FASTED CARDIO IS NO BETTER FOR FAT LOSS

Fasted cardio – should you exercise before breakfast?

It has been thought by many over the years that fasted cardio is better for fat loss. In simple terms your just doing cardio in a fasted state usually in the am before breakfast or before you break your fast in the hope the your body will use its fat stores for energy.

In my opinion it’s as silly as trying to drive your car without putting fuel in it. Carbohydrates pre workout we know massively help performance and endurance. Over the years I have seen several people pass out after doing it because of the lack of energy and low blood sugar levels. So I wouldn’t recommend doing it if you have any health conditions.

When it comes to fat loss doing fasted or fed cardio makes no difference if calories burned and consumed are the same. Not only that but fat loss isn’t determined by being in a calorie deficit for just one day or for 1 hour while you complete your fasted cardio session. It’s determined by an average calorie deficit over a period of time.

If you have a protein shake before or after a cardio session you have still consumed the exact same amount of calories therefore weight loss will be no different.

Fasting before exercise put to the test…

Twenty healthy young female volunteers were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental groups: a fasted group that performed exercise after an overnight fast and a group that consumed a meal prior to exercise.

Training consisted of 1 hour of steady-state aerobic exercise performed 3 days per week.

Nutritional counselling was provided throughout the study period to help ensure dietary adherence and self-reported food intake was monitored on a regular basis.

A meal replacement shake was provided either immediately prior to exercise for the FED group or immediately following exercise for the FASTED group.

Both groups showed a significant loss of weight (P = 0.0005) and fat mass (P = 0.02) from baseline, but no significant differences were noted in any outcome measure.

From this we know that fasted cardio is no better for weight loss over a period of time.

My final thought…

Don’t be like Sheila on the treadmill for an hour sweating like crazy in the hope that your body is now becoming a fat burning furnace. Potentially increasing your risk of injury due to the impact some cardio exercises can have.

Fasted cardio is not a magical fat loss tool I’m afraid.

Focus on long term habit changes rather than looking for the quickest way to shed fat. As a qualified personal trainer, I can help.
For more weight loss nutritional advice

Click on link for reference https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242477/