Does it matter if you workout before or after breakfast?

Sidesteal

Fasted cardio can potentially mobilize fatty acids but mobilization is pretty much a non issue until you're already pushing ~15% -ish for bodyfat (for men). By this sites standards, that's already reasonably lean.

For more anecdote, I was able to get "lean enough" (~10%ish give or take) without any cardio at all, and I'm no special snowflake.

I firmly believe that you should go with personal preference. If you're already lean and prepping for a contest, then I can understand wanting to go the fasted cardio route. (But then again if you're already lean and prepping for a contest, you probably aren't getting your strategy on the MFP forums).


For the vast majority it really is not going to make any damn difference and you should do what is convenient.

wackyfunster

Fasted cardio can potentially mobilize fatty acids but mobilization is pretty much a non issue until you're already pushing ~15% -ish for bodyfat (for men). By this sites standards, that's already reasonably lean.

For more anecdote, I was able to get "lean enough" (~10%ish give or take) without any cardio at all, and I'm no special snowflake.

I firmly believe that you should go with personal preference. If you're already lean and prepping for a contest, then I can understand wanting to go the fasted cardio route. (But then again if you're already lean and prepping for a contest, you probably aren't getting your strategy on the MFP forums).


For the vast majority it really is not going to make any damn difference and you should do what is convenient.

Just did some more research on the subject, and it supports this. It doesn't seem to matter if you are >15% body fat (for men), or >20% (for women). I also agree that cardio is not necessary for fat loss (I've actually found weight training to be more effective, but that may be due to the fact that I am usually very limited in the time I have to work out). I have noticed a difference between fasted and non-fasted training (I do heavy resistance training e.g. squats, deadlifts, weighted chins etc. fasted, with BCAA supplementation) at <10% body fat.

heybales

Not sure about that...I'm pretty sure with cardio, you're going to burn carbs initially no matter what (going from sedentary --> active, you use carbs) and then after a certain amount of time (15-20 minutes for most people, 10-12 for fit people), you start burning fat.

Actually no.
At rest you are already burning about 30% carbs, 70% fat.
As you become more active the shift occurs.

There is no starting out with one, moving to the other. Unless you jump up and sprint as fast as you can, that's carbs totally, and then slow and walk to recover, that's fat again at maybe 60%

Shoot, even the so called "fat-burning zone" which is the low intensity stuff, is actually 50/50 split moving to 60% carbs burned.

You may be thinking of the fact that after you eat, the energy needs are met first by what you just ate.
If you ate something that really turned on your insulin a lot, or have a problem with that, then you may burn through what you ate and since fat storage mode is still on, you'll do carbs first.

But that is opposite of the question, not eating before workout.

dinosnopro

^ what he said.. Also I'm assuming this only applies to cardio workouts as you never want to lift weights in a fasted state.

does not mater if you lift fasted.


http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

read #6