Morning Cardio: Can Fasted Cardio Burn Fat?
Have you ever tried getting up first thing in the morning and exercising
? 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. Even other people say that exercise on empty stomach actually causes a decrease in muscle mass. The only way to decide who's right is to inform yourself.
The basic reason people give for doing morning cardio is that you will eliminate more fat more quickly because your body is working with lowered glycogen or carb levels. 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. Of course, this theory doesn't just apply to morning cardio. If you do cardio exercises or weight lifting after fasting (going between 3 and 4 hours between meals) you will receive the same fat elimination advantages. 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. There are still several questions regarding the value of fasted cardio that must be addressed. Certain people think that no matter if you are burning fat or glycogen, you will lose weight because you are burning 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. Motivation is important in living a healthy lifestyle. I avoided morning cardio for months after my son was born because I needed the extra sleep time. 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. enough time for an effective warm-up and cardio exercise.
A couple of myths concerning fasted workouts must be addressed. The first is that you can't exercise intensity in a fasted state. Intensity is important in a workout because higher intensity leads to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC, as well as a greater calorie burn. This is the principle behind high intensity interval training (HIIT). In my own experience, I run as quickly in a fasted state as I do after I eat in the evening. and rested to work hard in the morning. 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. In essence, your body's survival mechanism kicks it up a notch to provide an extra oomph of energy.
The other myth that needs to be addressed is that you might lose muscle mass. 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. However, there's no reason for this type of calorie injection prior to working out. A healthy diet, coupled with a challenging weightlifting workout in which you regularly add weight is enough to prevent muscle loss. If you start to plateau and find that you lift less and less, then muscle loss might be a concern. 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.
I believe that research has yet to establish the validity of working out in a fasted state or fasted cardio, but there is no harm in giving exercise on empty stomach a shot. If it does work, you'll be burning more fat in no time; and if it doesn't, you'll still burn the same amount of calories with perhaps a little less sleep. Your exercises will not be any less intense, and you will not decrease your muscle mass. If nothing else, morning cardio on empty stomach is a great way to start the day. So push back those covers, hop out of bed, and meet the day head-on. You just might burn a few extra calories while you're at it.
Morning Cardio: Can Fasted Cardio Burn Fat?
By: David Martens
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