exercising on an empty stomach

Will a car run on an empty take of gas?? You might pass out and have no energy. I was in a class last year and a lady came to exercise on empty stomach, she fainting and broke her jaw and a few teeth. Got to eat before exercising. At least a few hours before.

i always exercise in the morning before eating... (4:30 am) i dont want to wait around after eating something to work out. I prefer it, when ive worked out after eating - like in the night time- it feels different to me and i dont like it. calories burned would come out the same, i think its just preference.

It does maxamize fat burning BUT you don't want to do it on a completely empty stomach espicially if you want to preserve lean muscle mass. I would have a protein shake before you work out or maybe greek yogurt since it it high in protein. You will also need the carbs for energy. You want to lose fat not muscle so make sure you give your body a little something before you work out.

It does maxamize fat burning BUT you don't want to do it on a completely empty stomach espicially if you want to preserve lean muscle mass. I would have a protein shake before you work out or maybe greek yogurt since it it high in protein. You will also need the carbs for energy. You want to lose fat not muscle so make sure you give your body a little something before you work out.

Where did you hear that?? Rubbish....you won't lose lean muscle mass by working out on an empty stomach...on my early morning workout days it's the way I do it, you hit the fat first, if you eat anything before working out even a glass of milk, you've now given your body food, carbs, to pull it's energy from, it will take it from there first, If you can handle working out on an empty stomach, it can be a very great way to burn fat, if you eat absolutely nothing before hand, make sure you say hydrated and eat/drink something within 45 minutes post.

when I workout first thing in the morning I don't eat IF i'm lifting I have a protien shake or I would not be able to make through the workout IF I'm running I don't have anything.

if it burns more fat I have no clue, I've read that if you walk 1 hour a day you'll burn Fat Cals

good luck

Do some of both to fool the body. One or two days a week work out in the morning before you eat. Rest of the week work out after you eat at least 100-200 smart calories (some protein and good carbs like from fruit). Boost your metabolism and fuel your work-out. You have to eat to lose weight. Eat 200....burn 500 for weight loss. To maintain and/or add muscle eat a few more protein cals.

It's a numbers game.

When in doubt, do some more walking.


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Will a car run on an empty take of gas?? You might pass out and have no energy. I was in a class last year and a lady came to exercise on empty stomach, she fainting and broke her jaw and a few teeth. Got to eat before exercising. At least a few hours before.

well that is certainly a strong reason to not exercise on an empty stomach....ouch! PAINFUL! :noway:

I try and eat a small snack 45 minutes before I start exercising (no more than 100 cals) just to give me a little reserve of calories. I easily burn 500 during a run so, that little snack will hardly hinder my progress!

I cannot exercise on an empty stomach...I cannot reach my potential if i havn't got enough energy and therefore, for me...I think it's a waste of a workout :flowerforyou:

I don't know. For me, I can't exercise in the morning, I like my sleep too much. My best time is right after work. I get the exercise past me, then eat dinner. At my weight, it's not like my body won't find any fat to use, and I'm not a workout demon, if I need a minute break, I'll take it. My wife, however, work out in the morning and immediately eats. She's too tired to work out evenings. So, I guess my answer is it depends on you, not on any set plan or guideline. I wouldn't fast THEN workout, but if you haven't eaten in 3-5 hours and want to work out, as long as you monitor yourself, you should be fine.

I've heard conflicting news about how it's better to eat then workout, or it's better to workout than eat. I think it's mostly smoke and mirrors, and it's jsut good for you to do both, it doesn't really matter in which order.

I do most of my workouts on an empty stomach. I don't know if it burns more fat, as opposed to doing it later in the day. But I ran 7 miles the other morning without eating and didn't even come close to passing out.

Whatever makes you the most comfortable is what you should do. If you're excersising on an empty stomach because it "burns more fat", but you really hate doing it, you're a lot less likely to keep it up....and that's the most important thing of all.

Our bodies have a decent storage of glycogen on board to fuel workouts, whatever the time of day. So, working out on an empty stomach is not impossible. The ability to do so doesn't really mean anything--just that the structure and intensity of your workout is such that you are able to get by on what you have on board.

The main benefit to eating something before a workout is that is provides a ready supply of circulating blood glucose, which can enhance the quality of you workout (again, depends on what you are doing). It can take several minutes for you aerobic system to kick in and start metabolizing fat for fuel (along w/carbs). If you are starting a more intense workout, like I said, the circulating glucose helps get you going until the steady-state systems kick in.

Unless you plan on going at a really high level, it probably doesn't make that big a difference one way or the other for many people--most people don't work out that hard, so they are not going to see much difference.

For the main question: does it help burn more fat? the answer is NO. It has absolutely no effect on fat loss.

It's actually a proven method to work out after sleeping, the body has been in a fasting mode, and would by glycogen depleted, along with low insulin, forcing fat to be the primary fuel sorce so long as you don't go high intensity, keep it low to moderate. Other good reasons are is releases endorphins that make you feel great throughout the day, you'll be less likely to skip it if you get it over with, morning cardio will raise the metabolic rate of your body for the time after your work out, not just while you're working out, to burn more calories AFTER the workout is complete. There are people here saying you'll lose muscle, which can apply if you're diet is sloppy, but if your total diet is in line, then the chances of catabolism are very low. If the human body was so fragile that it lost muscle from doing some physical activity before eating, we never would have survived as a species.

If you do low to moderate intensity exercise, you are going to use fats primarily as fuel, no matter what. Intensity of exercise is the PRIMARY factor -- perhaps even the sole factor-- in determining fuel substrate mix during exercise. The whole subject is moot anyhow, because the fuel substrate utilized during exercise has no long-term effect on stored body fat. Most of the fats used during exercise come from triglycerides already stored in the muscle.

Our metabolic systems are active 24 hours a day--what happens during exercise is just one event among many. Studies that have looked at 24 hour fat oxidation have shown that, whatever happens during a workout, the body adjusts it's rate of fat oxidation so that at the end of 24 hours, total fat oxidation is equal between groups that burned a lot of fat during a workout and those that didn't.

Fasting overnight does not cause "glycogen depletion". Even in a fasted state, the body has enough stored glycogen for 1-2 hours of exercise. REAL "glycogen depletion" sucks big time. Look at a marathoner hitting the wall--that's glycogen depletion.

All the other effects of exercise--whether it's "released endorphins" or "increased metabolic rate" will occur regardless of when the exercise is performed. And the "increased metabolic rate" will only happen if you have done an intense workout--the average workout doesn't have much "afterburn".

Scheduling of workouts is a matter of personal preference--there are no physical advantages to working out at any particular time of day.

Eating or not probably won't make a huge difference for many people. Personally, I think 100-300 calories (that's how I define "eating before exercise") taken on board within an hour of starting makes for a better workout, especially in the morning. But it does depend a great deal on the type and intensity of the workout.

I had that same question!!! Then a friend sent me this link from Jillian Michaels!!

http://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness-specialist/when-to-eat.aspx?xid=nl_LosingItWithJillianMichaels_20100826

Holy S--t! That was actually accurate--must go out to check if pigs are flying......

Azdak, I really liked your response and answers to these issues. May I add you to my contacts? perhaps drop in a question or two in the future? Thanks