as a reference for what is optimal in regards to working out).

    2-3 hours is the general amount of time for Gastric emptying...I wish I could hit people over the head with textbooks via internet.

    So much for this "debate" section...do what you subjectively feel works "best" bro...."because at the end of the day, you can do whatever the **** you want to do." -Wise advise from the Hodgetwins

    No need for violence. Besides, I'm a level 547 blackbelt in Ninjutsu.

    Look, I get that 2-3 hours is how long gastric emptying takes. Cool. That's awesome.
    But that still does nothing to show that working out on an empty stomach is optimal as compared to working out on a stomach that's only, say, half empty.

    As long as I'm not so full that the workout makes me want to puke, is there any research to show that I'll have a better workout or better results if I wait to work out until after my stomach is empty?

    As for your comments about "so much for the debate section," this is how debating works.
    You made a claim. I challenged it. The course of real debate would lead to you then providing evidence to back up your claim.
    Instead, you've done little more than say "because read a textbook" and post a screenshot of a recommendation for people with GERD to wait 2-3 hours after eating to sleep.

    Then when some of us here point out that the "evidence" you're providing has nothing to do with the claims you're making, you accuse us of basing our opinions on da feelz.
    Yeah...ok, bruh...
  • therealhyper
    therealhyper Posts: 124 Member
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    Train on empty stomach...feel sick if I eat before training.
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,679 Member
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    Nothing kills hunger better than cardio. Lots of people promote fasting morning exercise for weight loss.

    I'm sure it can be overdone...
    ^This is what I've heard too, but I don't practice it unless I have to (must bathe before eating, etc) because it would turn up my appetite and make it very dangerous to move for a while (dizziness, nausea, seeing stars, fatigue, pounding heart). That does make me wonder: is there any difference in terms of safety or effectiveness between fasted cardio (no food) and NPO cardio (do not eat or drink, not even a sip of water is to be on your stomach)? I sometimes need to get cleaned up and dressed as soon as possible, so there's guaranteed to be nothing on board when I start those days.
  • TEB4Me
    TEB4Me Posts: 22 Member
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    Definitely better to have a little something on your stomach if possible at least within 2 hrs of going.
    If not you won't have as much fuel so you may be slightly weaker and working out will make you hungrier faster and will lead to distraction, even if only slight.
    It's better not to have any distraction from working out as hard as you can and also better to have some fuel.
    I sometimes just eat an apple (around 30 mins to an hr before) bc it gives me a slight energy boost and is great nutrition and fills you up just the right amount before a work out. :)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    TEB4Me wrote: »
    Definitely better to have a little something on your stomach if possible at least within 2 hrs of going.
    If not you won't have as much fuel so you may be slightly weaker and working out will make you hungrier faster and will lead to distraction, even if only slight.
    It's better not to have any distraction from working out as hard as you can and also better to have some fuel.
    I sometimes just eat an apple (around 30 mins to an hr before) bc it gives me a slight energy boost and is great nutrition and fills you up just the right amount before a work out. :)

    i don't do this and never experience any of these issues..

    personal preference does not equal that anyone should do something…if it works for you that is great, however, that does not mean it can be blanket applied to the rest of us.

    unless you have some kind of study on this that you want to point us to…?

  • TEB4Me
    TEB4Me Posts: 22 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    TEB4Me wrote: »
    Definitely better to have a little something on your stomach if possible at least within 2 hrs of going.
    If not you won't have as much fuel so you may be slightly weaker and working out will make you hungrier faster and will lead to distraction, even if only slight.
    It's better not to have any distraction from working out as hard as you can and also better to have some fuel.
    I sometimes just eat an apple (around 30 mins to an hr before) bc it gives me a slight energy boost and is great nutrition and fills you up just the right amount before a work out. :)

    i don't do this and never experience any of these issues..

    personal preference does not equal that anyone should do something…if it works for you that is great, however, that does not mean it can be blanket applied to the rest of us.

    unless you have some kind of study on this that you want to point us to…?

    Seriously? A study?
    Everyone else was posting what helped them and they didn't get picked apart for it so why am I?
    Just trying to help.
    Hopefully the OP will appreciate it, if not I'm fine w that too.
    I just know I'm as free to post as everyone else is. :p
  • ClosetBayesian
    ClosetBayesian Posts: 836 Member
    edited March 2016
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    TEB4Me wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    TEB4Me wrote: »
    Definitely better to have a little something on your stomach if possible at least within 2 hrs of going.
    If not you won't have as much fuel so you may be slightly weaker and working out will make you hungrier faster and will lead to distraction, even if only slight.
    It's better not to have any distraction from working out as hard as you can and also better to have some fuel.
    I sometimes just eat an apple (around 30 mins to an hr before) bc it gives me a slight energy boost and is great nutrition and fills you up just the right amount before a work out. :)

    i don't do this and never experience any of these issues..

    personal preference does not equal that anyone should do something…if it works for you that is great, however, that does not mean it can be blanket applied to the rest of us.

    unless you have some kind of study on this that you want to point us to…?

    Seriously? A study?
    Everyone else was posting what helped them and they didn't get picked apart for it so why am I?
    Just trying to help.
    Hopefully the OP will appreciate it, if not I'm fine w that too.
    I just know I'm as free to post as everyone else is. :p

    Did you miss the posts where people are asking for studies to back up the personal anectodes? Science trumps anecdotes.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    TEB4Me wrote: »
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    TEB4Me wrote: »
    Definitely better to have a little something on your stomach if possible at least within 2 hrs of going.
    If not you won't have as much fuel so you may be slightly weaker and working out will make you hungrier faster and will lead to distraction, even if only slight.
    It's better not to have any distraction from working out as hard as you can and also better to have some fuel.
    I sometimes just eat an apple (around 30 mins to an hr before) bc it gives me a slight energy boost and is great nutrition and fills you up just the right amount before a work out. :)

    i don't do this and never experience any of these issues..

    personal preference does not equal that anyone should do something…if it works for you that is great, however, that does not mean it can be blanket applied to the rest of us.

    unless you have some kind of study on this that you want to point us to…?

    Seriously? A study?
    Everyone else was posting what helped them and they didn't get picked apart for it so why am I?
    Just trying to help.
    Hopefully the OP will appreciate it, if not I'm fine w that too.
    I just know I'm as free to post as everyone else is. :p

    "For lack of a comma the kingdom was lost."
    You started with "Definitely better", and for lack of the simple "For me," or "I am". It left the impression you were stating your experience as fact. That lead to an interest in a study substantiating the claim.
    Everyone is free to post. Everyone is free to post to ask for evidence or clarification too.