Exercising while fasted??
Rajions
Posts: 128 Member
I've been researching a lot lately about exercising while in the "fasted" state. There are plenty of people arguing that it is good or just not recommended. How do you guys feel about fasted exercising?
0
Replies
-
I usually do steady state cardio fasted, because it fits in to my schedule that way (in the morning when I wake up), not because it's in any way better than doing it after eating. I weight train at night, and I've eaten food by then, but on the weekends I sometimes train early and cope fine. My husband has to eat before he trains or he feels like his lifts suffer.
I struggle doing proper HIIT style cardio fasted - if I do that, I do it later in the day.1 -
I've done Insanity in the fasted state the first week and a half in the morning. I was reading that fasted exercising helps kick start the fat burning, but other articles are saying that's a bad idea. I'm just so confused. Now I just eat a banana before I start and then a high protein yogurt after I finish.0
-
I'm fine running or doing rowing intervals in a fasted state. It largely depends on your personal medical history and preferences.1
-
I've done Insanity in the fasted state the first week and a half in the morning. I was reading that fasted exercising helps kick start the fat burning, but other articles are saying that's a bad idea. I'm just so confused. Now I just eat a banana before I start and then a high protein yogurt after I finish.
I think there are a couple of trains of thought - you may burn more fat in a fasted state, but you cant put in as much effort so you'll burn less calories and vice versa.
Do what works for you - if you feel like you have more energy and put in more effort having eaten, keep doing that!1 -
I've been researching a lot lately about exercising while in the "fasted" state. There are plenty of people arguing that it is good or just not recommended. How do you guys feel about fasted exercising?
It's fine -- can have some positives if you are training for endurance sports, depending on the goals, but can feel bad/interfere with performance for some. For me it depends on the sport. If swimming first thing in the morning or running I don't eat first (unless it's a really long run -- did over 15 miles yesterday so did manage to eat a little something), but for biking or weights I don't feel right if I don't eat something first.
I'd say experiment and see, and fasted exercising can take a while to get used to. I started running fasted out of necessity -- it was the only way I could manage a morning run -- and at first I felt a little sluggish and now I like it.1 -
Its always a 50/50 type of debate, there are those that say it doesn't work and those that swear by it.... I personally see it as beneficial and something that has worked for me, i tend to burn more calories throughout the day on fasted cardio days and feel so much more energetic, having food in my belly when i do cardio kind of sucks i get a little sick feeling and lethargic right after, i think it totally depends on the individual tbh0
-
I fast two days a week and I love the extra energy I have, so I definitley work out. I believe it boosts my metabolism and on day 2 I am in a great fat burning zone. I cant imagine not exercising whilst fasting.
0 -
I have great difficultly with weight training if I haven't eaten. I can't imagine trying to do it during a fast.1
-
So there's no confusion, by fasted cardio she's referring to after sleep before you consume any food or calories, not like an actual fast you'd go on for days at a time.0
-
I think it's highly personal and differs from individual to individual.0
-
I have always done HIT fasted cause I can't bear the though of eating at 5.30am. Training on the first day of 5:2 fasting isn't an issue but early morning training the day after is hard. I'm so hungry that I have 25g nuts just to get me through to breakfast. I don't do fasted training because of fat burning benefits though - it just so happens that I train at 6am.0
-
I personally do better if I eat first before going for a walk. As I walk for 2 + hours at a time I struggle towards the end without breakfast first. What works for me won't work for everyone though and in the long run it makes no difference to your overall health.0
-
Excellent read from a reliable, educated source: http://weightology.net/fat-loss/fasted-cardio-an-undeserved-good-reputation.html/1
-
I do it because of convenience, but from the articles I read it seems to be only a problem if you're planning on 45 min plus, or heavy lifting0
-
I usually have to eat something small before I do any kind of morning workout. My.energy suffers if I don't and I start to feel tired during my workout.0
-
I usually do gentle exercise while fasted like yoga or pilates, otherwise I get light headed. It's not an energy issue, it's a dizzy issue. However, people are different and prefer different approaches. If you go for an eight-hour hike then a breakfast might be necessary but 30 mins of cardio/ yoga etc. should be ok.0
-
Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.0
-
I'm going to echo quite a few people here, I swim fasted, but I can't weight lift fasted. I go lightheaded.
I guess it's A.) down to preference and B.) Ok for cardio, not so much for strength-training.Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.
The bolded isn't so true. Anyone doing Keto or LCHF will tell you it takes about 2 weeks for your body to become fat-adapted. Meaning your body burns fat for fuel. In the morning you are still using carb reserves and/or protein.2 -
I'm going to echo quite a few people here, I swim fasted, but I can't weight lift fasted. I go lightheaded.
I guess it's A.) down to preference and B.) Ok for cardio, not so much for strength-training.Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.
The bolded isn't so true. Anyone doing Keto or LCHF will tell you it takes about 2 weeks for your body to become fat-adapted. Meaning your body burns fat for fuel. In the morning you are still using carb reserves and/or protein.
This also isn't quite true. Your body always uses some amount of fat for energy unless you're doing maximum effort. It's called substrate utilization, the lower the intensity of whatever you're doing, the higher the percentage of fat energy used. In the big picture, it doesn't matter anyway whether you're using more fat or carbs, if you're using carbs your body will fill up its glycogen when you're eating carbs again instead of using them for fuel and you lose the fat then and there.1 -
I'm going to echo quite a few people here, I swim fasted, but I can't weight lift fasted. I go lightheaded.
I guess it's A.) down to preference and B.) Ok for cardio, not so much for strength-training.Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.
The bolded isn't so true. Anyone doing Keto or LCHF will tell you it takes about 2 weeks for your body to become fat-adapted. Meaning your body burns fat for fuel. In the morning you are still using carb reserves and/or protein.
I knew a smart *kitten* will pop up.
glycogen, a type of carbohydrate that our bodies store, “runs out” overnight. When you wake up and hit the gym first thing in the morning, because your body is low on carbs, the idea is that the body will turn to fats next to gain energy.
You don't have to believe what I say, you just religiously hold tight with your opinion.0 -
I'm going to echo quite a few people here, I swim fasted, but I can't weight lift fasted. I go lightheaded.
I guess it's A.) down to preference and B.) Ok for cardio, not so much for strength-training.Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.
The bolded isn't so true. Anyone doing Keto or LCHF will tell you it takes about 2 weeks for your body to become fat-adapted. Meaning your body burns fat for fuel. In the morning you are still using carb reserves and/or protein.
I knew a smart *kitten* will pop up.
glycogen, a type of carbohydrate that our bodies store, “runs out” overnight. When you wake up and hit the gym first thing in the morning, because your body is low on carbs, the idea is that the body will turn to fats next to gain energy.
You don't have to believe what I say, you just religiously hold tight with your opinion.
I'd like to see some evidence for this glucose depletion while sleeping.2 -
Sometimes I exercise fasted because I can't be fussed to eat early (no appetite in the morning), other times I exercise fed because I do my workout a little bit later. No difference either way, at least to me, and I don't believe there is any significant difference beyond minmaxing a minuscule amount of fat to achieve that last 1% of body fat drop for competition, which isn't relevant in my case.
For what it's worth, I've read some research that showed no difference for people with enough body fat, and a modest difference for very lean individuals.0 -
I'm going to echo quite a few people here, I swim fasted, but I can't weight lift fasted. I go lightheaded.
I guess it's A.) down to preference and B.) Ok for cardio, not so much for strength-training.Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.
The bolded isn't so true. Anyone doing Keto or LCHF will tell you it takes about 2 weeks for your body to become fat-adapted. Meaning your body burns fat for fuel. In the morning you are still using carb reserves and/or protein.
I knew a smart *kitten* will pop up.
glycogen, a type of carbohydrate that our bodies store, “runs out” overnight. When you wake up and hit the gym first thing in the morning, because your body is low on carbs, the idea is that the body will turn to fats next to gain energy.
You don't have to believe what I say, you just religiously hold tight with your opinion.
Wasn't really a smart *kitten* reply, I was just sharing information. If you want to take it as a personal slight, that's up to you. I was simply saying that just because you haven't eaten in 12 hours doesn't mean you have run out of carbs (or glycogen). The stores are still full, it takes longer than that length of time to become depleted.1 -
stevencloser wrote: »I'm going to echo quite a few people here, I swim fasted, but I can't weight lift fasted. I go lightheaded.
I guess it's A.) down to preference and B.) Ok for cardio, not so much for strength-training.Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.
The bolded isn't so true. Anyone doing Keto or LCHF will tell you it takes about 2 weeks for your body to become fat-adapted. Meaning your body burns fat for fuel. In the morning you are still using carb reserves and/or protein.
This also isn't quite true. Your body always uses some amount of fat for energy unless you're doing maximum effort. It's called substrate utilization, the lower the intensity of whatever you're doing, the higher the percentage of fat energy used. In the big picture, it doesn't matter anyway whether you're using more fat or carbs, if you're using carbs your body will fill up its glycogen when you're eating carbs again instead of using them for fuel and you lose the fat then and there.
Exactly. My point was that you don't become a fat(only) burning machine literally over night.0 -
I always workout while fasted. It takes a little while to get used to, but I like it better. The only time my lifts are weak is when I'm fasted and have been on a deficit for a while.1
-
every person it different. i run in the mornings, without eating anything prior, and just taking a small sip of water. i can run for 15kms and it doesn't affect me at all.Haven't tried a longer distance to see if it would affect me. You can try both ways (eating or not eating prior) and decide what you like best. Concerning weight loss, it makes zero difference.1
-
I'm going to echo quite a few people here, I swim fasted, but I can't weight lift fasted. I go lightheaded.
I guess it's A.) down to preference and B.) Ok for cardio, not so much for strength-training.Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.
The bolded isn't so true. Anyone doing Keto or LCHF will tell you it takes about 2 weeks for your body to become fat-adapted. Meaning your body burns fat for fuel. In the morning you are still using carb reserves and/or protein.
I knew a smart *kitten* will pop up.
glycogen, a type of carbohydrate that our bodies store, “runs out” overnight. When you wake up and hit the gym first thing in the morning, because your body is low on carbs, the idea is that the body will turn to fats next to gain energy.
You don't have to believe what I say, you just religiously hold tight with your opinion.
that's so not true. your glycogen doesn't run out overnight. you use it when you work out. if you don't work out, it will stay there until it is needed. it can run out while you're working out. for example, a runner doing a 20km run, might run out of glycogen, and unless he/she eats during their run, their body will start using their fat stores (which by the way is not as effective an energy source ).It is actually recommended to eat more carbs the day before your run, to make sure your glycogen stores are full.1 -
jennypapage wrote: »I'm going to echo quite a few people here, I swim fasted, but I can't weight lift fasted. I go lightheaded.
I guess it's A.) down to preference and B.) Ok for cardio, not so much for strength-training.Its good. I did it last year and will do it again soon. Let's say, you ate on the previous day around 8pm. By the morning your stomach will be empty. When you train, your body has no food(carbs) for energy. So it uses your fat source for energy. Rather the norm it uses carbs, so on an so forth for energy.
The bolded isn't so true. Anyone doing Keto or LCHF will tell you it takes about 2 weeks for your body to become fat-adapted. Meaning your body burns fat for fuel. In the morning you are still using carb reserves and/or protein.
I knew a smart *kitten* will pop up.
glycogen, a type of carbohydrate that our bodies store, “runs out” overnight. When you wake up and hit the gym first thing in the morning, because your body is low on carbs, the idea is that the body will turn to fats next to gain energy.
You don't have to believe what I say, you just religiously hold tight with your opinion.
that's so not true. your glycogen doesn't run out overnight. you use it when you work out. if you don't work out, it will stay there until it is needed. it can run out while you're working out. for example, a runner doing a 20km run, might run out of glycogen, and unless he/she eats during their run, their body will start using their fat stores (which by the way is not as effective an energy source ).It is actually recommended to eat more carbs the day before your run, to make sure your glycogen stores are full.
Some gets used overnight to feed your brain. Probably not enough to run out though if it was reasonably filled and considering overnight is when you use the least percentage of glucose for fuel because you're at rest.0 -
I have run in the morning after not eating for 12 hours, and in the afternoon four hours after lunch and at various states in between. For training runs or shorter runs (8 miles and less) it has not seemed to matter that much which state I run in. Lifting I have primarily done about 4 hours after lunch, which is typically a small meal for me (300-400 kcal).
Races I eat something two to three hours before and for race distances of over 8 miles (like 15 km or half marathon distances) I will usually do a gel pack every 35 or so minutes but that is because in a race I tend to have a problem holding back the intensity to the level I trained for.1 -
It's an individual thing. I can't work out fasted or I get sick and light-headed and/or just have no energy whatsoever. Try it and see what works best for you.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions