Burn More Fat: Find Out How With Fasted Morning Cardio
Many of us have tried -and failed- at rising with the sun to exercise. Let’s face it; when faced with a comfortable bed versus an exhausting cardio workout to start off our day, more often than not sleep wills out. I am going to talk about the advantages of doing cardio on an empty stomach in the morning. To summarize, certain research indicates that fasted cardio and sometimes fasted exercises trigger additional elimination of fat. Others believe that exercise intensity is reduced in a fasted state and therefore fasted workouts aren’t as effective. Some opponents even claim exercise on empty stomach could negatively impact your workout and lead to muscle loss. Who’s right?
The main argument for performing morning cardio is that your body has reduced glycogen (carb) levels meaning that you will burn fat faster. This reduced level of glycogen needed to burn fat is also the reason trainers demand 20 minutes of cardio to warm-up before a workout. By eating prior to working out, your body will be saturated with glycogen, which means you will have to work out for a longer period of time before you can burn any fat. This science holds whether you are exercising first thing in the morning or at the end of the day. If you’d rather sleep that extra hour in the morning, you can still benefit from fasted cardio later in the day so long as you don’t eat for three or four hours prior. In theory, mornings work best because your body has had all night to deplete glycogen.
As in all other situations, I do not think any rule applies 100% of the time. Many people will have some basic queries when it comes to whether or not fasted cardio works. For instance, isn’t it just as effective tot burn glycogen as fat? Are they not still calories? The basic formula for dropping weight is to use more calories than you consume. So, fasted cardio is not going to give you better results than any other exercise. And how effective can your body be at burning glycogen when They wonder if the body is able to use glycogen when it is asleep and not in motion.
Additionally, some people just naturally struggle to exercise first thing in the morning. This can be a huge problem when motivating someone to do the workout. Extenuating circumstances, like the birth of a child for example, can make the need for sleep more important to your health. Even without kids, some people simply cannot follow a morning workout. My muscles feel too tight, and I don’t have adequate time for a warm-up. Cardio is easier because my legs are warmed up from my morning walk around the block with my dog.
There are two misconceptions about fasted workouts that need to be discussed. The first is that you can’t exercise intensity in a fasted state. The reason this is important is that more intense exercise results in EPOC and a significant calorie after burn effect. This is the science that drives high intensity interval training, or HIIT training. That being said, from a personal standpoint, I sprint just as fast in the morning as I do at night. I do not alter how hard I work, even when I am on an intermittent fast. Some people even think that working out in a fasted state actually results in a more intense exercise because the body goes into emergency mode. Basically, the body shifts into a higher gear to give you the additional energy you need to complete the exercise.
The other myth that needs to be addressed is that you might lose muscle mass. This is a total falsehood as far as I’m concerned. A lot of people consume extra carbs and protein to give their bodies the necessary elements to develop muscles. But, these people generally eat all the time, so they are never in a position to workout without having eaten. But it is not necessary to eat a big meal before every workout. If you eat properly throughout the day and keep lifting progressively heavier weight, your muscle mass will not decrease. Muscle loss should only be a concern if you find yourself unable to lift as much as you could previously, and your weight capabilities continue to fall. That is more likely due to losing too much weight too fast rather than performing morning cardio or fasted workouts though.
While I think studies are mixed regarding fasted cardio and fasted workouts, there’s no downside to at least trying to exercise on empty stomach. At best, you’ll increase fat burning. At worst, you’ll continue to burn calories that you would have burned by exercising at a different time of day. Your exercises will not be any less intense, and you will not decrease your muscle mass. I’ve only just recently begun to perform morning cardio on empty stomach again. It’s definitely a great way to start the day.
