Opinions and results on fasted cardio?

saruuhm
saruuhm Posts: 71 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Opinions on fasted cardio :)
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Replies

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    You are going to get some that love it some that hate it. The studies are mostly inconclusive, showing no benefits. Personally I like it, not from a weight loss standpoint but that its much easier for me to just get up and run without eating breakfast.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    Primarily personal preference. Some people find their performance suffers a bit if they don't have a bit of fuel at the start, others don't. Just gotta find which you prefer and go with it.
  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,031 Member
    My opinion is that if you're burning 400-700 calories from a run, and not eating, it's a pretty dumb idea to do.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    I don't know that I see better results or anything but I run 3-4 miles as soon as I'm up and dressed a couple of mornings each week, including this morning. I don't eat breakfast until I am at my desk at work.

    On the weekends I run longer and I'll usually eat something that's mostly carbs a half hour or so before I start. I find I don't do as well on runs longer than 75 minutes without a little something in the tank.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    The result of me running on an empty stomach is a great start and then me passed out on the pavement. But I have friends who do it all the time and seem to not have any issues.
  • bellaa_x0
    bellaa_x0 Posts: 1,062 Member
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-myth-of-cardio-before-breakfast-debunked.html
  • ExRelaySprinter
    ExRelaySprinter Posts: 874 Member
    I could never do any kind of Exercise without having something to eat first.
    Your body needs the fuel!
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i can do it for a couple of days (rarely deliberate) but nothing long term. the past 2 or 3 days i think i did, mainly because i was at the gym earlier than normal, and i cant eat when i first get up.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I exercise before breakfast so I guess that is considered fast cardio? I don't know. It seems like a fancy name for "exercising before you eat." Anyway, that's what I normally do and I can't say that it's made any difference when I compare that to the times when I exercise later in the day after eating.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    I checked with running world (magazine and website) as I had a similar question since I am a noob at running.

    I ran at 5:20 pm yesterday but made sure I had a small snack about an hour before...per the magazine as it indicated (which I know from my experience weight lifting) eating something an hour or two before exercise can be beneficial for that workout and your energy levels.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    edited May 2015
    I LOVE both lifting and cardio fasted. I find it helps me maintain. I don't do this every day, just a few days a week when it fits my schedule.


    I didn't do it when I was losing weight because I thought I couldn't. It was a difficult adjustment to make, I was afraid and felt dizzy, but after a few time my body adapted. It DOES help with fat burning and the increase of natural occurring HGH in the system. I work for many fitness companies now and one of my bosses got his degree in the subject and has the science to back it up. I had the pleasure of proof reading his latest book (Brad Pilon).

    The thing is you have to let your body adapt to new things, and let your mind be open to experimenting with new things as well.

    16440072.png
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I tried once when it was too early for breakfast... had a horrible workout. No thanks.
  • karllundy
    karllundy Posts: 1,490 Member
    rybo wrote: »
    You are going to get some that love it some that hate it. The studies are mostly inconclusive, showing no benefits. Personally I like it, not from a weight loss standpoint but that its much easier for me to just get up and run without eating breakfast.

    Ditto!

  • tycho_mx
    tycho_mx Posts: 426 Member
    It is hard to give an opinion without understanding your objectives.

    If the idea is "weight loss", I think the evidence tends to indicate it doesn't help much. But it does produce other changes - namely, in the ability to process fat as fuel (instead of carbs) at different exertion levels. For most athletes that's meaningless - you do your soccer game, run, or crossfit in an hour. Done and done. You have enough fuel for these short activities pretty much at any point.

    Are your runs 2+ hours? Or your bike rides? Then you might want to improve this capacity to use fat as fuel - a male athlete can hold about 2,000 calories in glycogen (easily available energy). Then you run out and bonk, unless you're eating. But if you're exercising heavily it's not like you can have a donut, half a cup of ice cream and some bacon without it coming up. So you're limited to about 60 g of carbs/hour - that's absorption rate, and seems independent of body size. So it benefits you if you "train" your body to use fat as fuel at higher intensity. One way is by getting generally fitter (better aerobic capacity). The other is by fasted training.

    For the latter in my case it is 2+ hours on coffee and nothing else. Moderate intensity, see how it goes. If you try high intensity intervals you're probably going to end up on the side of the road hallucinating. Pack a sugary snack for such an emergency But long steady burns? I do these about once or twice per month. It feels a bit weird and you certainly can feel the "hangry" sometimes when you're approaching the empty mark.

    Again, this is not for weight loss, it is an aspect of training for endurance events, especially those that intersperse high (i.e. carb-fueled) intensity efforts across a long session. Like sprinting on hills during a race.


    One well respected pro-team doctor's view:
    http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/the-importance-of-carbohydrates-and-glycogen-for-a
  • jessypug
    jessypug Posts: 142 Member
    I've tried it a couple of times and didn't do very well. I ended up feeling dizzy
  • saruuhm
    saruuhm Posts: 71 Member
    Thanks everyone for your feedback!

    I'm eating about 1700 calories a day and I strength train 6-7 times a week. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to what cardio to do because I never ever do it. I occasionally do some interval sprints. I think I'll give fasted cardio a try maybe some mornings!

    Thanks again
  • lyrical_melody
    lyrical_melody Posts: 242 Member
    I actually did it this morning, only for the fact to save time. I will never do that again. After my run this morning my stomach was killing me and I had major cramps. I have ran after eating food before and I much rather prefer that...
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    I really don't have choice. Exercise with food in my stomach means food coming back up out of my stomach.

    I'm a morning exerciser and not a morning eater. It's just what works best for me.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    Some morning I am so hungry there is no way I can't eat and then run. Other morning I eat so much the night before that it really doesn't bother me
  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
    If I go to the gym before work in the morning, I simply cannot eat. I already feel ill if I eat too soon after waking up, so eating, and then going to the gym would probably make me vomit all over everyone.

    However, when I get home from the gym, I need to eat DIRECTLY after walking through the door.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Let personal preference, performance, and lifestyle factors determine whether you train fasted or fed. Schoenfeld and Krieger did a meta analysis on it and fasted wasn't significantly better (minimal differences) vs fed cardio -- so with that said just do what you prefer.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,942 Member
    coreyreichle wrote: »
    My opinion is that if you're burning 400-700 calories from a run, and not eating, it's a pretty dumb idea to do.
    In your opinion why is it dumb? If you have 400-700 calories of stored glycogen in your system to do it, what is it affecting?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,942 Member
    I too am going to say it's personal preference. I train fasted every morning whether it's cardio of lifting.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    Nothing turns a workout to shite like being Bonked before you even start, right?

    Pre-Bonked, fat, and stupid is no way to make a successful workout, right?
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited May 2015
    sarahsarahsarah123 wrote: »
    Opinions on fasted cardio :)

    Morning fasted runs FTW. :drinker:

    Only up to a point, though, running beyond a certain distance and you just hit a wall without some pre- or during caloric reinforcement. For me that distance is somewhere around 7-8k.

    Some people hate them, though, so figure out what works for YOU!
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    mamapeach910 wrote: »
    I really don't have choice. Exercise with food in my stomach means food coming back up out of my stomach.

    I'm a morning exerciser and not a morning eater. It's just what works best for me.

    I'm the same way, and it usually takes about an hour for my stomach to settle after a workout.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    When I work out, I always do it fasted, as it makes me ill if I try to eat something first. So every morning when I go to the gym at 5:00 a.m., I am fasted from the day before at around 7 p.m. I have noticed no difference in weight loss.
  • CrabNebula
    CrabNebula Posts: 1,119 Member
    I row for distance/endurance and it isn't happening on an empty stomach. If I feel nauseated at all, it just means I need to slow down a minute. It usually passes and I can keep going.
  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,031 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    coreyreichle wrote: »
    My opinion is that if you're burning 400-700 calories from a run, and not eating, it's a pretty dumb idea to do.
    In your opinion why is it dumb? If you have 400-700 calories of stored glycogen in your system to do it, what is it affecting?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    I'm going to guess most people don't have 400-700 of calories in stored glycogen after waking up...
  • 85kurtz
    85kurtz Posts: 276 Member
    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    Nothing turns a workout to shite like being Bonked before you even start, right?

    Pre-Bonked, fat, and stupid is no way to make a successful workout, right?

    This comment made me laugh out loud. I wonder if you should explain for those not familiar with the vernacular? LOL

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