Morning workouts to maximize fat loss? Myth or not?

One contested "fact" I am really confused about is how doing cardio exercise first thing in the morning - before breakfast - maximizes fat burn. The reasoning behind this is that your body has no energy readily available from recently digested food, so it instead uses energy in your fat stores to fuel the workout. My PT has told me this and recommends me to try it. While I trust my PT as being well-informed, I still can't shake the heaps of information I find that debunks this.

You use glycogen in the first instance, most people don't expend fat as fuel. Time of session make no real difference to how many calories you expend. you'e only getting into the use of harder to access fuel stroes; muscle and fat store, if you're doing sessions of 3-4 hours consistently, without adequate refuelling.

What it becomes is quite a good discipline, so you develop the training habit.

I tried this for a week and absolutely hated it. While I didn't feel weak, I still didn't like getting out of bed in the cold mornings and forgoing my morning coffee (it's currently winter in my part of the world here).

Personally I do some of my sessions fasted, and some fuelled. Evening sessions tend to be about 6-8 hours after eating and I generally find that I can't comfortably run for anything more than 10km. If I do a morning session it's generally after a decent breakfast as I'll burn out at about 12km if I don't. Similarly for a ride, I'll burn out at about 30km if I don't eat something.

I am currently working out in the morning and in the evening. I find that I like the morning workouts better. I have started this journey recently and have 90 pounds to shed. I think you have to do what works best for you, otherwise we tend as humans to just not do it...

The most effective workout schedule for fat loss is the one you'll stick to whilst maintaining an overall calorie deficit.

I honestly couldn't tell you one way or the other but I workout in the mornings and find it to be the best for me although I don't necessarily like it ^_^.

This for me too. I don't like getting out of bed, but I find its the best time of day for me in terms of energy, motivation etc. If I had to wait until after work I would have no desire to workout at all.

Works for me AND it's done with for the day. Makes one feel Righteous.

My opinion is that if it works for you, then it works. Nothing will work if you hate it enough to not stick with it. I hate working out as soon as I wake up too, so I have a cup of coffee and a glass of milk in the morning (just to kill the hunger pains). By the time I get dressed, drive to the gym, and finish my warmup/stretches, it has been about 30 minutes since the milk. I notice a big difference between working out before breakfast and working out after. I like the compromise and it works for me.

Every body is different, regardless of what "professionals" say your body will tell you what is best if you listen to it. You need to decide if the amount of difference is worth doing something you "absolutely hate." If not, then workout when you WANT to. The important thing is finding a routine you can stick with and what makes you happy.

My PT has told me this and recommends me to try it. While I trust my PT as being well-informed, I still can't shake the heaps of information I find that debunks this.

My trainer advised the opposite, whilst you can do cardio in the morning on no fuel, there's no benefit to it, it doesn't 'teach' the body to use fat as fuel etc, I had to learn to eat whilst training (running) as I was out for over 5hrs and needed to learn to fuel whilst running, I would have my porridge first thing when I got up and by the time I was ready about 30min later, I could run and then have banana's/gels etc whilst out on the run.
I do find I do better in the evening when I've been fuelling all day than I do in the mornings with less, that being said, if it was high intensity cardio (insanity or similar), I wouldn't eat for about 2hrs before doing that or I would be sprinting for the toilet!!!

Hey everyone,

Throughout this journey of losing body fat, I have read some very conflicting information. I find while health magazines say one thing, people here on MFP say another. Likewise with advice from my PT; while she says one thing, an article online says another.

One contested "fact" I am really confused about is how doing cardio exercise first thing in the morning - before breakfast - maximizes fat burn. The reasoning behind this is that your body has no energy readily available from recently digested food, so it instead uses energy in your fat stores to fuel the workout. My PT has told me this and recommends me to try it. While I trust my PT as being well-informed, I still can't shake the heaps of information I find that debunks this.

I tried this for a week and absolutely hated it. While I didn't feel weak, I still didn't like getting out of bed in the cold mornings and forgoing my morning coffee (it's currently winter in my part of the world here). However, I stuck to it everyday and noticed a big change in fat loss from my weigh-in that week. Since I've stopped doing the pre-breakfast workouts, however, my progress is slowing down.

So what's your take on it? Do you think there's some truth to it, or does it just seem like just another hotly-debated fad (along wit h "detoxing" and eliminating breads and pastas)?

What you are describing is known as "Bonk Training" even though the name "bonk" is a bit of a misnomer. It can be a very effective tool if you follow the rules and are a runner or cyclist to trim weight early in the season.

Dr. Andy Pruitt from the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine writes.....



HOW TO BONK TRAIN

1. Upon waking, drink 2-3 cups of coffee, up to 45 minutes before cycling. Don’t eat.
2. Ride at endurance pace- 60-70% of your max heart rate, or a casual pace that doesn’t make you pant when you talk.
3. Keep it up for 20-90 minutes.
4. You can do this on consecutive days, but mix in at least one normal breakfast per week.
5. Eat your typical breakfast as soon as the ride ends.
6 . Watch the blubber ignite!!

BONK TRAINING

If you're normal, well adjusted and sentient, you have to ask why any cyclist would submit himself to "bonk training." It's the ultimate in hair-shirt riding. You wake up in the morning, drink two cups of coffee without putting anything else in your stomach, then go for a 60-90 minute ride. The answer: To lose weight. FAST.

Andy Pruitt, clinical director of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, has seen plenty of clclists shed their guts with bonk training. "If I have a patient who's trying to lose weight- cyclist or not- I have him ride 20-30 minutes before breakfast on a stationary bike at about 60 percent of max heart rate," says Pruitt. "This ignites your fat-burning metabolism, and it stays lit during the day." If you have an extra 5-10 pounds to lose, empty-stomach exercise first thing in the morning is ideal, he says.

Bonk training works, according to Pruitt, because there's no readily available fuel source for your muscles (there's very little glycogen in the bloodstream when you wake up), so your body has to seek out fuel...stored fat. To get the full effect, you have to maintain an endurance pace; you should be able to converse without panting.

The name of this weight-loss comes from the idea that the training mimics the conditions that lead to the scourge of cyclists- bonking. In fact, true bonking is a danger.

"If you ride like this longer than 90 minutes, your body starts breaking down muscle and protein in organs," says Liz Applegate, sports nutritionist at the University of California-Davis, cyclist and author of Eat Smart, Play Hard. "Then you're not just losing fat, you're weakening your body, so dont ride longer than 90 minutes and you will fine to ride as normal the following day."

HOW TO BONK TRAIN

1. Upon waking, drink 2-3 cups of coffee, up to 45 minutes before cycling. Don't eat.
2. Ride at endurance pace- 60-70% of your max heart rate, or a casual pace that doesn't make you pant when you talk.
3. Keep it up for between 20-90 minutes.
4. You can do this on consecutive days, but mix in at least one normal breakfast per week.
5. Eat your typical breakfast as soon as the ride ends.
6 . Watch the blubber ignite!!

A blog opinion about bonk training...

http://www.superskinnyme.com/bonk-training.html

A thread here at MFP "discussing" it...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1177558-fasted-cardio-does-not-enhance-fat-loss?page=2

Well darn. The military must be doing the whole exercise thing wrong. AM workouts before morning chow are just fine.

The purpose isn't fat loss though. A large part of military training is about training to operate when tired, under-fuelled and under stress. Phys first is also less disuptive to the wider training plan as well.

My first morning workout, I looked down to see my pants on inside out and backwards. I have to feed livestock and collect eggs before coffee, and I BARELY remember who eats what most mornings. I don't need anything else making me late on coffee.