Lucky Hit 24

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’d like to discuss the potential benefits of performing morning cardio on empty stomach. Otherwise known as fasted cardio, recent studies have shown that exercise on empty stomach burns fat quicker. Some people think, though, that when workouts are performed without eating, the intensity level goes down and the exercise does not work as well at burning fat. Still others argue that things like exercise on empty stomach result in muscle loss. So, what is the truth?

Advocates of morning cardio claim that your body will burn fat faster in the morning due to reduced levels of glycogen, more commonly known as carbs. You might have heard fitness experts state that you have to workout for 20 minutes prior to burning any fat during a cardio exercise. The reason for this is the same. If you go to work out on a full stomach, on the other hand, glycogen levels will be full, and before your body can begin burning fat, it must burn up those stores. This idea works for all workouts, not just morning cardio. Performing either cardio or weight training in a fasted state, say 3-4 hours without eating, can offer similar fat burning benefits. In principle, working out in the morning will give you the greatest benefits because your body will have used all its glycogen over night.

As usual, I don’t believe in absolutes when it comes to any potentially biased studies. Many people will have some basic queries when it comes to whether or not fasted cardio works. Some people theorize that whether you burn glycogen or burn fat, you’re still burning calories. And as a rule, weight loss simply demands that you burn more calories than you ingest. Therefore fasted workouts shouldn’t provide any additional benefit beyond regular workouts. And how effective can your body be at burning glycogen when Can your body really deplete glycogen overnight when it is completely at rest?

Another legitimate question is whether or not you really are a morning person. This can be a huge problem when motivating someone to do the workout. Right after the birth of my child, I did not do morning cardio for a long time because my body wanted more sleep. Even without kids, some people simply cannot follow a morning workout. Muscles are tighter in the morning, and for many people there simply isn’t enough time for an effective warm-up and cardio exercise.

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. HIIT training or high intensity interval training addresses this important issue. In my own experience, I run as quickly in a fasted state as I do after I eat in the evening. There is no change in intensity, even on intermittent fasting days. There’s even a theory that fasted workouts can be more intense due to the fight or flight reaction. Basically, the body shifts into a higher gear to give you the additional energy you need to complete the exercise.

Another myth of morning cardio is the risk of muscle loss. I completely disagree with this as well. Bodybuilders, for example, ingest high quantities of carbs and protein to ensure that their bodies have the nutrients they need to build muscle. Of course, many bodybuilders eat constantly so it’s inevitable that they won’t be exercising in a fasted state. But, you do not have to eat the way these bodybuilders do before exercising. 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. If you’ve recently lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time, this is more likely to be the cause of muscle loss than fasted workouts or morning cardio.

While the results of current studies on exercise on empty stomach remain inconclusive, there’s no reason why you should not give fasted cardio a try. If it does work, you’ll be burning more fat in no time; Even if it doesn’t speed up, you will still burn the same number of calories you would have if you worked out at another time. Your exercises will not be any less intense, and you will not decrease your muscle mass. I just started doing cardio on empty stomach like I used to do. It’s definitely a great way to start the day.

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