Cardio before breakfast

❤B☩❤

I tried to eat before doing one of my C25K days. I was uncoordinated (more so than usual!) and I just FELT heavier and not quite as quick on my feet. I know I should, but if I don't do as well eating before, what's the sense? I eat right away AFTER, tho!

I agree with another poster that said, "Do what feels right for you!". :drinker:

thedreamhazer

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KGB/is_1_5/ai_n6097710/

I've read up on this before, but I couldn't find the article I read on it that was really good. So, here's another. It basically says that yes, perhaps you burn fat more. However, you won't have as much energy, and won't be able to work out as long or as hard as you would if you ate an hour or two before. I've also read that not eating before a workout leads to your body breaking down more muscular type tissue for energy as opposed to fat reserves, and have a little sugar in your blood for instant energy allows your body to get at your fat reserves more effectively. But, this is just what I'm remembering, I'm not an expert.

KellyBurton1

I was on a plateau for 3 weeks and last week I got up early and went for a walk/jog for 30 mins. I lost 2 lbs in 5 days. I thought I would never be able to do it but I did.

lucifa73

I eat a small banana around 6am and start at the gym at about 6.30am, have a protein shake around 8am once I'm done and showered then have a bowl of cereal (usually weetabix or shredded whear) at around half 9. I find if I don't have that first banana I can't push as hard in the gym and I feel dizzy when I'm done.

Amandac6772

4:30 am is the only time I have to workout so I don't have time to eat, let it digest and then workout. It's always been fine for me but people are different. You just have to figure out what works for you.

p1nkpr1ncess

I think it just comes down to personal preference. I have always been taught that exercising with atleast a 2 hour gap from food would burn fat quicker than if I ate before.

I don't eat before my morning workouts and I don't suffer the light-headedness or anything BUT I'm not hungry when I first wake up anyway and usually have a protein shake straight after my workout then have breakfast a couple of hours later.

I deffinately think it has it's benefits working out before eating but if your body doesn't like it then just have a small snack before hand
-x-

tommygirl15

So I guess no one here is really in favor of the cardio fast? I'm reading up about it and it's a bit controversial, the upside is that it will tap into fat stores but the bad news is that you can also lose muscle in the process. I guess I'll have to experiment a bit and see how it works for me, 'don't knock it 'til you try it' so to speak

you won't lose muscle if you are strength training, and you are eating a good protein enriched breakfast fterwards. The trick to not eating beforehand is to actually have nothing..not tea, not juice, nothing, your body has to use fat stores since it has no fuel from food to use as energy. It's a tried and true method, and it's helped quite a few of my clients including myself lose weight. If I have an early AM class I don't eat beforehand, it's really a personal choice. Good to see that you're researching it.

Oh you are a trainer? Nice
What do you think about this? I do my fasting cardio and then I have a protein shake right after? Unfortunately I have to take the bus to the gym so it will take me a little longer to get home after the workout. What kind of stuff should I put in my bag to make available to eat right afterwards?

sbilyeu75

Please have some protein before you workout. My husband didn't a few weeks ago and passed out on the gym floor due to low blood sugar (he is not diabetic).

iplayoutside19

Like others of have said, this comes down to personal choice. I roll out of the rack, drink some water while stretching, and then get after it. Mostly because this is what I'm comfortable with. Only once have I experienced a huge blood sugar plummet, and that was after running for 45 minutes. So unless I'm going to do something that intense for that long I don't eat anything.

So, if that's how you want to roll, by all means. If not, eat something.

canstey

The theory is that since you have no food in your system to use for fuel, your body will use more fat reserves than if you had eaten and your body would use more of the breakfast. Yes it is true that you will burn a few extra percentage of fat if you don't eat first. However they don't bother to tell you that it won't make a difference at the end of the day.

You burned extra fat during the workout because you didn't eat. So after you eat breakfast your body goes about its normal energy consumption and voila, it gets its energy from breakfast instead of fat reserves because now breakfast is available whereas if you ate before exercising it wouldn't. Net result by lunch: no difference.

The downside to this technique is what others have said; less effective workouts that burn fewer total calories and actually fewer total fat calories just to burn 65% of the calories from fat instead of 60% from fat. This is similar to the "fat burning zone" recommendation that you keep your intensity low to increase percentage of calories burned from fat high even though total fat calories burned is higher from more intense workouts even if the percentage is lower.

KatalynasMommy

I always drink a cup of coffee then got ride my 20 miles on my stationary bike, then eat and drink another cup of coffee. I was curious about what time to do cardio workout so I looked up and found this article.

When is the best time of day to do cardio, and why? Well, I bet most people do cardio "whenever they get a chance." Sometimes during the middle of the day, sometimes before bed, sometimes directly after your weightlifting workout, sometimes directly before the weightlifting workout and sometimes first thing in the morning. The truth is, all of those times will get results. It doesn't matter what time of day you do your cardio workout, you will be burning calories every time. BUT, the real question is, which of those times is the most effective? And the answer is (drum roll please).... first thing in the morning!

Doing cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, before you eat anything, is by far, the most effective. Whether you run, jog, walk, swim, jump rope, take an aerobics class, ride a bike, etc., doing it first thing in the morning is the best time to do it for maximum fat loss. Why? Its simple. When you do your cardio workout, you are burning calories. Lets say you wake up, eat breakfast, eat lunch later in the day, and then a few hours after lunch, you do your cardio. All you will be doing during that cardio is burning the calories and carbs of the food you just ate. When you do cardio first thing in the morning, you haven't eaten anything for the last 8 or so hours because you were sleeping. So, when your body sees that there are no carbs to burn, it goes directly to stored bodyfat. And stored bodyfat is the fat that is on your body, which is the fat that you want to lose!

Understand how it works? When you do your cardio sometime during the day other then first thing in the morning, you spend most of that time burning off carbs that you already ate that day. When you do it first thing in the morning, there are no carbs to burn, so all your body can burn is body fat!

Some people have e-mailed me asking what type of cardio I do and I tell them I jog on my treadmill first thing in the morning. Even though I do all of my weightlifting at a gym, I do my cardio in my house on my own treadmill so I can do it first thing in the morning without having to take a shower, get dressed and do whatever else I'd do if I went to the gym to do cardio.

So after reading this I guess I was close to doing the right thing.

Hope if any of you did not see this article already it helps you.

Take care all, and keep up the workouts.

LotusF1ower

I was on a plateau for 3 weeks and last week I got up early and went for a walk/jog for 30 mins. I lost 2 lbs in 5 days. I thought I would never be able to do it but I did.

That whole episode was excellent news for you!

Doing things the way you did them there, obviously suited you down to a Tee!

Ironically, reading through all these posts it is really interesting just how different everybody is. The person I have just quoted has found a niche that suits them whereas another person stated that they would go all shaky if they tried something similar!

100% depends on the person concerned for sure.

tommygirl15

Stacy - good article, very simple and straight up. I think I'm definitely going to try the cardio fast now, we'll see how I do