Fasted cardio

I don't think it matters. If you have enough energy to do your workouts then go for it. If not then eat first.

It's a personal choice. Mostly I work out in a fasted state - BUT if I decide to go on a longer run (:60 or more) I find my performance is much better if I have a banana or something small. YMMV.

"I've been doing 3 days of 30 mins spin followed by couch to 5k, and 2 days swimming 30-45 minutes."
That duration can be fine but will also be heavily influenced by if you are eating at a deficit and how big that deficit is. Quite a difference between someone going into a fasted exercise session when generally fully fuelled or alternatively already somewhat depleted.

"My question is, would I be better off eating before going to the gym in the morning?"
Maybe yes, maybe no, maybe no difference.
It's personal not universal so maybe carry out an experiment.

"I've seen some trainers on Instagram etc talking about how fasted cardio can be beneficial"
Can is a lovely weasel word, like may, or might.....
While true what benefits precisely? What is the significance, 1% or 10%? For who?
Scrutinise the why and who for. For example (some) fasted cardio can be beneficial for endurance athletes - which is irrelevant if that's not you.
Be very wary if they talk about weight loss benefits, how relevant are these benefits to someone who might be calorie counting?

"but others say you should eat first."
In reality some people should eat something first (esp. carbs) as it helps their exercise performance, some people workout better fasted, some people (like me) can do either.

In practice, individual factors loom larger than any theoretical advantages or disadvantages, IMO.

Some people have digestive distress if they eat too close to workout time. They may be better off fasted.

Some other people experience crud-ola energy and underperform if they don't eat before exercise. They may be better off eating before workouts. (I'm one of the latter. I can handle about 20 minutes at moderate to high intensity if fasted, longer if low intensity. Anything more, and I feel miserable, underperform. So I eat before I work out. YMMV.)

There are other potential varied experiences too, not just nausea or energy issues of various types, but potentially other things (appetite, post exercise fatigue, perceived muscle soreness . . . ). Experiment, find what works best for you. It could even vary depending on what exercise you're doing, what intensity, what duration, etc.

No clue what (if any) effect fasted cardio would have on weight loss. If any - it's surely not an efficient way to increase weight loss.

Eat before your workout if you need to. Don't eat before your workout if you don't need to or it doesn't fit into your schedule or you get indigestion.

Effectively: do what works for you and what is likely to encourage you to be more consistent with both eating an appropriate amount of calories as well as doing your activity.

Personally - I workout and run fasted. I will burp a lot if I have food in my tummy so I don't do it. For others, running after a meal may cause other digestive issues (and there's only one bathroom on my route and it's 4 miles in...from either directions so that's a no go for me LOL). I don't find that I struggle with energy to get through my gym workouts on an empty stomach and on longer runs I have gel or something if needed. If you find that eating something small/easy to digest helps before a workout...then do that. If you can eat a whole meal - good for you.

If I don't wait at least an hour after eating to work out, I'm likely to puke. I work out at 6 AM, so fasted it is. No idea if it actually affects anything beyond whether or not I feel sick though.

Do what works for you.

I tend to have a fair bit of strength training in whatever workout I'm doing, so if I'm regularly doing a fasted workout, having a BCAA in my water seems to help me perform at the level I would expect.

I'm not much of a breakfast person either (although a mid morning snack is frequently desired), and for the past year my workouts have been after work, and in the mornings I have a couple hours of barn chores - physical work, but coffee + creamer is plenty to get me through that.

Dy4u wrote: »

I believe when trying to get into the fat burning HR zone being in a fasted state allows you to reach that quicker allowing for more time in the fat burning zone. If doing heavy cardio sessions such as boxing or swimming I personally need to eat as it gives me more energy for the harder sessions.

Nope to the bolded.
Getting to the "fat burning zone" quickly or not is a function of exercise intensity and not if you have just eaten or not. Remember it's not glycogen first and fat second it's both fuels being used at the same time 99.9% of the time.

The proportion of fat to glycogen being used during is also predominantly a function of intensity, and as average man has c. 2000 cals of glycogen onboard so skipping breakfast is pretty irrelevant outside of feeling better or worse until you get to endurance lengths of exercise.

Some are about pre and post workout mini meals. Pre = protein and fats. Post = Protein and carbs. It becomes so complicated that you don't know whether to scratch your watch or wind your bu##. I remember a time when none of this mattered. And somehow, people were in peak condition. They weren't taking any supplements or hormones, either. Good food and hard work fixes everything. Taking hormones can make you meaner than a junkyard dog...even if they're a Rx from your doctor.