Fasted Cardio? Does it actually work

[Rose400491 61]

Sleeved 10/17/17

Age: 19

HW: 297

CW: 245

Doing some research on cardio exercises for the gym I came across something called “Fasted Cardio” which means working out in a fasted state, usually in the morning hitting the gym to do cardio before your first meal.

Fasted Cardio is saying that doing this forces your body to not use your food for energy and goes straight to the fat source, along with explain components about insulin, glycogen levels, and carbohydrate utilization.

Finding mixed research, some say it’s bogus, some swear by it. Looking for some advice

[BigAussieGirl 162]

I've never read any research on this - all I can report is my personal experience. If I don't eat before going to the gym in the morning I can't perform at my normal levels, I have no energy. I need to have some yogurt or a banana before going to the gym.

I'm interested in seeing the feedback on your question.

[orionburn 1,023]

2 hours ago, BigAussieGirl said:

I've never read any research on this - all I can report is my personal experience. If I don't eat before going to the gym in the morning I can't perform at my normal levels, I have no energy. I need to have some yogurt or a banana before going to the gym.

I'm interested in seeing the feedback on your question.

Same here. Honestly I think the human body is just too different due to genetics for any single diet/exercise program/routine to work for everyone. I'm sure for some doing fasted cardio is great. For me there wouldn't be any point because I'd lack any energy and would end up quitting early. You may instead want to look into foods that are good energy sources but don't necessarily cause your blood sugar to spike like certain carbs/foods can do.

From my personal experience I've always felt HIIT (high intensity interval training) is better. I always did a modified program. The core idea is to do 30 seconds of sprints followed by 30 seconds of jogging. Granted my body would explode if I tried doing that starting out...lol. So what I would do is 30 seconds of a moderate pace followed by 60 seconds of walking. You can pretty much do this on any type of cardio machine (bike, stair climber, etc). Over time I got into better shape and could push myself more. Most of the time I kept to doing 30 seconds of walking rather than jogging. The main takeway is that you want to change up the pace to keep your body in state of flux. Like anything what works for me may not work for you or anyone else. I also didn't do this all the time. It was just one other cardio routine that I did. Most machines at a gym will have some sort of interval program so maybe try that out and see how it goes.

[Rose400491 61]

Same here. Honestly I think the human body is just too different due to genetics for any single diet/exercise program/routine to work for everyone. I'm sure for some doing fasted cardio is great. For me there wouldn't be any point because I'd lack any energy and would end up quitting early. You may instead want to look into foods that are good energy sources but don't necessarily cause your blood sugar to spike like certain carbs/foods can do.

From my personal experience I've always felt HIIT (high intensity interval training) is better. I always did a modified program. The core idea is to do 30 seconds of sprints followed by 30 seconds of jogging. Granted my body would explode if I tried doing that starting out...lol. So what I would do is 30 seconds of a moderate pace followed by 60 seconds of walking. You can pretty much do this on any type of cardio machine (bike, stair climber, etc). Over time I got into better shape and could push myself more. Most of the time I kept to doing 30 seconds of walking rather than jogging. The main takeway is that you want to change up the pace to keep your body in state of flux. Like anything what works for me may not work for you or anyone else. I also didn't do this all the time. It was just one other cardio routine that I did. Most machines at a gym will have some sort of interval program so maybe try that out and see how it goes.

It’s funny that you said the walking/jogging thing! I actually just starting doing that at the gym to push myself. I do it on the arc trainer but I just started it so this week I’m doing 30 seconds “running”, 30 seconds of faster “walking” then after 5 sets of sprints I get a 2 minutes recovery. I’m trying to switch it up every other day so my body doesn’t get used to the same workout

[orionburn 1,023]

8 minutes ago, Rose400491 said:

It’s funny that you said the walking/jogging thing! I actually just starting doing that at the gym to push myself. I do it on the arc trainer but I just started it so this week I’m doing 30 seconds “running”, 30 seconds of faster “walking” then after 5 sets of sprints I get a 2 minutes recovery. I’m trying to switch it up every other day so my body doesn’t get used to the same workout

IMO that's the better way to go. Even if it's simply a matter of using a different cardio machine on gym visits. I used to rule the stair climber and that's how I lost a lot of my weight when I was younger (and then regained it all back!). But it got to the point where I could go 30 minutes all out and I wasn't losing anything. Your body does get used to a certain routine. Looking back I think I would have had more success doing one day of interval training and other days of a more moderate/steady type of pace.

Today at lunch I used the stair climber and it has a interval program that is totally schizophrenic…lol. It’s all over the place but kept me on my toes. The nice thing about those programs is that you can start with the lower level and increase/decrease if it gets to be too much. My knees can't take running much anymore but I do enjoy a bit of jogging followed by walking when I'm outside.

[Newme17 3,444]

Fasted cardio....not sure, but fasted weights, yes. Speaking from personal experience (and it was before WLS too). I did IF for three months, I did my workouts (cardio included, but focused solely on weights) during my fasted State. I saw results way quicker than what my norm was “eat Breakfast, wait an hour, workout, eat a post workout snack...etc). I’m waiting till I’m at maintenance (currently 8 months post) to see whether or not I want to incorporate my workouts in a fasted state or not. It worked very well for me, I was just an indecisive, couldn’t figure out what lifestyle I wanted to go with at that time kind of person and, thus I didn’t keep it up.

I didn’t have low energy either...you’d be amazed at what your body can do. Felt like I was more alert through it as well.

We can do all the research (I did too) until we actually try it and have an experience for ourselves; kind of like researching the crap out of WLS 😊 and finding our experiences to be a slightly different/better (I hope) than everything we’ve read. I hope you find what works for you.

Edited January 11, 2018 by Newme17