Morning Cardio: After eating or on an empty stomach?

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  • Riverofbeauty
    Riverofbeauty Posts: 205 Member
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    My worst runs are the ones in the morning before eating. I run best after a full day of eating/drinking water but before dinner.
  • afigueroa_pr
    afigueroa_pr Posts: 344
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    I always wake up at 5:30 am, have a bowl of cereal with 1% milk, go to the gym and start working out around 6:30 am. So usually after an hour of eating breakfast.
  • Bluestar083
    Bluestar083 Posts: 146
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    I personally can't workout on an empty stomach. I end up feeling light headed and my workouts aren't any good.
    Ditto.
  • PlanetVelma
    PlanetVelma Posts: 1,231 Member
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    I get up @ 4:15am every morning - we converted our office area into a home gym. I do have something small before my morning workout - (choc milk, half of a banana plus my AM coffee). I typically have my substantial breakfast once I get to work.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
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    If I'm doing intense exercise, I get dizzy and feel like I'm going to pass out if I haven't eaten.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,704 Member
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    Does ephedrine plus caffeine count as empty or not empty?
    Love that stack!
  • JakkiCarter
    JakkiCarter Posts: 31
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    Definitely on an empty stomach. When exercising, your body first tries to burn off what you've eaten that day before it starts into your fat stores. Exercising approximately 15 minutes or so after you wake up in the morning and before you eat breakfast is the most effective time of day that you can lose fat. Try drinking a whole glass of water before exercising too to get your metabolism going.
  • juliesummers
    juliesummers Posts: 738 Member
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    Dr. Oz recommends working out first thing in the morning before you eat anything so that your body goes directly to your fat stored for energy, rather than having to burn off the glucose first.
    Personally, it helps me to have a few glasses of water and few bites of something (maybe a part of an apple or a bit of protein -- not more than 50cals) about half an hour before I head to the gym so that I have an initial boost to get me started on my work out.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
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    I can't do high impact cardio due to disabilities but I do my physio exercise routine very early a couple of times a week. I first discovered after having a night when I couldn't sleep and got up at 5am to do some wii fit that I sweated more and got a better result (higher calorie burn) on it.

    Then read something about us waking up naturally in fat burning mode and it taking 30 mins to reach that stage later in the day. Also cos you are using fat stores for energy rather than burning off what you just eaten according to the report.

    I seem to sweat most if I get started between 5-6am than if I start later (7am onwards or after walking my dog). I haven't lost much weight though (its up and down still) I have lost inches off my waist and around tummy and dropped down one size (nearly 2... just need to lose a few more inches)!
  • keiraev
    keiraev Posts: 695 Member
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    I never ever workout in the morning before work as it would involve me having to get up so early (not a morning person) but I am tempted to start trying it once a week to try and shake things up a bit! It would also be nice to get home from work in the evening knowing I had already done my exercise for the day.
  • jagoochie
    jagoochie Posts: 218 Member
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    as i try and fit in a 35 min cardio firstthing at 6am before work i get up from bed and work out straight away - i havnt time to have breakfast before as it would make me feel sick boucning around on a stomach full of food. so i do my am cardio on an empty stomach but it is only 35 mins worth
  • DebbieMullin
    DebbieMullin Posts: 4 Member
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    You have been fasting all night and should eat within 30 minutes of waking.
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
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    "For the lean trying to get very lean (15% body fat or less for men, 22% or less for women), various strategies, including fasted cardio are probably going to be required to offset the mobization and blood flow defects. That’s why that specific group found decades ago that fasted morning cardio worked best. And why I wrote The Stubborn Fat Solution since it deals with how to overcome all of the problems.

    But for folks who aren’t that lean yet, the folks in the middle range of body fat levels, it really doesn’t matter. The best time to do cardio will be whenever it will most consistently get done. If that’s first thing in the morning, fantastic. If not, also fantastic. It’s more important in this situation that it gets done than when it gets done."

    www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/fasted-cardio-and-fat-loss-qa.html

    Well said!!
  • aoede
    aoede Posts: 30 Member
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    It doesn't matter.

    I am interested in those studies you mentioned, because if you google this the whole first page of results is about how people just don't burn muscle (this is a myth).

    When your blood sugar gets too low, your body takes the energy it needs from fat. It will only take energy from the glycerin cells in muscle (not the muscle tissue itself) after it takes it from the fat and there is none left! So, if you have eaten, your energy will come from the food you just ate, as it is in your bloodstream and not absorbed yet. If you haven't eaten, the energy will come from fat. In both cases when you do eat, the calories stored as fat.

    So basically, it is the same either way in terms of net amount eaten/burned. Just do what feels better for you (you might get more tired on an empty stomach, but I find I get cramps if I do cardio within an hour and a half of eating).
  • sld_6001
    sld_6001 Posts: 27 Member
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    i usually work out in the evenings before supper/dinner but when i do work out in the morning i always grab a little something to eat before i head to the gym. so about 30mins prior to working out, i have about 100-150 calorie snack.

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