Cardio On Empty Stomach?
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You sometimes hear you should do cardio on empty stomach, because it supposedly burns more fat. Why is this wrong and especially harmful for athletes?
Fasted Cardio
When you do it in fasted stated, more of the energy you use during cardio will indeed have to come from fat. But you will burn fewer calories – and therefore also less fat – in total!
This is because to perform well during cardio, you need some carbohydrates in your system, as carbohydrates allow you to put out a lot of power at once. Fat in comparison takes ages. Less performance = fewer calories burned.
Less Training Effect
And because you most likely won’t be able to perform very well, you will also receive less training effect from your cardio sessions. That is very bad for athletes who rely on putting out their best performance in competitions:
11 Comments
another eye-opening video! I was doing cardio on an empty stomach for over a month now and I really began to notice a decline in my performance during my cardio sessions! thank you so much, evil!
I’m glad you found it helpful! 🙂
Insightful video, Freddie! I wrote an article with the contrary opinion here: http://stevecraigfitness.com/?p=16 ^_^ While also looking a bit at this very same science, it’s just difficult to ignore anecdotal evidence that myself and even the likes of Tom Venuto and Bill Phillips have seen in their clients in promoting fasted cardio. Phillips states this with such confidence in “Body for Life” that it’s virtually not worth arguing with him about(the guy, I believe, busted both his legs and is still finding ways to stay ripped XD). Then when someone like Artus Shakur comes out and states with such utter confidence that it works for him, it makes it even more difficult to refute.
However, let me play devil’s advocate too. I’m clear in the article that we don’t yet know the overall, 24/7 effect of performing fasted workouts. We also know that a certain degree of carbs are needed as the kindle to the fat burning furnace. To me, it’s just a choice. I’m all for looking at the individual–individuals respond differently to certain lifting routines, certain foods, and of course certain types of cardio. For some, the extra weight in the gut during that activity is just not optimal. I remember when I played football (played in two state championships as a nose-tackle and captain), I wouldn’t even touch food within an hour of the game –I found it detrimental. You don’t want the blood in your stomach to help in digestion, the body has more than enough fuel stored up in itself. Funny story: one of my teammates learned that the hard way, throwing up all his pre-game oatmeal (no milk) throughout the course of the game and being distracted the entire time by indigestion. He, obviously, was an individual–an individual who did not respond well (and probably should’ve had that meal a little earlier)!
So for all these nutrition books on nutrient timing in the bookshelf behind me, all of that is useless if it is not applicable to the person and the person’s lifestyle. What’s more important is that a person does what works for them. Keep up the good work, Cyber!
-Steve, SteveCraigFitness.COM
Heah Steve, thanks for this very well thought-out criticism!
Let me put it like this: If a trainee’s experience strays from results found in research, then he is indeed well advised to simply do what works best for him. Science gives us guidance, but in this field we cannot always talk in absolutes.
evil and steve,
thanks for the insights about it.
You’re very welcome, dmitry! 😉
Yup, agreeing with Steve here, even though Evil made a good point there. I feel that doing moderate intensity LISS on an empty stomach got me better performance, however, I don’t like working out without food in my stomach (I suffer from hypoglycemia very easily) which makes sense with what Evil said – at some point you just need carbs to perform well at a high intensity.
There never will be one guideline being true for everybody.
I’m also going to agree with Steve. While our body may need carbs to run, our bodies can get them from other places than from the stomach. Your body has a storage of glycogen in the liver and muscles, and once needed glycogen is easily converted into glucose. Therefore you could say that your body always (unless your glycogen stores are depleted) has carbs stored and ready for use. The lack of carbs isn’t a problem for the body unless you really are running a marathon or something. I can also agree with the deal about the digestion. It may not be a one-size-fits-for-all-thingy, but I feel like exercising with an empty stomach work better for me.
Keep in mind that glucose / glyocgen reserves are rather limited, which is why, for example, endurance athletes sometimes go through a “carb-loading” regime to increase them.
Also have a look at these, which may shed some further light on the subject:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10188753
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/health/04real.html
Hey sir!
I am 18, i am a student who goes to college Mon-Fri at 8am. My question is:
Can i wake up at 6am and workout at 6.30am in EMPTY STOMACH for 45mins. Like workout at 6.30 till 7.15am and eat my breakfast straightway after workout at 7.30am. Is it bad working out (lifting weights) in empty stomach and eating a meal straigtway. I cannot workout in evenings because i need to study. Can i workout? does it burn MUSCLE?? I have not tried it yet, but if you say is SAFE. i will do it until my class finishes (8 months left).
Thanks you!
Hey Tushar, it would be ideal if you have a bite to eat before you work out(as fuel). But if you can’t do that, it’s ok to do it as you described.