Exercising while fasted??

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Rajions
Rajions Posts: 128 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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?
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  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    edited April 2017
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    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.
  • Rajions
    Rajions Posts: 128 Member
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    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.
  • ActivatedAlm0nds
    ActivatedAlm0nds Posts: 169 Member
    edited April 2017
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    I'm fine running or doing rowing intervals in a fasted state. It largely depends on your personal medical history and preferences.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Rajions wrote: »
    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!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Rajions wrote: »
    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.
  • antdelsa
    antdelsa Posts: 174 Member
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    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 tbh
  • geebright
    geebright Posts: 6 Member
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    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. :)
  • MaddMaestro
    MaddMaestro Posts: 405 Member
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    I have great difficultly with weight training if I haven't eaten. I can't imagine trying to do it during a fast.
  • antdelsa
    antdelsa Posts: 174 Member
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    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.
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
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    I think it's highly personal and differs from individual to individual.
  • kimothy38
    kimothy38 Posts: 840 Member
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    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.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    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.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    Excellent read from a reliable, educated source: http://weightology.net/fat-loss/fasted-cardio-an-undeserved-good-reputation.html/
  • pamfgil
    pamfgil Posts: 449 Member
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    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 lifting
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
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    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.
  • ana_varn
    ana_varn Posts: 98 Member
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    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.
  • kaizaku
    kaizaku Posts: 1,039 Member
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    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.
  • Lois_1989
    Lois_1989 Posts: 6,409 Member
    edited April 2017
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    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.
    kaizaku wrote: »
    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.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    Lois_1989 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.
    kaizaku wrote: »
    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.
  • kaizaku
    kaizaku Posts: 1,039 Member
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    Lois_1989 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.
    kaizaku wrote: »
    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.

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