The TRUTH About Empty Stomach Cardio

As long as I get a good solid 8 hr. sleep , I prefer to workout on an empty stomach, (don’t feel weighted down as much) and my performance does not seem to be affected…I’ll eat my regular meal closer to lunchtime

I’ve tried eating and I’ve done workouts on an empty stomach. I’ve never noticed a lack of energy on an empty stomach. But that’s probably because I’m waking up at 5:00 am to workout.

I’ve done workouts both ways. The truth is, unless I eat a really big meal the night before, I feel like I’m going to fall apart if I’m on an empty stomach. And, when my stomach is empty, I get nauseous, and who wants to try to do cardio when you already feel like throwing up? I feel much better after a protein shake in the morning, or having breakfast of 2 cage-free eggs and a serving of whole rolled oats oatmeal.

i don’t do workouts in the morning. BUT! due to different medical problems (heart and blood circulation) my doctor suggested me 4 years ago to do some physical activity in the morning. To be exact, it was: after waking up go outside (not to do this inside) and walk for 25 minutes (normal tempo). Only after that wash and eat.
The purpose of this activity is not “workout” or fat loss, but activating the metabolic systems of the body, especially oxygen processes and blood flow of internal organs. And this worked really well!
So all depends on your purpose and goal. Also I have noticed, that my yoga practice is much better in the morning with empty stomach (and those, who think, that ashtanga-vinyasa style yoga is something “easy and slow” – just try it :).

Sorry, completely disagree!! I’m getting a 6 pack for the first time after having 5 children from doing card in a fasted state and then waiting atleast 2 hours to eat. I found the key in not doing anymore slow steady state card marathon sessions, but a HIIT type training for 10 to 20 minutes and then 15 to 30 min of moderate steady state cardio. I’m going to have to agree that any real fatloss is going to come from your diet , with resistance training for muscle retention. I was a runner for a period of time and gained a legitimate spare tire from eating to run and the compensatory eating after the workouts. Now with the short intense workouts, my hunger is suppressed creating the perfect situation to really concentrate on your diet. The body adapts, and the people who feel horrible from working out in a non-fed state just aren’t used to it. Hope this helps someone, like me, who spent years exercising with unimpressive, actually counter-productive results!

Hi Joel,
I’ve tried it both ways in training for bodybuilding shows and have found that I need to put something in before doing moring cardio, or I start to lose muscle. What has worked really well for me, both for muscle sparing and energy wise, is eating a small meal of veggies with a scoop of whey and a Tbs of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil & about 5g of BCAAs. The mornings I go without the Coconut oil or BCAAs I can really notice a drop in performance.

Where is research ?

My experience is that we eat too little that is why we have belly fat! Eating more of the right foods (straight from mother nature) more often and cutting out on processed foods do some good old weight training as fast and intensely as you can and whalla the belly fat disappears and health steps in!!!!!
The nice part is that this high intensity training needs fuel. It is not possible to win a formula one race on parrafin! You need a high octane fuel and enough of it
Good nutrition before and after training is as important as the training itself.
Thanks for a great blog!

Oh dear – I’m an early morning person. I exercise at 6 am. I can’t see myself getting up a half hour earlier just to eat. The gym I work out at told me to eat before exercising too but I find that half way through my workout I get nauseous and almost lose what I ate. Maybe I’ll try the protein powder and see if that works.

thanks. I thought I read recently that walking on an empty stomach was a good thing. Wrong info is still available. Better know your source.

Joel,

Thank you for taking the time to write this post.

I have never been a fan of fasted cardio simply because I really enjoy eating breakfast…a lot. Getting up to workout has just never appealed to me. However, that is not to say that I believe it’s ineffective. I actually used it as a tool in my last bodybuilding contest prep, in the final weeks leading up to the show.

You mention in your post that “research has proven this [fasted state cardio] to be wrong.” You also refer to “several studies” in the post. I believe it to be great practice to support your assertions with data. What I’d like to see, however, are at least references in the footnotes of the article to back up your statements. Remember: No scientific study is perfect and completely conclusive. Despite efforts to control variables, factors still exist beyond researchers’ control.

In the studies you reference, were they performed on athletes or people who have not exercised regularly in their recent history? Were the studies done with significant group sizes? What were the somatotypes of the people studied, and does that make a difference? Were the diets controlled as well, or was that not considered a factor in the outcome? Were baseline hormone levels established for each subject? Were metabolic rates considered? Does age make a difference?

While I appreciate your assertions and logic, based on what you have presented, the evidence is not solid enough to accept it as the “TRUTH About Empty Stomach Cardio.” This argument over fasted state cardio has existed for quite some time now, and it keeps popping up in various articles from time to time. (An interesting discussion on this very subject by recognized experts in fitness and nutrition can be found on T-Nation: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_interviews/the_fasted_cardio_roundtable) I wonder. If the question didn’t exist, if studies were indeed conclusive, why do people still invest resources to develop new studies for the same question?

While generalizations can be made based on experience and research, each person’s physiology, life circumstances, and temperament is unique such that a “one size fits all” approach is practically impossible.

Dr. Berardi, I believe, said it best in the article I referenced above: “Any discussion of “protein” alone to get a great body is just stupid. And discussion of ‘fasted cardio’ alone to get a great body is just stupid. Any discussion of ‘carbs’ alone to get a great body is just stupid. Any discussion of ‘heavy lifting’ alone to get a great body is just stupid. It’s how all these things fit together that makes or breaks your progress!”

Hi Joel, i totally agreed with you !!

No food = No energy to exercise/no good performance = NO GOOD RESULTS !!

I do cardio and weights on alternate days. I always do my workouts early in the morning and all I have before is a big cup of freshly made carrot-and-apple jiuce with a lot of ginger and a spoonful of linseed oil. I drink green tea during my runs. If I eat before a workout, I get tired and my performance suffers. I don’t know if this qualifies as working out on an “empty” stomach, but it works for me.

If I eat too early in the morning, it seems to “wet” my appetite, and I end up eating way too many calories throughout the day….better off eating later in the morning, after a workout, then again late in the afternoon, and I keep my caloric intake down, and can keep my weight in check better that way…..workouts don’t seem to make a difference…if you ask me..YOU ARE WHAT and “HOW” YOU EAT

Hi Joel,
I am curious as to whether or not you did fasted morning cardio when you were training for the Body For Life transformation contest..? I would love to see the research you have found regarding fasted cardio.. many fitness gurus support fasted cardio… it will take some hard evidence to convince some of us to do morning cardio after eating.

@ Sugan:

you need to definitely stop training hours at a time especially on am empty stomach. You are wasting time by getting little from your workouts, increase the intensity and shorten the time under load ( oh, and stop using “cardio” equipment because they do almost nothing to transform your body. Grab some kettlebells and instruction, all your worries will be taken care of: high intensity, safe, effective, short time working out, boost in metabolism, increased tissue strength and endurance, and time to recover properly.
People often do too much of the wrong or right thing thinking they are doing great but this is truly sabotage, you will find that if you back off you will achieve the results you always desired.
Oh yea, empty stomach and work obviously make no sense together, it is like preparing for a long road trip by emptying your gas tank, stupid.

I am able to get through empty stomach workouts as long as they are low or moderate intensity. I consider steady state cardio low to moderate (more low), so I generally think empty stomach is fine for that. But if you’re doing any type of metabolic resistance “cardio”, I would definately prefer to get a meal with some carbs in me first. When I was working through the 1000 calorie challenge, I found that at about the 600 calorie progression level, if I didn’t get that morning meal, I simply would run out of gas. Since that is such an incredibly demanding workout, you simply must have some fuel to work with or else the workout is crappy. I just try to get my carbs early in the day, as you typically recommend, before and immediately after the most demanding type of workouts, then cut them off by afternoon and evening to switch to protein and fat, ending with a big dose of fish oil right before bed. Seems to be working pretty good.

Hey Joel..
I am currently following your XFLD and one of the days is fasting the entire day and working out. Is that not contradictory to what you saying here?

What about having a small yogurt instead of oatmeal? I get up at 4:30 to get to the gym before work and I need something quick. I haven’t been eating anything only having a little cofee with LF non-dairy creamer.

I have done cardio workouts both with or without eating before hand. I tend to do better without the food before hand. But, not always. Depending how long I go without food before I workout. Personally, I can get up at 6:30am, have my coffees (yes, more then one) do some things around the house, and have an hour workout done by 11:00am or noon, without any food. I will then eat right afterwards. Is this good? Probably not. I find I am more hungry for the rest of the day and night. I am going to try having something small before hand. My issue is not feeling well during a hard workout if I eat, but I will try this again. My biggest issue is taking in too many calories, so I would easily eliminate the small meal before the workout. I recently read, that you NEED to eat after your workout to stop over eating later during the day. Is there any validity to this? Thanks for the post.

My fitness adviser recommended morning cardio on an empty stomach. I didn’t believe it was a good idea, knowing my body and how it responds to the lack of food.

However, I did notice that my blood sugar is typically higher in the morning – for those of you who eat cottage cheese and berries at night (say around 10pm) and awake at 6am or earlier to work out. My blood sugar is right around 101 in the morning.

I’ve tried both – doing cardio on a very small breakfast and none at all. Admittedly, I do have a slightly better performance in the morning if I’ve had 120 to 200 calories. I noticed that I can run longer and a little harder, but without food, if I take it easy, I don’t have difficulty running for a 45 minutes and my heart rate is 135/145 during that time (no more than usual).

I still think I get better fat burn on the mornings that I don’t eat, even though my workout suffers slightly.

Honestly, I think this really depends on how your body is trained – what type of workout you do in the evenings and what you eat before bed, as a last meal.

Ok Joel,
here’s one for you. I own 3 businesses and have 4 and 6 year old children. I work all day, pick the kids up from after school care at 5pm, make dinner, clean-up dinner & do dishes, spend “quality” time with the kids, and then put them to bed. By the time I’m done, it’s about 9pm. I get back onto the computer and work until about 11pm. I do this 7 days a week.
So, the ONLY time I have to exercise is early in the morning. I wake up at 5:30am and exercise from 30-60 minutes. How am I supposed to eat BEFORE my workout when I’m working out 10 minutes after waking up?
I’m two weeks into the Cheat Your Way Thin “diet” and have lost a little bit of weight (couple pounds). I understand that I’m not going to lose a lot, because I’m working on losing “the last 15 pounds”.
Looking forward to your answer…
Thanks!
Rebecca

From everything I’ve read and done, here and elsewhere, it really just seems to be the time of day you do the workout and whether you’re used to being in a fasted state as to the the results of the not eating workout, high intensity or otherwise. I’m personally not a morning person, so whether or not I eat in the morning doesn’t even affect how I’m going to feel in my workout because I’m going to feel like crap either way. However, I could go all day without eating and still put out a good high intensity workout later on, granted I haven’t been fasting a lot within the last few days. The point is, exercising on an empty stomach is something that should be experimented with for everyone. It’s not just one of those things that you can use as a blanket statement because everyone’s different. You WILL burn more calories by not eating just due to the fact that you’re not taking in anything so you’re already at a deficit, but it’s all up to whether or not you can do it.

-Brad