Fasting Cardio...

[Vitals]

Who does it? I have read some intriguing articles and want to hear some first hand experience with it to target fat loss.

 

[Vitals]

My gut tells me It would make my running a lot tougher and likely shorter for that reason. Pun intended. I have a fairly strong metabolism and could imagine entering that danger zone of fainting with a half way difficult run. I'm just curious of others experiences with it

 

[Poser]

It depends on what your goals are. It can be productive for burning fat. Do you have a lot of excess fat that you need to burn?
You definitely don't want to do high intensity cardio as you'll be eating muscle, but 30-60 minutes of moderate cardio first thing in the morning should pull from your fat stores. When I've done that in the past, I found that I was so hungry afterwards that I ended up eating more throughout the day. In other words, it just made me more hungry and I likely eat more extra calories than I burned on a morning run on a empty stomach.

I have also read that supplementing some whey protein before fasted cardio can help ensure that you don't burn muscle. There are definitely pros and cons to it, so I'd some research and decide what is best for your goals. Personally, I try to eat to perform and let the rest take care of itself.

 

[mAv]

I do it every morning, still working to shed a few lbs before any sort of build phase though. I don't really do it intentionally, but I'm at work at 5:45am-7pm, so I normally wake up and go right away in the morning and eat my breakfast on the way to work. I honestly don't notice any significantly different results than non-fasting cardio, it all just boils down to your diet over the course of the day.

 

[mAv]

As far as the actual workout goes, I primarily run in the mornings, and I don't see any negative impact due to not eating prior to it. It always takes me a few minutes to get my legs awake, but that would happen whether I ate or not. I rarely train anywhere close to high intensity though, it's more about putting in the miles at a pace that I can run 6 days a week with no recovery necessary.

 

[jmez]

I don't know much about it but wouldn't be overly concerned with passing out. Anyone that has wrestled has done a lot of fasting cardio. We are talking fasting from both food and drink, sometimes for 3-4 days at a time, followed by extremely intense workouts. Likely not good for you but it takes quite a lot to damage the body.

 

[mAv]

Ahh.. luckily I will never have to deal with dropping weight for wrestling again. Those were some miserable times, and I was on the easier end of things- had some friends who were constantly riding the line between unhealthy and incredibly sick/tired. It did take a pretty extreme cut to impact performance, though.

 

[justinspicher]

I always tell myself that I should lose a couple of pounds, but that is during the time I am eating something I probably shouldn't be.

 

[Becca]

I don't know anything about the science behind it, but I am pretty sure if I tried to exercise without eating first I would punch someone! As Luke will attest, I am not a very nice person when I get hungry

 

[fillthefreezer]

I don't know anything about the science behind it, but I am pretty sure if I tried to exercise without eating first I would punch someone! As Luke will attest, I am not a very nice person when I get hungry

^yep

and i get shakey if i havent eaten enough when hiking and running

 

[Vitals]

Becca im the same way
My girlfriend is to and we sometimes catch ourselves being pretty abrasive when we havent eaten haha.
I dont have a lot of fat to shed. Im 6'2 and weigh around 215. Ivr just always struggled to loose the tire around the belly. It seems thats where I store 90% of my fat. I may give it a try and see how I feel. Its a common theme that im hearing where people end up with a ravenous appetite afterwards that leads to more than average consumption.
My overall goals are to shed a few lbs and increase core and leg strength. I hate the idea of counting ounces in the pack when there are lbs I can shed in the body. I want to maintain 210 while increasing strength, not necessarily size.

 

[airlocksniffer]

I do this most mornings. Up at 5 am, glass of water and out the door for 5-7 miles. I don't really find myself much hungrier than on days I don't run. Not sure if it burns more fat or not. I find running after I just ate is much worse as I tend to have some indigestion.

 

[Riplip]

Good article that relates to your question. There are some good articles on this site, although it is geared toward the body builders/power lifter set. With that being said I workout in the mornings both weights and cardio on an empty stomach. May try eating something small before hand and see how I feel.

http://www.t-nation.com/training/fasted-cardio-eats-muscle

 

[afteamroper]

Most of my workouts are done at 0500 and are crossfit style with high intensity with nothing to eat beforehand without any negative effects. Some days I do my workouts in the afternoon and haven't really noticed a difference in the workouts. I find more of a difference in both hunger and performance throughout the day is based on what I eat that day and the day prior. If I eat garbage the day prior my performance suffers greatly. If I don't eat often enough or big meals throughout the day I am constantly hungry and find myself eatting way more calories.

 

[mAv]

You will find many conflicting articles on the subject, to be honest- that one sounded a lot like an advertisement to me. There are other building sites that testify fasting cardio will target problem fat areas (stomach, etc) due to the body resorting to fat burn earlier. I don't think there's a real cut and dry answer on the subject from what I can tell.

 

[Jdog]

The avg person shouldn't worry about this.

I am 6'8" 240 lbs and pretty lean.

I workout daily at 0500.

And again in the evening.

Morning workout is usually very intense strength trng - P90X

Evening/afternoon workout is cardio--elliptical, stationary bike, stairmaster or running

Usually once a week I also throw in a 4-5 mile run.

Just fuel your body correctly thought out the day drink lots of water.

The morning workouts are fasted from the evening dinner before...no issues

 

[Becca]

^yep

and i get shakey if i havent eaten enough when hiking and running

I think the term we used lately is "hangry" as in hungry/angry. I eat a light breakfast when I get up (200-300 calories) and before any activity/exercise, and then a snack or small meal every three to four hours all day. It keeps my energy level up, and reduces the risk to innocent bystanders

 

[Poser]

I usually eat 2 boiled eggs in order to get some protein to my muscles before my morning workout. If I feel like I need more fuel, I'll eat some steel cut oats or a smoothie.

 

[Vitals]

I usually eat 2 boiled eggs in order to get some protein to my muscles before my morning workout. If I feel like I need more fuel, I'll eat some steel cut oats or a smoothie.

Yeah the boiled eggs have been good so far. One in the morning, one for lunch in the field at work. I dont eat any if im in the office. They are awesomely convenient but I wonder about the overall value of the protein to negative of eggs

 

[Poser]

Yeah the boiled eggs have been good so far. One in the morning, one for lunch in the field at work. I dont eat any if im in the office. They are awesomely convenient but I wonder about the overall value of the protein to negative of eggs

What do you mean by "negative of eggs"?