The question:
Do you burn more fat by performing cardio on an empty stomach?
The argument:
According to most fitness professionals, in order to maximize your workout, you must consume the proper nutrients to fuel your body. Others suggest that cardio on an empty stomach is more beneficial when burning fat.
The reasoning:
Fueling your body before a workout will allow you to get a longer and more intense workout.
When performing cardio on an empty stomach, your body taps into its reserves and allows you to burn through calories stored as fat.
Studies show:
One study showed that cardio on an empty stomach did indeed burn more FAT than cardio after breakfast. That same study argued that those who consumed breakfast were in fact able to run longer and burn more total calories.
Another study showed that those who performed cardio on an empty stomach fatigued about 30 minutes faster than those who consumed breakfast.
The truth about fat burn:
You may have read this far and have already decided that eating before your workout is in fact more beneficial, WRONG!
We are not debating on what burns more total calories, we are debating on which technique burns more fat. You see, those people in the study who ate breakfast and ran for an hour had to run about 45 minutes before they burned through just the calories they consumed that morning. That leaves about 15 minutes of cardio that they actually burned through calories that were stored as fat. On the other hand, those who performed cardio on an empty stomach where burning off calories stored as fat for the entire 30 minutes.
Not so fast!
Now you have probably changed your mind and decided that cardio on an empty stomach is in fact more beneficial, WRONG!
What more “professionals” fail to mention is, when we get up in the morning after 6-10 hours of sleep, our bodies are in a catabolic state. Unless we consume some sort of sugar, our body will continue to sacrifice muscle. The more physical activity we put ourselves through while in the catabolic state, the more muscle we are breaking down.
A simple breakdown of how this works:
There are three places where glycogen can be found in the body. The first place is in the liver, the second place is in the muscles, and the third place is in the blood stream. After a full night of sleep, our glycogen levels are almost completely depleted. Glycogen in the liver is gone, the glycogen in the blood stream is used for energy, and the glycogen in the muscle is almost completely used up. When the glycogen is depleted from the liver, it takes substrates from the muscle in order to create more. This is muscle breakdown or atrophy.
What is the best way to burn fat?
We know that eating a full breakfast/meal before your cardio routine will cause you to workout for a longer period of time before you tap into your calories from stored fats. In most cases, the person performing the cardio will stop before even burning through the calories consumed that morning or continue very little time in the “fat burning” zone.
We also know that although performing cardio on an empty stomach may allow us to burn through a higher level of stored fat, you will be sacrificing muscle at an alarming rate if you choose this technique.
So what approach to cardio is more beneficial when burning fat?
The answer is simply right in the middle. Instead of an entire meal, we should consume something like a piece of fruit (banana, apple, orange, etc) or a low calorie snack that contains sugar in order to raise insulin levels and take you out of that catabolic state immediately. This will also give you some energy and allow you to perform the routine for a longer period of time without having to burn so many calories before tapping into the stored fat.
Circuit training routines for maximum fat loss:
One study showed that cardio on an empty stomach did indeed burn more FAT than cardio after breakfast. That same study argued that those who consumed breakfast were in fact able to run longer and burn more total calories.
Another study showed that those who performed cardio on an empty stomach fatigued about 30 minutes faster than those who consumed breakfast.
The truth about fat burn:
You may have read this far and have already decided that eating before your workout is in fact more beneficial, WRONG!
We are not debating on what burns more total calories, we are debating on which technique burns more fat. You see, those people in the study who ate breakfast and ran for an hour had to run about 45 minutes before they burned through just the calories they consumed that morning. That leaves about 15 minutes of cardio that they actually burned through calories that were stored as fat. On the other hand, those who performed cardio on an empty stomach where burning off calories stored as fat for the entire 30 minutes.
Not so fast!
Now you have probably changed your mind and decided that cardio on an empty stomach is in fact more beneficial, WRONG!
What more “professionals” fail to mention is, when we get up in the morning after 6-10 hours of sleep, our bodies are in a catabolic state. Unless we consume some sort of sugar, our body will continue to sacrifice muscle. The more physical activity we put ourselves through while in the catabolic state, the more muscle we are breaking down.
A simple breakdown of how this works:
There are three places where glycogen can be found in the body. The first place is in the liver, the second place is in the muscles, and the third place is in the blood stream. After a full night of sleep, our glycogen levels are almost completely depleted. Glycogen in the liver is gone, the glycogen in the blood stream is used for energy, and the glycogen in the muscle is almost completely used up. When the glycogen is depleted from the liver, it takes substrates from the muscle in order to create more. This is muscle breakdown or atrophy.
What is the best way to burn fat?
We know that eating a full breakfast/meal before your cardio routine will cause you to workout for a longer period of time before you tap into your calories from stored fats. In most cases, the person performing the cardio will stop before even burning through the calories consumed that morning or continue very little time in the “fat burning” zone.
We also know that although performing cardio on an empty stomach may allow us to burn through a higher level of stored fat, you will be sacrificing muscle at an alarming rate if you choose this technique.
So what approach to cardio is more beneficial when burning fat?
The answer is simply right in the middle. Instead of an entire meal, we should consume something like a piece of fruit (banana, apple, orange, etc) or a low calorie snack that contains sugar in order to raise insulin levels and take you out of that catabolic state immediately. This will also give you some energy and allow you to perform the routine for a longer period of time without having to burn so many calories before tapping into the stored fat.
Circuit training routines for maximum fat loss:
