Fasted cardio

scottarsenault461

Curious if anyone has tried fasted cardio .
Currently on a keto diet down 43 lbs but plateau and want to lose 15 more lbs. Looking into fasted cardio as a kick-start er to shed the rest .

Has anyone tried it? How were your experiences / how many days a week

Expatmommy79

Doesn't matter. Keep eating at a deficit it will come off. There is no benefit to fasted vs non fasted. CO is CO be it in the morning, afternoon or evening.

Unknown

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snowflake930

It is personal preference. I go to the gym first thing in the morning and never eat before. I have my water bottle, but I do not eat until I get to work.

davidcliff

just about all of my cardio is in a fasted state.

zcb94

Hm. I'm told that fasted exercise brings more results than having eaten, but that makes me wonder: many proponents say that there is to be nothing on your stomach at the time. That would be NPO cardio, which sounds very dangerous. I would at least need to bring some water with me! Any and all thoughts are welcome.

rileysowner

zcb94 wrote: »

Hm. I'm told that fasted exercise brings more results than having eaten, but that makes me wonder: many proponents say that there is to be nothing on your stomach at the time. That would be NPO cardio, which sounds very dangerous. I would at least need to bring some water with me! Any and all thoughts are welcome.

Studies would not hold that fasted exercise makes any statistically significant difference. Alan Aragon wrote this about it: http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-2-false-hopes-for-fasted-cardio.html

Not sure what NPO cardio means. Could you define it?

NorthCascades

Often I'll go for a long bike ride on an empty stomach. It works better with my schedule (I don't want to wait an hour before I can ride), and I don't love exerting myself with heavy food in my stomach. But it has no effect on my weight, that's purely a matter of how many calories I ate vs how many I burned.

rileysowner

NorthCascades wrote: »

Often I'll go for a long bike ride on an empty stomach. It works better with my schedule (I don't want to wait an hour before I can ride), and I don't love exerting myself with heavy food in my stomach. But it has no effect on my weight, that's purely a matter of how many calories I ate vs how many I burned.

I do the same thing, I find having a full stomach makes it more difficult. I often do my ride first thing in the morning and will go 2-2.5 hours at about 16-19mph with no issues. If I know I am going longer than this, I will take some baked potatoes along. I can eat a small potato and it does not fill my stomach, but will give some carbs for the later part of my ride.

mkakids

I do almost all of my cardio fasted. Simply because I feel better while running if Im 'empty'. If I eat before I run, I feel sluggish and heavy, regardless of what I eat.

RWClary

davidcliff wrote: »

just about all of my cardio is in a fasted state.

I do this for fat loss as I am maintaining weight, and it seems to make a difference, but my results could very well have been derived from other factors.
The science on this is shaky.

NorthCascades

rileysowner wrote: »

I do the same thing, I find having a full stomach makes it more difficult. I often do my ride first thing in the morning and will go 2-2.5 hours at about 16-19mph with no issues. If I know I am going longer than this, I will take some baked potatoes along. I can eat a small potato and it does not fill my stomach, but will give some carbs for the later part of my ride.

For me it's a bag of peanut M&Ms. Tear the top of the bag when I start, I can eat a few at a time and stick them back in my pocket until I need more. The sugar seems to absorb pretty quick, so it's a shot of energy when I need it, and I guess the peanuts are filling enough.

briscogun

NorthCascades wrote: »

Often I'll go for a long bike ride on an empty stomach. It works better with my schedule (I don't want to wait an hour before I can ride), and I don't love exerting myself with heavy food in my stomach. But it has no effect on my weight, that's purely a matter of how many calories I ate vs how many I burned.

This is me. I wake up early and exercise first thing, so I don't have time to get in a meal and wait for it to digest enough. If I try to exercise or run with a belly full of food, it'll get messy. But I only go at it for 40-45 minutes or so at a time (a little more with stretching), so I don't need a lot of fuel to get me through.

It's a personal preference thing. Just do what feels good for you.

yarwell

Expatmommy79 wrote: »

Doesn't matter. Keep eating at a deficit it will come off. There is no benefit to fasted vs non fasted. CO is CO be it in the morning, afternoon or evening.

http://jap.physiology.org/content/jap/118/1/80.full.pdf expresses a different view, that the transient energy deficit can lead to greater oxidation of fat with pre-breakfast exercise compared to later in the day after meals.

In conclusion, even in energy-balanced condition, 24-h fat
oxidation is increased if exercise-induced transient energy
deficit is significant, which is likely to be observed during
exercise performed before breakfast.

Jcl81

They have the name break fast (breakfast) for a reason. Is it significant to making huge results, that will depend on a person to person basis from the person have energy enough to still bring intensity.

eyeshinebright

I wake up at around 7 or 7:30 each morning and I often haven't eaten since 6 or 7 the night before. Because of this, I'll wake up pretty hungry and it would hurt to do cardio on a hungry stomach. Breakfast is pretty important for weight loss imo and prolonging when you have it might not be a good thing.

zcb94

rileysowner wrote: »

zcb94 wrote: »

Hm. I'm told that fasted exercise brings more results than having eaten, but that makes me wonder: many proponents say that there is to be nothing on your stomach at the time. That would be NPO cardio, which sounds very dangerous. I would at least need to bring some water with me! Any and all thoughts are welcome.

Studies would not hold that fasted exercise makes any statistically significant difference. Alan Aragon wrote this about it: http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-2-false-hopes-for-fasted-cardio.html

Not sure what NPO cardio means. Could you define it?

As you may know, NPO is Latin for "Nothing By Mouth," a state that is usually saved for surgery due to anesthesia needs. However, I've accidentally performed cardio with nothing at all on my stomach before, so was just wondering about the safety and effectiveness of doing so.

StacyChrz

Personally I have been testing myself to see what I like better and what feels the best to me. I haven't found a huge difference between a light snack, like a piece of fruit or slice of toast, before I work out in the morning and fasted with just some BCAA/Electrolytes in my water. I know that if I work out later in the day I need to be sure to have a small, balanced snack before I work out or I will run out of steam much faster.

AlphaCajun

eyeshinebright wrote: »

I wake up at around 7 or 7:30 each morning and I often haven't eaten since 6 or 7 the night before. Because of this, I'll wake up pretty hungry and it would hurt to do cardio on a hungry stomach. Breakfast is pretty important for weight loss imo and prolonging when you have it might not be a good thing.

I'm down nearly 90 pounds and within five of my goal in a little over a year and have yet to eat breakfast before working out.. js

Hornsby

AlphaCajun wrote: »

eyeshinebright wrote: »

I wake up at around 7 or 7:30 each morning and I often haven't eaten since 6 or 7 the night before. Because of this, I'll wake up pretty hungry and it would hurt to do cardio on a hungry stomach. Breakfast is pretty important for weight loss imo and prolonging when you have it might not be a good thing.

I'm down nearly 90 pounds and within five of my goal in a little over a year and have yet to eat breakfast before working out.. js

On that note, I lost 80lbs in 8 months eating breakfast or a snack before working out every single time...js

ETA: Disregard. Didn't notice that you were replying to someone. Yes, either way works. Sorry about that. :Shake:

Zombella

I didn't even now this was a thing. I used to work out early in the morning and just not eat before because I didn't feel like eating. I don't see a real difference.

yarwell

zcb94 wrote: »

However, I've accidentally performed cardio with nothing at all on my stomach before, so was just wondering about the safety and effectiveness of doing so.

We have fat and glycogen reserves to provide energy for fasted exercise or activity - perhaps "work" or running away from predators, etc. I can't see a safety concern.

yesimpson

I love running first thing on an empty stomach but I doubt it has any extra benefits with regards to fitness or weight.

mrcs_jolly

I do fasted cardio regularly...every morning before I go into the office. It works! I lost 120lbs and fasted cardio is a significant part of my process, along with diet.

rileysowner

zcb94 wrote: »

rileysowner wrote: »

zcb94 wrote: »

Hm. I'm told that fasted exercise brings more results than having eaten, but that makes me wonder: many proponents say that there is to be nothing on your stomach at the time. That would be NPO cardio, which sounds very dangerous. I would at least need to bring some water with me! Any and all thoughts are welcome.

Studies would not hold that fasted exercise makes any statistically significant difference. Alan Aragon wrote this about it: http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-2-false-hopes-for-fasted-cardio.html

Not sure what NPO cardio means. Could you define it?

As you may know, NPO is Latin for "Nothing By Mouth," a state that is usually saved for surgery due to anesthesia needs. However, I've accidentally performed cardio with nothing at all on my stomach before, so was just wondering about the safety and effectiveness of doing so.

Seeing as a person's last meal takes approximately 8 hours to digest, and the carbs go to first replenishing glycogen stores in the muscles and liver, even not eating in the morning and doing cardio, there is lots of energy available not even considering fat stores. I know of no danger in doing so. In terms of effectiveness, you would need to define what you mean by that?

sunnybeaches105

The real question is how much woo one can cram into a day

stealthq

Exercise fasted if it's your preference or if you're training for an endurance sport and need to train to use fat stores preferentially. Otherwise, don't. It won't make a difference for weight loss.

Keep in mind that while increasing fat oxidation initially is increased, utilizing glycogen means you have to expend energy and building blocks (glucose & tyrosine) to replenish those stores. Glycogen stores, unlike fat stores, are replenished even in a deficit. In the end, it's a wash.

You can think of it a bit like no-fee, savings-backed checking accounts. Let's say you have $55 in savings (fat), and $5 in checking (glycogen). Two scenarios:

1) You need $10 and take it out of savings leaving you $45 in savings, and $5 in checking.

2) You need $10 and take it out of checking. You're overdrawn by $5 and the bank takes $5 from savings to compensate, leaving you $50 in savings, and $0 in checking. But, the bank requires you to have $5 minimum in checking at all times. So, it additionally moves $5 from savings to checking to meet the requirement. You're left with $45 in savings, and $5 in checking just like scenario 1).

eyeshinebright

AlphaCajun wrote: »

eyeshinebright wrote: »

I wake up at around 7 or 7:30 each morning and I often haven't eaten since 6 or 7 the night before. Because of this, I'll wake up pretty hungry and it would hurt to do cardio on a hungry stomach. Breakfast is pretty important for weight loss imo and prolonging when you have it might not be a good thing.

I'm down nearly 90 pounds and within five of my goal in a little over a year and have yet to eat breakfast before working out.. js

It depends on the person, but as I was trying to say, a person like me who is hungry as soon as I wake up and saw more results by eating breakfast consistently at the top of the day, then fasted cardio may not work for them. But yeah, if you're ready to go in the morning and feel like you won't faint, by all means knock yourself out.

yarwell

stealthq wrote: »

You can think of it a bit like no-fee, savings-backed checking accounts. Let's say you have $55 in savings (fat), and $5 in checking (glycogen). Two scenarios:

1) You need $10 and take it out of savings leaving you $45 in savings, and $5 in checking.

2) You need $10 and take it out of checking. You're overdrawn by $5 and the bank takes $5 from savings to compensate, leaving you $50 in savings, and $0 in checking. But, the bank requires you to have $5 minimum in checking at all times. So, it additionally moves $5 from savings to checking to meet the requirement. You're left with $45 in savings, and $5 in checking just like scenario 1).

Except when you pay in $10 (eat) and the the overdraft and minimum are replenished from what you pay in, leaving $55 in savings and $5 in checking, which was approximately what the study I linked to demonstrated.

Scenario 1) would be $45 in savings and $15 in checking after eating. Potentially :-)

scottarsenault461

Thanks for all the advice much appreciated

Serah87

mkakids wrote: »

I do almost all of my cardio fasted. Simply because I feel better while running if Im 'empty'. If I eat before I run, I feel sluggish and heavy, regardless of what I eat.

Me also. ^^^