Opinions and results on fasted cardio?

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Replies

  • Let personal preference, performance, and lifestyle factors determine whether you train fasted or fed. Schoenfeld and Krieger did a meta analysis on it and fasted wasn't significantly better (minimal differences) vs fed cardio -- so with that said just do what you prefer.
  • My opinion is that if you're burning 400-700 calories from a run, and not eating, it's a pretty dumb idea to do.
    In your opinion why is it dumb? If you have 400-700 calories of stored glycogen in your system to do it, what is it affecting?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • I too am going to say it's personal preference. I train fasted every morning whether it's cardio of lifting.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • Nothing turns a workout to shite like being Bonked before you even start, right?

    Pre-Bonked, fat, and stupid is no way to make a successful workout, right?
  • Unknown
    edited May 2015
    Opinions on fasted cardio :)

    Morning fasted runs FTW. :drinker:

    Only up to a point, though, running beyond a certain distance and you just hit a wall without some pre- or during caloric reinforcement. For me that distance is somewhere around 7-8k.

    Some people hate them, though, so figure out what works for YOU!
  • I really don't have choice. Exercise with food in my stomach means food coming back up out of my stomach.

    I'm a morning exerciser and not a morning eater. It's just what works best for me.

    I'm the same way, and it usually takes about an hour for my stomach to settle after a workout.
  • When I work out, I always do it fasted, as it makes me ill if I try to eat something first. So every morning when I go to the gym at 5:00 a.m., I am fasted from the day before at around 7 p.m. I have noticed no difference in weight loss.
  • I row for distance/endurance and it isn't happening on an empty stomach. If I feel nauseated at all, it just means I need to slow down a minute. It usually passes and I can keep going.
  • ninerbuff wrote: »
    My opinion is that if you're burning 400-700 calories from a run, and not eating, it's a pretty dumb idea to do.
    In your opinion why is it dumb? If you have 400-700 calories of stored glycogen in your system to do it, what is it affecting?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    I'm going to guess most people don't have 400-700 of calories in stored glycogen after waking up...
  • Nothing turns a workout to shite like being Bonked before you even start, right?

    Pre-Bonked, fat, and stupid is no way to make a successful workout, right?

    This comment made me laugh out loud. I wonder if you should explain for those not familiar with the vernacular? LOL
  • I went to the gym once in the afternoon instead of the morning, and I'd had my fast-breaking protein bar and tea about 2 hours before I went (I phrased it like that because I IF).

    I had the crappiest workout ever because I had to slow everything down because I was so nauseated.

    Never again.

    It's very interesting how different everyone is.
  • 85kurtz wrote: »
    Nothing turns a workout to shite like being Bonked before you even start, right?

    Pre-Bonked, fat, and stupid is no way to make a successful workout, right?

    This comment made me laugh out loud. I wonder if you should explain for those not familiar with the vernacular? LOL

    Bonk

  • ninerbuff wrote: »
    My opinion is that if you're burning 400-700 calories from a run, and not eating, it's a pretty dumb idea to do.
    In your opinion why is it dumb? If you have 400-700 calories of stored glycogen in your system to do it, what is it affecting?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    I'm going to guess most people don't have 400-700 of calories in stored glycogen after waking up...
    They didn't use it up sleeping. Fat is the primary source of energy at rest.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • I always feel like crap when doing fasted cardio. It just feels like I just can't rev my engine up, so I've started consuming caffeine before any exercise and it definitely helps. I don't understand why I feel like I have no energy, especially knowing I consumed enough calories the day before. Maybe it's more mental, than anything else.

  • I was doing this for a while, when I wanted to free up my evenings and get a workout in before work. Then I started getting migraine symptoms while travelling to work: going completely blind on a packed train is not fun. After it happened a few times, I switched back to evening workouts and it never happened again (well, until I started commuting while pregnant and, yet again, going blind on packed trains...)

    It's interesting how this really seems to be one of those things that confirms there is no one size fits all for fitness or diet. You gotta learn your body and what works for it.
  • Unknown
    edited May 2015
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    My opinion is that if you're burning 400-700 calories from a run, and not eating, it's a pretty dumb idea to do.
    In your opinion why is it dumb? If you have 400-700 calories of stored glycogen in your system to do it, what is it affecting?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    I'm going to guess most people don't have 400-700 of calories in stored glycogen after waking up...

    Maybe instead of guessing, you actually do some research.

    32se_Main.jpg

    http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/the-bodyrsquos-fuel-sources

  • If I eat less than 2 hours before I exercise or run I get horrible indigestion, a stitch, have a rubbish run and often can't finish the run.
  • I used to do it all the time. I would ride the Trinity Trail from 183 to the other side of downtown and back before breakfast. About 20 miles, if I recall. It did nothing for weight loss, and I didn't need to lose weight, but I didn't want to ride right after eating a meal. The body stories about 1600 calories worth of glycogen, so it should take more than one hour of cardio before any problems are even possible from depletion. At the ninety minute mark, people begin to have problems and could experience it sooner if other activities also used reduced the glycogen. So, if you do fasted cardio, just remember there are limits.
  • Fasted or fed makes very little difference to me in terms of how I feel or to my performance. Recently set a PB for quite a hard 2 hour cycle when fasted.
    I'm quite adapted to it though as I do a form of intermittent fasting. So really both food and exercise fit in the day where convenient.

    Rides over two hours I would fuel, either before or during the ride (or both for very long rides).
  • Really interesting read, thanks for posting this. :)

    Personally I need to eat *something* first thing after getting up, even just something small, else I start to feel nauseous and dizzy within the hour. I am an early morning gym goer and actually often eat on the walk there, with no ill effect.
    That said, I forgot to eat the other week and got a new running PB as a result. I felt unusually tired afterwards though and utterly ravenous, and ended up wasting money on the gym vending machines. I would be open to trying fasted cardio again, but would definitely take something with me to eat after or even during.