Been saying I want to do this post for a while so here goes.
First of all, for you people that don't know what fasted cardio is I'll quickly explain. Basically, it is doing cardio exercise without eating before. The ideal time to do this is in the morning, which I will explain later. Anyway, I'm probably going to get really sciency in this article just to prove my points.
First of all, it's a very important part of my workout routine. I try to do it 4-5 times per week and now that I'm back in to a routine with University, I've found it a really good way to start my day and get my head focused to do some University work and I really want to share the benefits of it. A lot of what I'm writing has been taken/adapted from articles online which have provided scientific evidence behind what they're saying, I will cite these below.
A lot of bodybuilders add in fasted morning cardio in to their routine in order to 'cut' which is essentially cutting fat (also in most cases whilst trying not to lose muscle mass). Fasted morning cardio is extremely well known for dropping fat fast.
**Science behind this**
"When you wake up your glycogen stores are very low so your muscles have to tap into it’s fat stores for energy. Insulin levels are also very low so this facilitates fat oxidation. Keep in mind that your body will also resort to burning amino acids (muscle) for fuel."
The last part is important there, that you will also go in to muscle, which is why it's REALLY important to not go too intense.
Everyone knows the benefits of HIIT and your heart rate going above 85%-90% of your maximum heart rate but not fasted. If you're going that high, your eating in to your muscle mass, not your fat mass. So classes that involve HIIT like metafit, spin classes and really intense classes are a no-no for a morning.
I would even consider body attack a little high, I'll probably eat a handful of nuts if I was doing body attack in the morning just to give myself a little boost but I would never do HIIT or spin without eating because I don't want to lose my gains.
So keeping your heart rate within the 50% - 75% range is the most beneficial for fat burn.
Personally, for my morning cardio, I like to jog to the gym then walk on a high incline for 20 minutes then jog back to my flat, or body combat is a good choice (especially this release as it's not too hard) or using the rowing machine etc. Something that's going to get you sweating and breathless but not to the point where you're pushing your body to the limit and can't speak because you're probably eating in to muscle mass.
Now, I'm not an idiot, I've read up quite a bit on this and there's a lot of articles that go against this type of cardio and say it makes no difference but I see a much larger difference in my own body personally. Sure you could have breakfasted then workout an hour and a half to two hours later and THEN get on with your day but I mean who really wants to wait just for your breakfast to settle, I'd rather get active from the get-go and start my day in a good way. I literally feel 20x better during the day when I start my day with a workout, I feel so refreshed and when I'm eating my banana on my way home, I feel healthy and happy and just good because of the endorphins swimming around me.
You don't have to follow or listen to my advice but I just want to share what I've found helps me burn fat and start my day off well. Also, I've find that I am still making gains with my weight training and I've increased my weights/reps at a good rate whilst still doing fasted morning cardio, so personally, because I'm not doing it too intense, it's definitely working for me!
In conclusion, in order to get the maximum benefit from fasted morning cardio, comply with the following (which is what I've found helps me):
- Exercise as soon as you get up before breakfast (as in start 10/20 minutes from waking up)
- Drink a lot of water - with this one, I find I'm so much thirstier if I haven't eaten and go through a good litre during a 45-60 minute workout.
- Do steady state cardio, don't let your heart rate go too high as this eats in to your muscles a lot more.
- Personally, I wouldn't exercise for longer than 60 minutes on an empty stomach.
- As soon as I'm finished with the cardio, eat a balanced meal of protein and fats and include a reasonable amount of carbs to replenish glycogen.
Love you guys!!
Websites quoted:
http://extremebodyfit.com/fat-loss/is-fasted-morning-cardio-really-more-effective-than-normal-cardio
p.s. I'm not a nutritionist or fitness expert in any form, I am simply sharing what has worked for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment