Moderate+ cardio on a fast day?

Kiyomoo · February 2023

I've never fasted before, but decided to give it a go today after learning more about it. I'm trying to do a 24-hour fast where I don't eat anything, and I only drink water and tea.

The issue is, I also want to work out at the gym today. I usually walk 2 miles on the treadmill, and my heart rate is 155+ most of the time. I will push it into the 170-185 range on and off for a minute.
I also will use the stair climb machine for 10 minutes and do a few sets on the chest press.

I am worried about what would be the best for my body. Does my body "need" some protein before/after the workout in order to function its best? (I don't mean for gains, as I'm more focused on fat loss than muscle gain, though both would be great)

Retroguy2000 · February 2023

Fat loss potentially includes muscle loss, especially with low protein.

In the absence of carbs and depleted stored glycogen, your body will be burning some muscle.

neanderthin · February 2023

One 24 hour fast won't really matter and just go workout.

tomcustombuilder · February 2023

It’s not a great idea. It’s a good way to lose muscle and your energy to train will also be compromised. When you have less daily energy your NEAT ends up going down. They’re just is no reason to do 24 hour fast. I’m sure there are articles out there that say there are but I have a hard time believing those.

Some people swear they feel better after a fast however I’m guessing they aren’t training.

AnnPT77 · February 2023

Kiyomoo wrote: »

I've never fasted before, but decided to give it a go today after learning more about it. I'm trying to do a 24-hour fast where I don't eat anything, and I only drink water and tea.

The issue is, I also want to work out at the gym today. I usually walk 2 miles on the treadmill, and my heart rate is 155+ most of the time. I will push it into the 170-185 range on and off for a minute.
I also will use the stair climb machine for 10 minutes and do a few sets on the chest press.

I am worried about what would be the best for my body. Does my body "need" some protein before/after the workout in order to function its best? (I don't mean for gains, as I'm more focused on fat loss than muscle gain, though both would be great)

Y'know, one time is unlikely to have truly dire health consequences, if the person is in generally good health to start. (If not in generally good health to start, that person should be talking with their doctor about whether fasting or intense workouts are a good idea. Neither of those is essential for any of weight loss, fitness, or good general health, and either can be risky for certain pre-existing health issues.

If it were me, wanting to try such a fast/workout as a healthy person, I'd try it and see what happened. I'd watch out for any sense of possible fainting, weakness, or other worrisome symptoms, and stop the workout if I observed them. Other than that, one trial isn't going to have much impact in terms of muscle loss or other dire consequences, for a healthy person.

That said, I personally wouldn't fast at all (other than while asleep), because I don't see the point, for me; and I don't like working out even slightly fasted, because (having tried working out first thing in the AM before eating), I don't find those workouts to be as good for me. Others have different experiences with fasted workouts.

cwolfman13 · February 2023

I don't think one 24 hour fast and working out is going to make a hill of beans different for anything...you're not going to just suddenly lose muscle or something...but on that same note, I don't see any benefit whatsoever to doing it. What are you hoping to get out of this. Like I said, I don't think it makes a hill of beans difference for anything. It's not going to do anything either positively or negatively.

I've done 24 hour fasts in the past, but it was for religious purposes...and for my colonoscopy. I personally find the whole experience pretty miserable.

JaysFan82 · February 2023

I was doing fasted workouts in the morning during my weight loss journey but stopped doing them as my cardio increased. It wasn't leaving me enough energy to do strength training later.

kshama2001 · February 2023

I'm not convinced of any health benefits to fasting, and especially see no point in fasting on exercise days.

Kiyomoo · February 2023

Hello everyone! Thank you for the responses. I did end up working out on that day after all, deciding to use it as a test to see how I feel about it. I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill, 1 mile on the exercise bike, and some chest presses and leg curls.

I felt fine! Taking a break from food for a day helped me with my cravings. I think I'll continue to do 24-hour fasts once every week or two now, or maybe just whenever I feel like it.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

What are you hoping to get out of this. Like I said, I don't think it makes a hill of beans difference for anything.

The main influence for my decision was this video. I'm wary about the information I receive and try not to blindly believe everything I hear - but I figured, may as well see how it goes. So long as it doesn't bring me harm, then no loss in trying it out.

neanderthin · February 2023

Kiyomoo wrote: »

Hello everyone! Thank you for the responses. I did end up working out on that day after all, deciding to use it as a test to see how I feel about it. I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill, 1 mile on the exercise bike, and some chest presses and leg curls.

I felt fine! Taking a break from food for a day helped me with my cravings. I think I'll continue to do 24-hour fasts once every week or two now, or maybe just whenever I feel like it.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

What are you hoping to get out of this. Like I said, I don't think it makes a hill of beans difference for anything.

The main influence for my decision was this video. I'm wary about the information I receive and try not to blindly believe everything I hear - but I figured, may as well see how it goes. So long as it doesn't bring me harm, then no loss in trying it out.

Nothing wrong with taking a break. Of course if a person has health issues and is on medication they should talk to their PCP before hand. I've done a few 24 hr fasts and not sure when you started, but I would start after an early dinner around 5pm and finish with a pretty big meal at dinner the next day that didn't feel out of place. Waking up and starting then is really getting into the 30 to 36hr fast territory, so just thought I'd mention this because it could make it harder than it has to be. Personally I don't eat breakfast most of the time so for all intents and purposes starting at dinner all I've missed out on is lunch the next day.

The video- Well, what can I say, DeLauer does it again. This isn't a video on fasting, loose skin or autophagy this is a video to generate an increase in watched video's for monetary gain, plain and simple. Stretch marks and loose skin are an issue and really not a lot of good solutions right now, yet DeLauer uses language to generate clicks. Language like 100lb weight lose and loose skin in conjunction with fasting, which is a popular craze right now and is being disingenuous to say the least.

Autophagy is a mechanism that the body uses to repair and regenerate on a cellular level that is innate to human physiology that happens pretty much every night while we sleep or can be enhanced or accelerated during a fast. While it's true that that does happen but make no mistake these mechanisms are very small and work on a continuum and he could have easily said, get a good nights sleep and would have basically been about as effective. It's the time honored adage that bullsh!t baffles brains. You feeling less hungry and helping with your cravings is far more important than the message he's selling. In my opinion of course. cheers.

Kiyomoo · February 2023

neanderthin wrote: »

Kiyomoo wrote: »

Hello everyone! Thank you for the responses. I did end up working out on that day after all, deciding to use it as a test to see how I feel about it. I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill, 1 mile on the exercise bike, and some chest presses and leg curls.

I felt fine! Taking a break from food for a day helped me with my cravings. I think I'll continue to do 24-hour fasts once every week or two now, or maybe just whenever I feel like it.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

What are you hoping to get out of this. Like I said, I don't think it makes a hill of beans difference for anything.

The main influence for my decision was this video. I'm wary about the information I receive and try not to blindly believe everything I hear - but I figured, may as well see how it goes. So long as it doesn't bring me harm, then no loss in trying it out.

Nothing wrong with taking a break. Of course if a person has health issues and is on medication they should talk to their PCP before hand. I've done a few 24 hr fasts and not sure when you started, but I would start after an early dinner around 5pm and finish with a pretty big meal at dinner the next day that didn't feel out of place. Waking up and starting then is really getting into the 30 to 36hr fast territory, so just thought I'd mention this because it could make it harder than it has to be. Personally I don't eat breakfast most of the time so for all intents and purposes starting at dinner all I've missed out on is lunch the next day.

The video- Well, what can I say, DeLauer does it again. This isn't a video on fasting, loose skin or autophagy this is a video to generate an increase in watched video's for monetary gain, plain and simple. Stretch marks and loose skin are an issue and really not a lot of good solutions right now, yet DeLauer uses language to generate clicks. Language like 100lb weight lose and loose skin in conjunction with fasting, which is a popular craze right now and is being disingenuous to say the least.

Autophagy is a mechanism that the body uses to repair and regenerate on a cellular level that is innate to human physiology that happens pretty much every night while we sleep or can be enhanced or accelerated during a fast. While it's true that that does happen but make no mistake these mechanisms are very small and work on a continuum and he could have easily said, get a good nights sleep and would have basically been about as effective. It's the time honored adage that bullsh!t baffles brains. You feeling less hungry and helping with your cravings is far more important than the message he's selling. In my opinion of course. cheers.

Ah, shame to hear about DeLauer. The first video I watched by him seemed well-researched, but I hated how click-baity the titles and thumbnails were. That was what made me feel a little wary. Then I watched a couple more, and he advertised products related to the video he was making, which made my wariness increase even more. I also saw a comment in a video that pointed out he mislead the findings of a research article he had quoted. I couldn't tell if he was just doing all this for money squeezing, or if he was trying to be helpful but accepted brand deals just to be able to keep things afloat.

I was hoping the channel wasn't too good to be true, seems like it is. Bleh. Thanks for letting me know!

Moderate+ cardio on a fast day?

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