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Morning exercise before eating?

librarian11111

Is it true that doing aerobic or weightlifting first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is good for fat loss? I read a Wall Street Journal New Year's Resolution op-ed piece that (I thought) said just that--but I can't find it to verify. Hoping one of you all know? Thanks!

Replies

MeanderingMammal

librarian11111 wrote: »

Is it true that doing aerobic or weightlifting first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is good for fat loss?

No. There is no meaningful physiological benefit, but some people find it more comfortable to do so.

librarian11111

Thanks Meandering.

AnvilHead

If you're interested in reading some of the actual science behind it: https://weightology.net/fasted-cardio-an-undeserved-good-reputation/

morsheadp

There wss a trial on bbc where they used fasted exercise and the results showed it depended on your gender as much as anything. I have been advised to use fasted LISS as part of an overall programme.

Azdak

morsheadp wrote: »

There wss a trial on bbc where they used fasted exercise and the results showed it depended on your gender as much as anything. I have been advised to use fasted LISS as part of an overall programme.

Whoever is advising you is not current with the research. The amount of fat burned as a fuel during exercise: A) is a trivial amount and

has no significant effect on fat loss.

Improving your ability to burn fat during exercise (or at rest) has no significant effect on fat loss, independent of a calorie deficit. LISS has value as part of a training program. It has no value for fat loss independent of it's contribution to creating or maintaining a calorie deficit.

speedingticket

Makes no difference.

I've started running fasted regularly to save my dignity as I get such a bad stomach (and so I can wake up later) but theres not much cause to otherwise.

Chieflrg

Only if it's the means of you adhering to a caloric deficit.

I wouldn't advice it otherwise.

pamfgil

There was some health benefits for some people, but in terms of weight loss, minimal value

sijomial

Remember that ultimately all the fuel you use has come from food ingested previously.
Whether that was recently eaten and still being digested or eaten in the distant past and stored for future use is an irrelevance.

Fasted or fed is also pretty irrelevant to the mix of fuel substrates used, carbs and fat in a variable ratio according mostly to your exercise type and intensity. Glycogen stores are far more abundant than some people seem to imagine and your body regulates and preserves it very effectively. Using it on demand (exercise), preserving it when resting and topping it up when carbs are ingested.

What fasted exercise will do is make you better at fasted exercise. If that is an advantage in terms of fitting your exercise into your daily routine or if a person performs better / feels better exercising with an empty stomach then they are bigger benefits than anything else.

jezebel74

I run first thing on an empty stomach. If I eat first I run slower and don't push myself, I feel bloated and sluggish therefore I don't achieve the goals and in that sense don't benefit as much.

Strongfitmama100412

Well my workouts will suffer. I need to eat a few hours before a workout. So dinner at 6pm i dont eat breakfast until 7am. Workouts are 9-930. So i need that fuel of protein, carbs abd healthy fat. Either a smoothie with protein powder and berries or greek yogurt with protein powder and berries.

BigRed2525

I generally exercise on an empty stomach because I find it more comfortable to do so. Exercise tends to get my digestive system going, so best not to have too much in my belly. I’m also generally not hungry until I’ve been up for a couple of hours. Occasionally, I’ll wake up ravenous and will eat half a banana or whatever.

MegaMooseEsq

Chieflrg wrote: »

Only if it's the means of you adhering to a caloric deficit.

I wouldn't advice it otherwise.

I think there are other benefits, too. I work out first thing in the AM and find that it fits my schedule better and keeps me motivated to workout first, then eat. For scheduling purposes, I'd rather get the workout in and then rush breakfast if necessary. And for motivation, I find getting that jolt of energy first thing feels great rather than sitting around and eating while I'm still stiff and sleepy. I've never felt any physical detriment from it, although I suppose it might be different if I was going to work out longer than an hour or go crazy hard or something.

janejellyroll

Chieflrg wrote: »

Only if it's the means of you adhering to a caloric deficit.

I wouldn't advice it otherwise.

I'm not currently in a deficit and I still exercise before eating because I find it uncomfortable to run after eating. It's much more comfortable for me to do my run and then eat breakfast.

DanerTee

I run first thing in the AM and only have a half glass of water. If I eat first I feel like I'm going to puke. I also swear I run harder (likely because I don't feel like I'm going to puke lol)

Chieflrg

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

Chieflrg wrote: »

Only if it's the means of you adhering to a caloric deficit.

I wouldn't advice it otherwise.

I think there are other benefits, too. I work out first thing in the AM and find that it fits my schedule better and keeps me motivated to workout first, then eat. For scheduling purposes, I'd rather get the workout in and then rush breakfast if necessary. And for motivation, I find getting that jolt of energy first thing feels great rather than sitting around and eating while I'm still stiff and sleepy. I've never felt any physical detriment from it, although I suppose it might be different if I was going to work out longer than an hour or go crazy hard or something.

So pretty much what I stated, it helps your adhere to a diet.

Chieflrg

janejellyroll wrote: »

Chieflrg wrote: »

Only if it's the means of you adhering to a caloric deficit.

I wouldn't advice it otherwise.

I'm not currently in a deficit and I still exercise before eating because I find it uncomfortable to run after eating. It's much more comfortable for me to do my run and then eat breakfast.

Yeah, I get that, I meant your diet (be it deficit/surplus). Just had a brain fart...my point is more it doesn't actually do anything substantial as far as burning fat like it is spewed to.

janejellyroll

Chieflrg wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

Chieflrg wrote: »

Only if it's the means of you adhering to a caloric deficit.

I wouldn't advice it otherwise.

I'm not currently in a deficit and I still exercise before eating because I find it uncomfortable to run after eating. It's much more comfortable for me to do my run and then eat breakfast.

Yeah, I get that, I meant your diet (be it deficit/surplus). Just had a brain fart...my point is more it doesn't actually do anything substantial as far as burning fat like it is spewed to.

Oh, I get what you're saying. I completely agree. People should choose the method that works best for them and is most comfortable.

rheddmobile

Taking my blood glucose levels before and after exercise and playing around with my meal timing, I've found that as a diabetic, substantial cardio (thirty minutes or more) fasted raises my blood glucose levels (due probably to cortisol production which blocks the action of insulin) while eating about 20g of quicker-acting carbs such as an orange beforehand seems to make me most comfortable and result in lower blood glucose levels overall.

However, a small amount (ten minutes) of bodyweight strength exercises before eating breakfast seems to help with lowering my levels after breakfast.

I think it's probably very individual, depending on your conditioning, as well as if you are healthy or insulin resistant. Since most people don't have blood glucose meters, rely on how your body feels. If you feel uncomfortable from eating before working out, don't. If you feel stressed or shaky working out fasted, eat a few carbs first.

LyssaRonnell

I don't know if it's good for far loss, but I usually exercise first thing in the morning, but eat something small like a little cutie orange to supply my body with something until I eat.

Natasha233

I do the fasted workout first thing in the morning and I am fine. If I know I am lifting heavy or running more than 5 K, I will eat a bit more the night before. I like it a lot - but not sure if I am seeing results. I feel better and it creates a small caloric deficit.

Azdak

AllanMisner wrote: »

Azdak wrote: »

AllanMisner wrote: »

The theory goes...

SNIP

If you “have yet to do see a study that proves it makes a difference”—and you won’t—how can you say that “it works”? Works for what?

And why go into detail about a “theory” that you know is wrong?

I've seen it work for me. I've seen it work for dozens of my clients. Those are my observations. I guess I should have said, I haven't seen any studies that prove or disprove this theory. Self-experimentation is best way to know what does and does not work for you.

Allan Misner
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Host of the 40+ Fitness Podcast

Again, what do you mean by “it works”? Are you saying it “works” for enhanced fat loss? Because it doesn’t.

When you say “it works for dozens of my clients”, are you comparing them with control groups? The fact that people perform “fasted cardio” and also lose weight is zero evidence of its efficacy. It’s coincidental, not causal.

To be clear, there is nothing really wrong with fasted cardio. As seen in these comments, many people find it more comfortable and convenient to exercise before eating. For the most part, even in a so-called “fasted” state, we have plenty of fuel available for the average workout. But that has nothing to do with enhancing fat loss.

If you are looking for references, you can start here:

https://weightology.net/fasted-cardio-an-undeserved-good-reputation/

Here is another one:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-myth-of-cardio-before-breakfast-debunked.html

And here is one that shows that the acute response during a workout has little effect on overall fat oxidation:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19305201

And I disagree that “self-experimentation” should be the basis of someone’s diet and workout program. If all they need to do is “try it and see what works”, what do they need us for? As fitness professionals, shouldn’t we be aiming a little higher?

jeremywm1977

How funny, I was just reading an article today on this very topic.
In the article, they detail a study of those doing fasted and non-fasted workouts, and found no substantial difference between each groups results.

Sorry if I don't remember where I read this. I guess you'll just have to trust me that I read this article and am summing it up accurately.

MegaMooseEsq

Chieflrg wrote: »

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

Chieflrg wrote: »

Only if it's the means of you adhering to a caloric deficit.

I wouldn't advice it otherwise.

I think there are other benefits, too. I work out first thing in the AM and find that it fits my schedule better and keeps me motivated to workout first, then eat. For scheduling purposes, I'd rather get the workout in and then rush breakfast if necessary. And for motivation, I find getting that jolt of energy first thing feels great rather than sitting around and eating while I'm still stiff and sleepy. I've never felt any physical detriment from it, although I suppose it might be different if I was going to work out longer than an hour or go crazy hard or something.

So pretty much what I stated, it helps your adhere to a diet.

I don't work out to lose weight, but I see from your post below that you were talking about the benefits for weight loss specifically, so I see where the disconnect is.

LivingtheLeanDream

No. Just do what's best for you. Some people have a better workout if they've eaten something and others don't.

Okiludy

The “The Influence of the Time of Day on Core Temperature and Lower Body Power Output in Elite Rugby Union Sevens Players” study by West, Daniel J an company showed evidence that time of day has a small influence on performance. There was no part in it that worked with fat loss or calories burned.

They noticed high end trained athletes performance was better in late afternoon than morning. This seemed to match up with the rise in core body temp.

Just an interesting article along the lines of time of day in training. I still will lift in the morning fasted as it “works” for me

dbhuff369

There was a lot of hype about fasted training awhile ago, and there are some supplements that apparently contribute to fat burning (caffeine, yohimbine, HMB) but the difference is trivial, and there is a significant liklihood that your workout will be less vigorous if you do. Also, in the fasted state without supplements you will just as likely burn muscle for fuel! Especially for weight training, the EPOC and strength/size gains are negatively impacted and so you may end up worse off than you intended. In general, most advice I've seen says get some carbs around your workout (before/during/after) then maintain caloric deficit and keep your protein intake up. Of course, if comfort is an issue, adjust accordingly.

BrianSharpe

Fat loss comes down to energy balance (ie consuming fewer calories than you expend) and I have yet to see any solid evidence that exercising fasted contributes to fat loss. As Azdak mentioned there's little to no correlation between fuel source (glycogen or fat) and long term fat loss.

It really comes down to a matter of personal preference. I don't like working out with food in my stomach as it makes me feel uncomfortable, others don't experience this discomfort. If you're eating a reasonably balanced diet you should have enough stored glycogen to get you through 60 to 90 minutes of moderate exercise. Do what feels best for you.

fuzzylop72

jeremywm1977 wrote: »

How funny, I was just reading an article today on this very topic.
In the article, they detail a study of those doing fasted and non-fasted workouts, and found no substantial difference between each groups results.

Sorry if I don't remember where I read this. I guess you'll just have to trust me that I read this article and am summing it up accurately.

Possibly https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242477/