I normally do cardio on an empty stomach because I start my workouts at 4:45 am and I am not about to get up at 4:15 to eat something! I have noticed variation in my workout performance even without eating. Some days I feel powerful and dominant and other days can be a bit of a struggle.
Over the weekend I hit the gym with my buddy Mikey for a morning cardio workout.
Now, I say “cardio”, but really it was a metabolic resistance training session.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the simple definition for metabolic resistance training is “cardio with weights”. We’ll cover this more in detail in another update so as not to get too off topic.
So we’re about 10 minutes into the workout and Mikey looks like he’s in pretty bad shape (despite being in really GOOD shape). So I asked him what the deal was.
“I didn’t eat anything for breakfast.”
Me: Why the heck not?
“I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do if you want to burn the most fat from your morning workouts.”
Uh oh.
Perhaps you’re still believing this old myth just like good ol’ Mikey, so allow me to take a moment to dispel it.
The theory behind empty stomach is cardio is simple: supposedly, by doing cardio on a empty stomach, you tap directly into fat stores since glycogen (carbohydrate) stores are somewhat depleted after an overnight fast.
Seems to make sense, but research has proven this to be wrong.
Several studies have shown no difference in substrate utilization (glycogen vs. fat) for those working out on an empty stomach vs. those who eat a small meal prior to their morning workouts.
In fact, one study showed the exact opposite—those who had a small meal first burned more calories and more fat than the empty stomach group.
How can this be?
The reason is rather simple if you think about it. I was kicking butt and taking names with my workout, and Mikey was barely able to get through his. Even if not eating beforehand allowed you to burn more fat (which it doesn’t), the major trade off is performance.
And why does performance matter? Well, if you can’t perform at an optimal level and put forth maximal effort, then you are not going to be burning an optimal amount of calories–period.
The truth is, empty stomach cardio is an outdated philosophy whose theory was proven incorrect by research. Still, there are plenty of people who hold on to the theory despite the available research. Perhaps they’re not aware of it, perhaps they just go by what the fitness and bodybuilding magazines tell them (bad idea); I’m not sure.
Whatever the reason, popular philosophy doesn’t always mean correct philosophy, and this is one such instance.
So I’ll leave you with some practical recommendations:
At the very minimum, have a couple scoops of whey before any morning “cardio” workout.
That said, if it’s still negatively affecting your performance, you need to go a bit further. The meal doesn’t have to be large, but it should contain some complex carbs (oatmeal, etc) along with a small serving of protein.
Give it about a half hour to begin digesting and then hit your workout.
Better performance = more calories burned = more fat loss = improved cardiovascular functioning = even better performance = even more calories burned = even more fat loss.
Don’t be like my friend Mikey and have a crappy workout because you didn’t eat. As I shared with you, the research shows that’s not going to make a difference anyway. Instead, eat your Wheaties (figuratively speaking) and then dominate your workout!
Alright, now it’s comment time:
I want to know: Do you still do empty stomach cardio? Will you give it up based on this post? Do you notice your performance suffers?
Or maybe you do REALLY well with empty stomach cardio.
Either way, let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below!
Chat with you below!
Your friend,
Joel
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As a single mum of 4 kids, I can’t get to the gym before 9.15 in the morning, so I always have oats with fruit within 1/2 hr of waking. I train 7 days a week and have never exercised on an empty stomach . To me the idea of not eating has always sounded wrong. I have lost over 28kilos doing this and have gone down 6 dress sizes in two years. I do find however that if I weight train after cardio I do need a protein drink or a banana inbetween otherwise I just don’t have the energy. Jo from australia
i eat before most weight training however i would like you to clarify this: DOES DOING REGULAR CARDIO (EX. RUNING ON A TREADMILL) BETTER WHEN DONE IN THE MORNING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH, thats usually what i do before going to school i go to the gym run for about 20min. shower then head to school (the gym is a block away from my school) and have breakfast in my first class–>usually a yougurt and fruit or cottage cheese and fruit or hardboiled egg. (the teacher is really cool about me eating in class)
i do cardio in the morning (empty stomach) and weight in the afternoon i feel much better when i do cardio in the mornin on an empty stomach i tried eating it makes me slow and sluggish even if i just have a low carb all natural whey protein or any small protein meal all i just drink water beforehand and umm please clarify if this is better or i should seriously make an effort to adapt my body to actually eat before morning cardio workout (i wake up at 5:30 and hit the gym around that time)
What effects my workouts more than anything is the prior evening/day’s meals. If I have been eating fairly clean for a couple days, ie lots of veggies, complete protein, and good fats, I tend to just fly along in my workouts. As long as I’m well fueled with all the necessary micro-nutrients, well hydrated, and have some level of clean burning fuel, I absolutely fly through workouts. However, if I go too long like that, and my body is looking for something it doesn’t have, I crash hard. I’ve basically learned to listen to my body and tell the difference between having lots of good nutrients in me and being really “lite” and be starved, which ironically feels very very “heavy”.
that’s right joel! great post.
and the training is much better with a pre-workoutsnack!
greetz
hello again joel,
in your reply to my comment, you asked to tell you what research talks about cardio in the morning for increased fat loss. quickly looking through my collection of articles, i located one(i have more but i think i have given them to people) from muscle and fitness magazine from november 2002 page 101, called “time to burn”. it says that “the theory that cardio exercise on an empty stomach first thing in the morning has the greatest potential for fat loss is firmly supported by science”. it talks about the different studies and it gives all the references at the end of the article.
however, it also says that although it increases fat loss, it does also increase muscle catabolism and that 20 to 30 grams of whey protein before the workout would prevent that.
i have come to the conclusion that both ways work. each one of us needs to experiment with our body and determine what works best. if one feels weak without food, by all means, eat!!! if one is like me and can do high intensity cardio with only coffee with no problems, great!!! do it, and reap the benefits.
just remember to eat immediately after you’re done with cardio, and eat every 2-3 hours to keep metabolism high continue to burn fat.
thanks for all the links. i learned a lot from them!!!!!!!!!!
there’s a good article in ‘muscle and fitness’ magazine-november 2002, called “time to burn.” it gives research information on cardio on an empty stomach and it gives references at the end of the article. it says that the greatest potential for fat loss is firmly supported by science. there are many other articles, too. too many to list here.
stop conplaining so much just force yourself to eat befor workouts i used to feel likei was gonna vomit getting uop and eating at 5 am for 5 5 20 am start so i started with a shake of protein and milo then slowely moved on to food now i have oats and protein powder and find workout are much better. its just about forcing yourself and if u disagree with what joel says shut up and do what u wish but others dnt need to read your conplaints
I get up too early to have breakfast and then 30 minutes to digest it. I do not weight training in the morning, but just cardio that is, for me, running. IF I try running with something in my stomach, the result is straightforward: I throw up!! Anyway, you do not run on what you just had, but on your glycogen, both liver and muscle glycogen. Unless you run long distance, and if you train regularly, you have enough stock to go quite a distance on this! And don’t wreck havoc on your insulin level before you exercise, that’s not very clever.
I hear you Joel ! The only thing fasted-state morning cardio did for me was lose precious lean muscle mass. Not wanting to get off topic but cardio directly after weight-training made me lose muscle too. Admittedly my endomorph body with ectomorph limbs (not one mesomorph DNA strand in me, unfortunately) doesn’t help….
When it comes to weight training, I’m with you 100%. When it comes to hard cardio, like running or speed walking, I can not agree. I’ve tried it several times but have found that if I do really hard cardio, even if I haven’t eaten in the last two hours, it gives me nasty cramps. Moderate cardio, I can eat about an hour before, but if I am going all out all I get is a belly in severe pain. But that’s just me.
For years I did my weight training on an empty stomach!! Then I met Michael Geary and he suggested to eat at least 2 meals before I trained. What a huge difference that made! I worked out with higher intensity, lifted heavier, and for the first time actually saw results! As far as cardio is concerned I do take 45 minutes, steady pace walks, 3 times a week first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. My MHR is only about 50-60% the entire time & this works for me. I have tried the high intensity interval training & for some reason this doesn’t work for me. I think it’s a combination of the fresh air, stress relieving, non-stress hormone building exercise that my body likes! I have tried incorporating some running into my walking routines, but on an empty stomach it’s like dragging 100 pounds behind me!
I thought the same thing, that you should do cardio on an empty stomach! Given that I am now 46 and having a difficult enough time getting the fat burners turned on and metabolism going, I will definately try eating a small meal prior to my workouts. It does make sense to fuel your workout. I am trying to crank my weight loss up to 2lbs per week to reach a goal. Maybe this will help do the trick! Thanks for the good information!
I’d like to see links to those actual articles to read the methodology, especially what they actually measured. Was the no preworkout meal group doing interval sprints first thing when they woke up? Did they continue this for several weeks?
Frankly, I don’t believe for a second that they’ll actually show what their headlines claim they show.
Time to fatigue, or energy expended during the workout is irrelevant. What matters is what burns the most fat long term.
Originally Posted By Joel MarionLook them up; I provided the references!
I tried, all I could find were abstracts. Do you have links to the full articles?
I always work out very early in the mornings, and initially I simply couldn’t eat – I would feel like throwing up even before my workout began. As I intensified my cardio workouts, I found I was running out of gas too quickly and found it harder and harder to get through each workout. A friend suggested eating half a toasted bagel, with some pure liquid honey…it digests really easily and gives a significant boost to carry you through even the toughest cardio workout.
So I tried it…I didn’t have that overwhelming feeling of wanting to throw up and it did provide the energy I needed. After the workout, I’m famished and replenish with good protein/carb balanced meal.
@Cindy –
Cindy. I also do Crossfit and am in the third week of the Priming phase. Week 1 is really hard on the Crossfit side, but boy do you get lean!. Week two has given me the best combination of weight loss/leaness/and performance. MY high GL week has been intresting in that my perfomance has been good, but my soreness has been very intense. Probably the drop in my fat consumption. I exercise in the morning on a empty stomach.
Originally Posted By Joel Marion
Originally Posted By GeorgeThere is proven fact clinical research that proves empty stpmach cardio burns more fat. I have always dont cardio this way and it works.
“A study carried out at Kansas State University (Wilcox, Harford & Wedel Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, 17:2, 1985), indicates that a kilogram of fat will be oxidized sooner when exercising in the fasted condition in the morning than when doing the same exercise in the afternoon. By measuring respiratory gas exchange, caloric expenditure, and carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism, these researchers showed that the mass of fat burned during aerobic exercise amounts to 67% of the total energy expenditure achieved when the same exercise is done later in the day or in the fed state.”1985….that’s 25 years ago.
Most of the laws of physics and biology that we consider foundational today are more than 25 years old.
Your statement implies that a 25 year old study must be inaccurate or irrelevant. That’s bad methodology and reduces your credibility. If you can reveal a flaw in the study then you have something. Otherwise, its just as credible as a study that concluded yesterday.
By the way, I’m not saying Joel is wrong. I’m just saying I’m seeing studies that have mutually exclusive conclusions so it seems that, based on what we have in this discussion, the jury is still out on this issue .
I do empty stomache, but for a good reason. I’m diabetic. to eat beforehand, means I need to get up at 4AM, test, take a shot, eat, and then go to the gym for my 5 am session. What happens naturally is that when I get up and do ESC, my blood sugar will rise, giving me glucose for a workout. To take insulin beforehand often means that I’m crashing on the treadmill from low blood sugar.
This is just works for me…
I get up at 4:30 and workout immediately. I don’t want to eat that early in the morning. I do not feel weak and do well. Is it going to hurt me in any way to not eat before my workout?
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...