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
spitboy2000 said:
What's your opinion on cardio on empty stomach in morning?
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I think its not a good idea!....

I always use a protein shake 20-30 min before I do morningcardio that to prevent muscle catabolism..

:)
 
I'm still trying to figure it all out. However, I have spent a lot of time doing cardio first thing in the AM on an empty stomach, then following it up with a meal containing 40-50g protein, and I have noticed no appreciable amount of catabolism versus eating something high in protein and low/no carbs prior to doing the AM cardio. Like everything else in training, probably individual-specific.

At least we should all agree AM cardio is the ****! :thumbsup:
 
My feeling has always been that AM cardio on an empty stomach is a good thing as long as it is low-intensity (walking, bike-riding)..It has worked well for me.
 
spitboy2000 said:
What's your opinion on cardio on empty stomach in morning?
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i agree w/ DT. I think it depends on the duration and intensity.

High intensity cardio for an hour and 15 minutes on an empty stomach is very difference from a 35 minute brisk walk on an emty stomach.
 
i agree, low intensity in the AM is good, i did a highly intense cardio session in the morning a few times, and i get the feel like i'm taking a double-dose of ephedra. personally, i'm not a huge fan of the jitters and feeling your heart pump through your back.
 
Neither! The correct answer is...... (drumroll please)

"Depends"!! (No, not the diapers)

If one were planning to do very high intensity exercise, such as sprinting intervals, it would be a pretty bad idea. Catabolism would be a definite factor.

Moderate intensity cardio (65-75% max HR) for 30-60 minutes would be fine. Although many people think the whole "it burns fat directly" is nothing more than an old wives' tale.
 
It depends on bf%. Someone overweight I would suggest cardio in the AM on an empty tank, those at lower bf% (single digit) I would suggest 25g protein shake about a half hour before to prevent muscle breakdown.
 
From my experience AM cardio on an empty stomach is the best way to lose fat. I have much better results than if I do my cardio in the afternoon. My endurance is lower, but large doses of Clenbutrx take care of that.
 
I guess it depend of the intensity of cardio training.

Sure you can do HIIT on empty stomach too, and sure you can burn fat, but when you are concerned about muscle loss, I don't think it is a good idea.
 
It's a great way to lose fat. Don't go too long, or don't be too intense, you may risk muscle mass. Take some glutamine/BCAA before if you can afford it.
 
i do fasted cardio only once a week, very low intensity (walking) for 30mins MAX
i figure at that rate, because walking burns a large amount of of fat for energy and not much glucose, so protein(muscle) will be spared, however, in your morning fasted state you will burn slightly more fat than after a meal, but keeping this very controlled so you dont sacrifice muscle mass, to lose a few extra pounds! but still burn a bit more fat, than if you were just walking after a few meals!

every little bit counts, but dont go overboard!
 
First off, most HIIT sessions are 20-30min tops, you really think you are going to have that much muscle loss after a 20min workout a few times a week?
 
SureShot said:
First off, most HIIT sessions are 20-30min tops, you really think you are going to have that much muscle loss after a 20min workout a few times a week?
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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!
 
On a normal balanced type of diet, you would wake up with lower glycogen stores, they wouldn't be completely empty. A 15-20 HIIT session would hardly burn any muscle (if it did it'd be negligble) and would burn what's left of your morning glycogen stores. If you really want to play it on the safe side, you could walk on the treadmill at a 4-5% incline for about 30-40 minutes. The net calories burned would not be the same, but there's even less of a chance for burning muscle tissue. You can also supplement with glutamine and BCAA's if you're worried, this is almost a guaranteed defense against burning muscle during morning cardio.
 
I would have to agree, though. Empty stomach is NOT the best time to do a serious HIIT session. It's almost like waking up and performing weight training on an empty stomach!
 
I also have gotten my best fat loss results from cardio in the am on an empty stomach, I stick to 20 min HIIT, my best results have come when doing wind sprints on the beach
 
R-Mac said:
I also have gotten my best fat loss results from cardio in the am on an empty stomach, I stick to 20 min HIIT, my best results have come when doing wind sprints on the beach
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Likewise, I have had great success doing 15-20 HIIT routines in the A.M. I would do it about 3 times per week. However, I think alternating the cardio styles b/w long duration/low intensity and a HIIT type may be best.
 
- Low to moderate intensity.

- Preferably with ECY about 20-30 mins prior

- A double small WHEY shake (w/water) or amino pak before is definitely a deal clencher

Its one of my givens.
 
BCAAs and glutamine before, moderate intensity (60-70%) for up to 30 min, followed immediately by breakfast.
 
If you are doing low intensity first thing in the morning there is no need for amino acids unless you bought them to be converted in glucose via gluconeogensis.
 
BTW- If you are doing high intensity those same amino acids are almost guaranteed to be used as fuel. You are better off just using some form of carbohydate.
 
Bobo said:
If you are doing low intensity first thing in the morning there is no need for amino acids unless you bought them to be converted in glucose via gluconeogensis.
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There are some times when you'd rather use some circulating dietary aminos rather than catabolizing muscle tissue. This is especially true with BCAA's. Using carbs right before morning cardio kinda negates the whole purpose for morning cardio. Your body is guaranteed to use the carbs before it heavily taps into fat stores.
 
No its not. Low cardio shows a preference for using FFA's for fuel rather than glucose. High intensity exercise OTOH is heavily dependent on glucose.

There are NEVER times you want to use dietary aminos. That means your body has shifted to a point where gluconeogenesis is increased and you do NOT want that.
 
IHateGymMorons said:
Using carbs right before morning cardio kinda negates the whole purpose for morning cardio.
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Not if it is high intesnity exercise. That would be like saying using carbs before resistant training will negate the effects of fat mobilization. It does not.
 
Cutting The Fat and Keeping The Mass: Is it really possible?
by Tom McCullough MEd., MSS
"What happens when the intensity of the exercise is increased ->70& VO2 max-? Sure the oxidation rate of FFA increased but lactate production also increases. Lactate decreases the FFA mobilization rate and increases FFA reesterification rate. Carbohydrates then become an increasingly important source of fuel. However, during prolonged sub maximal exercise blood lactate levels are very low, thus not affecting FFA mobilization significantly. Thus, carbohydrates are used much less as a fuel and oxidated fats become the most abundant source of energy"
 
Bobo said:
Not if it is high intesnity exercise. That would be like saying using carbs before resistant training will negate the effects of fat mobilization. It does not.
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Yes, you should take some carbs before any high intensity activity.
 
Bobo said:
No its not. Low cardio shows a preference for using FFA's for fuel rather than glucose. High intensity exercise OTOH is heavily dependent on glucose.

There are NEVER times you want to use dietary aminos. That means your body has shifted to a point where gluconeogenesis is increased and you do NOT want that.
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Yes that's true, but you also said:

"If you are doing low intensity first thing in the morning there is no need for amino acids unless you bought them to be converted in glucose via gluconeogensis."

It's true, your body uses a very high proportion of FFA, so why are you so worried about converting $.50 of amino acids if you're primarily NOT using glucose?
 
Ummm.....

What is the point of taking amino acids if they are not going to get used for their primary role OR they get converted in glucose? Its a waste.
 
For low intensity, no.

For high, yes.
 
Yes, around 60%.


There is a reason most IFBB pros (actually the majority of all pro's) walk on a treadmill for their cardio.
 
Bobo said:
Yes, around 60%.


There is a reason most IFBB pros (actually the majority of all pro's) walk on a treadmill for their cardio.
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Actually I hear that Kevin Levrone has been known to sprint quite a bit. It's hard to imagine a 300lb BB'er doing that or any other form of high intensity cardio for that matter. It's gotta be akward looking for some of those massive freaks. I would think that their inner thighs would rub together so severely fast and hard that they would get some pretty serious skin burns. Ha-ha. also many pros are on 2-a-day workouts so to add in a second high intensity activity would too much. They're better served by a more low and traditional approach.
 
IHateGymMorons said:
Actually I hear that Kevin Levrone has been known to sprint quite a bit. It's hard to imagine a 300lb BB'er doing that or any other form of high intensity cardio for that matter. It's gotta be akward looking for some of those massive freaks. I would think that their inner thighs would rub together so severely fast and hard that they would get some pretty serious skin burns. Ha-ha. also many pros are on 2-a-day workouts so to add in a second high intensity activity would too much. They're better served by a more low and traditional approach.
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He used to be a track and field athlete. He does not sprint during his precontest diet.

Most pro's do not use 2-a-day workouts, they use 2-a-day cardio sessions in the form of low intensity. I see them everyday. Most do a walking session first thing in the morning (usually 45-60 minutes) then take a nap, then they do another 30 minute session after weight traning. Now ALL pro's don't do it this way but the majority follow a schedule similar to that incorpating very low intensity multiple times per week. You also have to take into account the various drug regiments they use. They can do much more in terms of workouts and cardio than the regular person.
 
IHateGymMorons said:
Actually I hear that Kevin Levrone has been known to sprint quite a bit. It's hard to imagine a 300lb BB'er doing that or any other form of high intensity cardio for that matter. It's gotta be akward looking for some of those massive freaks. I would think that their inner thighs would rub together so severely fast and hard that they would get some pretty serious skin burns. Ha-ha. also many pros are on 2-a-day workouts so to add in a second high intensity activity would too much. They're better served by a more low and traditional approach.
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Most of the local pro's aorund here could easily do high intensity if they wished. They are not "freakish" compared to the top guys. You are talking about the top 1% of 1% there.
 
Bobo said:
Most of the local pro's aorund here could easily do high intensity if they wished. They are not "freakish" compared to the top guys. You are talking about the top 1% of 1% there.
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Yeah, I'm speaking of the guys you see in the Olympia today. Many pros do use 2-a-day's, but this is only for a temporary thing and mostly likely not during a cutting phase. When dieting it's really hard to have energy for both weight training AND HIIT training within the same day - especially for the naturaly guys.
 
IHateGymMorons said:
Yeah, I'm speaking of the guys you see in the Olympia today. Many pros do use 2-a-day's, but this is only for a temporary thing and mostly likely not during a cutting phase. When dieting it's really hard to have energy for both weight training AND HIIT training within the same day - especially for the naturaly guys.
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Not that I know of. The biggest high volume guy was Jay Cutler who used to do split sessions all the time but switched to less volume and less 2-a-days and look what happend? He won. The majority do not use 2-a-days anymore.
 
Bobo, would you say that low intensity cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is better than doing cardio post weight training ?
 
Its tough to say. They both are done in similar conditions (although post workout GH output is fairly high). In truth I have never seen a difference between between the two. Techinally when youi break it down one could be better than another but it would probably be statistically insignificant when it comes to overall results (like most things are). So I wouldn't worry about it too much....

Fat loss is something that occurs over a very long peroid of time.
 
Iron Warrior said:
Bobo, would you say that low intensity cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is better than doing cardio post weight training ?
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I would have thought that cardio in the morning is better than doing it post workout.
The main reason being that following a workout you need to consume some carbs & protein.
Wouldn't doing cardion following your workout eat into your recovery time?
 
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.
 
Bobo 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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Thanks 4 educating me Bobo.
I didn't realise that the GH release lasted up to 60 mins post workout.
 
im going to start doing a bit of incline walking after a couple of my training sessions, but i dont know which ones i should do it after

basically my split is the standard...
monday - legs
tuesday - chest + tri
wednesday - fasted 30min walk (low-intensity)
thursday - back + bi
friday - shoulders + traps
saturday - HIIT
sunday - rest

i read bobo saying that its not good to do it after things like legs and big body parts, which leaves me with just friday to do it, would it be ok doing it after chest + tri's or back + bi's? or would that be too much

also i follow a carb cycling routine, so i have a no-carb day on wednesday + sunday (hence the small amount of training on those days)
my carb cycle is (H,L,N,H,L,L,N)
i was also thinking of replacing the HIIT cardio on the saturday with lower-intensity cardio (like 65-75% HR for 45mins, non-fasted)

thanks for any suggestions!
 
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