Working out on an empty stomach?

formerfatboy1

It's called Fasted cardio. First thing in the morning wash up and jump on the treadmill and do a low intensity cardio session for 30-45 min this will utilize your fat for energy and kick start the fat burning process. I agree 100% with this exercise. I'm living proof! As far as weight lifting I wouldn't recommend it on an empty stomach fyi.

cwolfman13

It doesn't really matter...

If I require 2800 calories to maintain and I cut 500 calories from that for my consumption then I'm going to lose roughly 1 Lb per week...regardless of whether I workout fasted or not.

Really, it's a personal preference thing and I would say ultimately a performance issue, not a dietary one.

bbturner67

When you've fasted for a while your bodys energy supply will be depleted and in order to produce the energy needed for a workout the body will dip into the stored supply i.e the fat.

Although it takes about 2 hours to deplete the glycogen stored in your liver and muscles, so it doesn't make much difference, unless you also worked out after dinner and before breakfast or are doing a very long CV session

I train every morning before breakfast but that is more a time restraint and comfort thing (its hard to cycle for 90 minutes plus with a full or partly full stomach).

yopeeps025

So basically as for fat loss being more, It really makes no difference to run on a fast. Unless you burn your glycogen before the morning workout.

tabicatinthehat

There are actually several benefits of working out on an empty stomach. When you've fasted for a while your bodys energy supply will be depleted and in order to produce the energy needed for a workout the body will dip into the stored supply i.e the fat.

I always try to get my cardio done before breakfast, then fuel up afterward.

So then what happens to the food you eat afterwards?

_Waffle_

There are actually several benefits of working out on an empty stomach. When you've fasted for a while your bodys energy supply will be depleted and in order to produce the energy needed for a workout the body will dip into the stored supply i.e the fat.

I always try to get my cardio done before breakfast, then fuel up afterward.

So then what happens to the food you eat afterwards?

*See earlier note about glycogen stores.

RangerRN507

I wouldnt lift on an empty stomach but I do like to do my cardio in the morning before having any carbs and just drinking strait black coffee for the benefits of caffeine which Ive done quite a bit of research on. but I wouldnt say it utllizes "more" energy than if you do eat, all it will do is make your body use stored energy instead of any carbs you ingest prior to morning workouts. I know this has been covered by others already. I agree with all of them

fivethreeone

the idea is just that sleeping is the longest one typically goes without eating... seeing as how its been that long since you've replenished, glycogen would presumably be somewhat lower then it would be at other points in the day (though that does not necessairly mean they are 'low' or 'depleted'). weight training probably does a better job of that.

I do a half marathon pretty much every weekend fasted. That's a 2,300 calorie burn with no breakfast. That's not to say that you should try that all in if you haven't been doing regular morning fasted workouts but just as an example of how much energy you have left even if you haven't eaten since 8 pm the night before.

its really the fact that how much fat you burn is far less important then how many calories you burn overall that makes it a moot point if you ask me.

Exactly which is why this entire discussion is moot and worthless for people still wanting to lose 30+ pounds. This isn't a factor in your weight loss. It's more about endurance conditioning than anything.

Probably the most imporant point for the majority

No_Finish_Line

So much confusion and taking one item and applying it as a blanket statement in this thread.

Depending on intensity, you don't need to burn thru glycogen stores before getting to fat. If you are doing long endurance runs, you want as much of you calories to come from fat stores so the you don't burn thru glycogen & hit the wall. This is the principles of what waffle is talking about. You will find a good bit of people that run marathons practice that way.

And lastly, bodybuilding.com would be the last place I'd go seeking info on running/cardio. They will find any excuse possible to point to muscle being burned so they can avoid cardio at all costs.

not sure why you say there is so much confusion when most of the posts seem to echo your point of view in some way

Azdak

I think the jury is still out according to that MFP Blog. That is, it appears to help short run, but doesn't help long run... appears to be their experts' opinion.

No the jury is not out. The verdict came in long time ago.

Fasted Cardio: guilty of being useless for enhanced fat loss.

Azdak

So basically as for fat loss being more, It really makes no difference to run on a fast. Unless you burn your glycogen before the morning workout.

Still doesn't make any difference. A) it is highly unlikely that anyone will ever "burn their glycogen" before a morning workout. if by chance that were possible, you would have an extremely ****ty workout that wouldn't last long and wouldn't burn a lot of calories.

Ever see a marathoner "hit the wall"? You know, when they are drooling, glassy-eyed and staggering all over the road?

That's what REAL "fasted cardio" looks like.

Azdak

So much confusion and taking one item and applying it as a blanket statement in this thread.

Depending on intensity, you don't need to burn thru glycogen stores before getting to fat. If you are doing long endurance runs, you want as much of you calories to come from fat stores so the you don't burn thru glycogen & hit the wall. This is the principles of what waffle is talking about. You will find a good bit of people that run marathons practice that way.

And lastly, bodybuilding.com would be the last place I'd go seeking info on running/cardio. They will find any excuse possible to point to muscle being burned so they can avoid cardio at all costs.

Im not sure if the last part was directed at the link I posted from bodybuilding.com. I admit that site can have questionable content sometimes but this article was written by Brad Shoenfeld and directly pertains to fasted cardio and if it has a benefit over fed cardio. Does not suggest not doing cardio.

Agree. Schoenfeld wrote another version of that article for an NSCA publication, and it is pretty definitive.

Azdak

lol @ bowel of cereal.

Suggestion also: Try using a heart rate monitor that shows your calories burned- do exactly the same workout two days in a row, the only variable to change would be do one after eating food before, and the other workout without food. Compare to see the difference! Post the results here. That would be interesting.

That won't do anything. It will produce the same result because of how HRMs work.

And even it produces different results,it doesn't mean anything---because of how HRMs work.

55044TeamJoy

Working out on an empty stomach is a good way to pass out.

Just.Don't.Do.It

Azdak

I used to try HIIT on a empty. You know what happen? I was never as fast as I could be with eating something beforehand. As for weight training on a fast. I'm surprised to see no one has done that.

agree with that. on the odd times i got myself out of bed first thing to do insantiy, i at least needed a small apple.

And, often, that is all that is needed. One of the many (many,many,many,many) points of confusion on this topic comes because many people think "eating before a workout" means having a full meal. That's not the case at all. Any recommendation for "prefeeding" involves only 75-150 kcals of easily digestible carbs or carbs + a little protein. You don't want any significant fat.

Azdak

Let me add that I just learned that baba ghanoush is not the best pre-workout meal. :sick:

mustgetmuscles1

Let me add that I just learned that baba ghanoush is not the best pre-workout meal. :sick:

:laugh: Or anything with a lot of garlic in it.