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POLL -- CARDIO ON EMPTY STOMACH IN MORNING

What's your opinion on doing cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the morning?

  • It's the best way to lose fat.

    Votes: 562 44.3%

  • It's the worst way to lose fat and the best way to lose muscle.

    Votes: 140 11.0%

  • You have to have a small meal before you do it.

    Votes: 141 11.1%

  • I am still trying to figure it all out.

    Votes: 425 33.5%
  • Total voters
    1,268
I don't like to refer to it as empty stomach cardio so much as "pre-breakfast". I usually take BCAAs and then 1/2 a scoop to a scoop of protien powder, but no carbs. It has always worked for me and I'm low body fat.
 
I don't know if its the best way but it works very well for me. I have been waking up about 5:30am and jog for about 3 miles at least 3 days a week for about 2 years now and it feels great. I usually don't feel hungry till about 9am on a day I don't jog, but when I do I'm hungry almost immediately after. The rest of the day I also eat better because of my higher rate of metabolism. When I try to eat before a run I feel like it slows me down also.
 
Awful Knawful said:
I don't know if its the best way but it works very well for me. I have been waking up about 5:30am and jog for about 3 miles at least 3 days a week for about 2 years now and it feels great. I usually don't feel hungry till about 9am on a day I don't jog, but when I do I'm hungry almost immediately after. The rest of the day I also eat better because of my higher rate of metabolism. When I try to eat before a run I feel like it slows me down also.
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Bro, if it makes you feel great then don't listen to what anyone else tries to tell you. Life is about living healthy and feeling great. There's nothing wrong with what you're doing.
 
10g BCAAs (4:1:1 ratio) before will help reduce muscle catabolism and add negligible calories and requires no digestion (unlike whey).
 
taffer said:
yep, HIIT mainly uses glucose as an energy source (since your going at 85+% HR) if there is no glucose in your blood, your body will turn to body-proteins!

the advantage in HIIT is the "afterburn" the additional fat you lose by the increase in metabolism throughout the day!

i dont know if there is anyone that would recomend HIIT on an empty stomach, furthermore if you did try it, i wouldnt imagine you would get much of a workout without any energy!
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what exactly is HIIT and why do you not reccomend it in the morning on an empty stomach? would drinking a protien shake or takikng glutamine before an early workout help prevent this?
 
High Intesity Interval Training...
I do my cardio on an empty stomach and have been doing it for quiet sometime. I have my jug of H20 with me.... i do 30 min kickboxing>3 min box and kicks with 1 min jump rope...50 yard wind sprints walk 50 run 50 for 15 min and then Spin bike 15 min up hill for 15 min after that im ready to pass out....
 
This discussion has provided me with excellent info, at 36 my gut has grown due to military food being mostly carbs. I am trying to boost the motivational spark and this has given me a reason too. Thanks guys...
 
i cant run on an empty stomach,....i can barely walk up the stairs. i'll usually eat half a dozen or so eggs and then cardio and then either more eggs(preferably an omellette, low fat cheese, spinach leaves, mushrooms, pieces of chicken, and lots of peppers and onions) or a can of tuna, people now a days seem to almost abuse protein powder, its way overused imho!
 
I'm going to give the empty-stomach cardio a try. My question is, should I take my Leviathan Reloaded BEFORE the cardio or AFTER, then wait another 45 + minutes before I finally eat something?
 
Do yourselves a favor and drink some taurine and glutamine before your workout. Nice energy, positive feelings, muscle fullness, and better recovery! 2 grams taurine/5 grams glutamine pre and post workout.
 
I find myself needing just a little of something on my stomach before i go for a run. Half a banana is the usual. But having said that, I believe an empty stomach is the best way, I'm just not comfortable doing it. It just doesn't feel right to me. Something I must get over and start implementing.
 
I usually drink a protein shake upon waking, then do HIIT cardio about 30-45 min after that. No probs with energy or feeling down (but I am also taking Megadrine and YohimbineHCL pre-cardio)
 
so i wanna start doing low intensity AM cardio.. brisk jogging or something.... for 45 min or so... my only question is i have 2 hour MMA classes monday and tuesday which usually are very intense and make me sweat like a pig... should i do keep morning AM cardio to maybe just mon/fri or maybe mon/wed/fri or mon/sat?

right now im pretty sure i have a high BF too
 
If you've got the energy to do so, then its the best way to lose fat. If your cardio work is within 50 to 70 percent of your MHR for 30 to 45 minutes you should invoke lipolysis. Our muscles won't become catabolic since we just had spikes of IGH during bedtime.

Empirically, it is the best choice for fat loss, but any real athlete knows that eating before a workout gives you more energy and the potential for strength gains.
 
Lately i've been doing a 45 minute fasted cardio session in the mornings at an average of 77 - 80% of my age-predicted maximum heart rate (MHR); would this be high enough to invoke a catabolic effect? Anything less than this pace and i really don't feel like i'm getting a good workout.
 
Ninjo said:
Lately i've been doing a 45 minute fasted cardio session in the mornings at an average of 77 - 80% of my age-predicted maximum heart rate (MHR); would this be high enough to invoke a catabolic effect? Anything less than this pace and i really don't feel like i'm getting a good workout.
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Everything's give and take when it comes to this topic. Do what you can to minimize catabolism....

... but the answer is 'yes'.
 
I like to slam back a few g's of BCAA's and glutamine before any workout. My bet is the BCAA's along with medium intensity cardio is the shiznit in the AM.

IN FACT, that is what I'm just about to do so I'll catch you cool cats later :afro:
 
I have actually asked this same question of some of the Pros,

Shawn Ray, Bob Chick, Milos Sarcev just to name a few and they themselves have always subscribed to the empty stomach method....

Treadmill anywhere from 3.5-4.5......
 
Boyders said:
I like to slam back a few g's of BCAA's and glutamine before any workout. My bet is the BCAA's along with medium intensity cardio is the shiznit in the AM.

IN FACT, that is what I'm just about to do so I'll catch you cool cats later :afro:
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I would stick to leucine, as it is a ketogenic amino acid, meaning it won't convert to glucose like isoleucine and valine. Also, leucine a signals the body to increase protein synthesis.
 
i do a compromise. I take 24 grams of whey, 5 grams of bcaas, and 4 grams of glutamine right when i wake up. I go do my HIIT swim routine. then I eat my oatmeal.
 
I do cardio twice a day, once in the morning on an empty stomach for an hour, this is either 1 hour of jumping rope/100lb punching bag/swimming/running or a combo of two or more.

At night, I'll do another hour of cardio 3 hours after my last meal which is P/F, usually jumping rope or swimming.

-Body fat is decreasing.
-Muscle is either the same or minor gains.
-Strength/Stamina/Endurance are increasing.

I voted it's the best, because it is the best, for me, eating before didn't work for me, through trial and error you find your most effective methods.
 
yea, well i ate some fruit before hittting the gym in morning doing punching bad and speed bag and jump rope for bout 30 min. whether i either hit it hard and tired out to quick or eating before just doesnt do as well.. but i heard that going on a empty stomach will burn more calories faster. but at same time just doing so much on empty stomach would get u light on ur feet, i figure maybe a lil nuts or fruit or yogurt will suffise till ur done and i drink 2 scoops of prtoein and a breakfast and suits me pretty good and im rdy to go all day and hit the gym with weights in evening!
 
double s said:
I have actually asked this same question of some of the Pros,

Shawn Ray, Bob Chick, Milos Sarcev just to name a few and they themselves have always subscribed to the empty stomach method....

Treadmill anywhere from 3.5-4.5......
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But they use very nice anti-catabolic/anabolic drugs too.
 
so far the poll says:

It's the best way to lose fat. 481 44.17%
It's the worst way to lose fat and the best way to lose muscle. 125 11.48%
You have to have a small meal before you do it. 121 11.11%
I am still trying to figure it all out. 362 33.24%


Is that low intensity or high intensity cardio?

1/3 of the votes is an "I dont know" , lol
 
Kruger said:
Not really. GH release (along with its anti-catabolic properties) last up to 60 minutes post workout. The whole issue of catabolism is highly overrated. In both situations yout body has increased its chances of oxidizing FFA's as energy. One might be more than the other but overall the results over a long time is probably insignificant.
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Just bumping this interesting thread.

Geez, i'm trying to get this straight in my head. I'm almost on infomation overload at the moment trying to figure out this cardio/nutrition thing.

OK here goes....

I want to drop some fat.

I workout first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

The ONLY time i can fit in cardio is after my weight training. I also find cardio easier after weights!!

WHAT and WHEN the hell do i eat to maximise fat loss AND hormonal response :aargh:

I'm thinking BCAA's after weights and some lean protein and complex carbs 30-60 min after i'm done with cardio. eg: egg whites and oats.

Please help me here. Cutting is just not my thing.

Jag
 
Jag said:
Just bumping this interesting thread.

Geez, i'm trying to get this straight in my head. I'm almost on infomation overload at the moment trying to figure out this cardio/nutrition thing.

OK here goes....

I want to drop some fat.

I workout first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

The ONLY time i can fit in cardio is after my weight training. I also find cardio easier after weights!!

WHAT and WHEN the hell do i eat to maximise fat loss AND hormonal response :aargh:

I'm thinking BCAA's after weights and some lean protein and complex carbs 30-60 min after i'm done with cardio. eg: egg whites and oats.

Please help me here. Cutting is just not my thing.

Jag
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Since that's the ONLY time, I would go ahead and do HIT cardio after your weights.

Also, walking an hour a day really helps cut down bf levels.

I'd ditch the carbs after the cardio, I'm never hungry after cardio, but if I had to eat, Fat/protein would be the best, to not illicit an insulin response, 45-60 minutes after, think steak, whole eggs, etc....

Different approaches, I find this works for me, experiment and see what happens.
 
Thanks Omen,

I was actually thinking along those lines until i started researching cardio and nutrition then i just got too many conflicting opinions.

I get bored with cardio so HIIT fits the bill perfectly and i suppose i could do an hour or so of fasted morning walking on my days off.

I was thinking whey, egg whites and a spoonful of either peanut butter or olive oil 30-60 minutes after weights/HIIT depending on appetite.

Scrambled eggs and mushrooms an hour so later and SMALL amounts of protein and complex carbs every 3-3.5 hours after that.

This is for convenience at work.

Steak i was going to alternate with salmon at night for my last meal with a ton of fibrous veges (boccolli, cauliflower, asparagus etc.) for satiety. This is when i'm the hungriest so it makes sense to me to eat like this. I also sleep much better when i'm not hungry.

4:00am i'm at the gym so whatever i have for my last meal of the day is basically my pre workout meal for the next morning.

Thanks again.

Jag
 
I hate waking up for work, much less waking up for a jog.. my muscles and joints ache in the morning, fawk morning cardio..
 
I found this at bigkiwi.co.nz awesome bunch of guys and gals there.. come check us out. This it's a great read for those of us who have a problem with doing cardio.

Also will help a lot you understand why? cardio on a empty stomach, burns fat.

When is the best time of day to do your aerobic exercise? The answer is any time! The most important thing is that you just do it. Continuous cardiovascular exercise, such as walking, jogging, stair climbing, or cycling, sustained for at least 30 minutes, will burn body fat no matter when you do it. However, if you want to get the maximum benefits possible from every minute you invest in your workouts, and then you should consider getting up early and doing cardio before you eat your first meal - even if you're not a "morning person." Early morning aerobic exercise on an empty stomach has three major advantages over exercising later in the day:
Early in the morning before you eat, your levels of muscle and liver glycogen (stored carbohydrate) are low. If you eat dinner at 7p.m and you eat breakfast at 7 a.m., that's 12 hours without food. During this 12-hour overnight fast, your levels of glycogen slowly decline to provide glucose for various bodily functions that go on even while you sleep. As a result, you wake up in the morning with depleted glycogen and lower blood sugar - the optimum environment for burning fat instead of carbohydrate. How much more fat you'll burn is uncertain, but some studies have suggested that up to 300% more fat is burned when cardio is done in a fasted, glycogen-depleted state.
So how exactly does this work? It's quite simple, really. Carbohydrate (glycogen) is your body's primary and preferred energy source. When your primary fuel source is in short supply, this forces your body to tap into its secondary or reserve energy source; body fat. If you do cardio immediately after eating a meal, you'll still burn fat, but you'll burn less of it because you'll be burning off the carbohydrates you ate first. You always burn a combination of fat and carbohydrate for fuel, but depending on when you exercise, you can burn a greater proportion of fat relative to carbohydrate. If doing cardio first thing in the morning is not an option for you, then the second best time to do it would be immediately after weight training. Lifting weights is anaerobic (carbohydrate-burning) by nature, and therefore depletes muscle glycogen. That's why a post lifting cardio session has a similar effect as morning cardio on an empty stomach.
The second benefit you'll get from early morning cardio sessions is what I call the "afterburn" effect. When you do a cardio session in the morning, you not only burn fat during the session, but you also continue to burn fat at an accelerated rate after the workout. Why? Because an intense session of cardiovascular exercise can keep your metabolism elevated for hours after the session is over. If you do cardio at night, you will still burn fat during the session, so you definitely benefit from it. However, night time cardio fails to take advantage of the "afterburn" effect because your metabolism drops like a ton of bricks as soon as you go to sleep. While you sleep, your metabolic rate is slower than any other time of the day.
Burning more fat isn't the only reason you should do your cardio early. The third benefit of morning workouts is the "rush" and feeling of accomplishment that stays with you all day long after an invigorating workout. Exercise can become a pleasant and enjoyable experience, but the more difficult or challenging it is for you, the more important it is to get it out of the way early. When you put off any task you consider unpleasant, it hangs over you all day long, leaving you with a feeling of guilt, stress and incompleteness (not to mention that you are more likely to "blow off" an evening workout if you are tired from a long day at work or if your pals try to persuade you to join them at the pub for happy hour.)
You might find it hard to wake up early in the morning and get motivated to workout. But think back for a moment to a time in your life when you tackled a difficult task and you finished it. Didn't you feel great afterwards? Completing any task, especially a physically challenging one, gives you a "buzz." When the task is exercise, the buzz is physiological and psychological. Physiologically, exercise releases endorphins in your body. Endorphins are opiate-like hormones hundreds of times more powerful than the strongest morphine. Endorphins create a natural "high" that makes you feel positively euphoric! Endorphins reduce stress, improve your mood, increase circulation and relieve pain. The "high" is partly psychological too. Getting up early and successfully achieving a small goal kick starts your day and gives you feelings of completion, satisfaction and accomplishment. For the rest of the day you feel happy and you feel less stress knowing that the most difficult part of the day is behind you.
So, you say you're not a morning person? Take heart; neither am I. I can sleep in like you wouldn't believe! But I get up anyway because I know the effort is worth the results. When I have a bodybuilding goal that I am clearly focused on, such as reaching 4% or 5% body fat for a competition, I'm on my Stairmaster for 45 minutes every morning at the crack of dawn without fail. Sure it's a challenge at first, but you know what? After a few short weeks, It's no longer a chore and I'm "in the groove" - and you will be too. Just try it. Make a commitment to yourself to do it for just 21 days. Once those 21 days have gone by, you'll already be leaner and you'll be on your way to making morning workouts a habit that's as natural as brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Once you start getting used to feeling that buzz, you'll become "positively addicted" to it. The more you do it, the more you'll want to do it. Before you know it, early morning cardio will your new habit; you'll be leaner, your metabolism will be faster and you'll feel fantastic all day long!
_________________
 
i am never really hungry when i wake up but i love doing my cardio in the morning before i go to class or work. I make sure i get a good meal with plenty of protein and a protein shake right afterwards and i think it really helps get my day off to a good start. I am awake and ready to go.
 
I always did my cardio in the a.m. Empty stomach too. Never bothered me, and the fat melted off. Not to say I didn't lose SOME lean mass too, but more noticeably fat. Like someone said earlier, just trial and error on what works for you.
 
BabyHulk said:
I always did my cardio in the a.m. Empty stomach too. Never bothered me, and the fat melted off. Not to say I didn't lose SOME lean mass too, but more noticeably fat. Like someone said earlier, just trial and error on what works for you.
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Agreed...to maximize the fat loss from fasted morning cardio, I make sure I don't have any starchy carbs past noon the day before I do my morning session...that way, glycogen is depleted and the body is forced to utilize a larger percentage of fat for energy during the cardio session...at least that's what's worked for me.
 
**** i am confused i have no clue what to do... in a way so many differing opinions, im gona lay out my problem in another thread and hopefully it can be answered in less than 10 pages... lol (dont want to hijack this thread)

argh...
 
double s said:
I have actually asked this same question of some of the Pros,

Shawn Ray, Bob Chick, Milos Sarcev just to name a few and they themselves have always subscribed to the empty stomach method....

Treadmill anywhere from 3.5-4.5......
Click to expand...

They are also on cycle so that's somethign to keep inmind. I think a combo of HIT cardio and empty stomach low intensity steady state is best for fatloss.
 
running on an empty stomach rules
after a meal you just wana poo and it all mixes around in the stomach!!
cardio = always morning
in the late afternoon it just makes u wana go toilet
 
i either run on an empty stomach or after a protein shake, either one is fine.. but it is the best way to lose fat no question... u might lose a little muscle at the most, but nothing overwhelming... but if u wanna lose fat, run in the morning on an empty stomach, for about 30-45 minutes, i run for about 5.7 mph
 
Cardio training is meant to increase the strength of the heart and lungs. It helps to improve endurance and of course, it is core to burning calories. Cardio entails running, swimming, biking and many other activities that can increase your heart rate. So filling your tummy may not.
 
Personally I work out on empty most days. I find that for me I do better before eating.
 
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