The TRUTH About Empty Stomach Cardio

I did the P90X program every morning before breakfast and didn’t notice that I was zapped for energy most of the time. There were some days I would tank half way through the workout but they only happened about once in two weeks which might be normal. It seemed that the supper meal had more to do with that than anything.

There were times when I had to do the workout in the afternoon or evening and for the most part I didn’t notice a difference. There were a couple evening workouts where I seemed to have abounding energy but that was rare. I never had that kind of excessive energy in the morning.

Summary… for me, working out in the morning didn’t appear to diminish my performance for the most part as long as I had eaten a good meal the previous evening.

I do fasted morning cardio. I do high intensity intervals 3 days a week. 20 minute sessions. It hasn’t hurt my performance that I can tell. Maybe it has. I’ll try eating a small breakfast and see what that does. Thanks Joel.

i usually do my cardio in the morning on emphy stomach low/moderate for 40 min then i hit the weights in the afternoon for 30 min that is the way i got in my best shape.
6 ft tall
before 230 lbs @ 26% bf
now 185 lbs @ 10% bf

I didn’t know about the research. I just know I feel really lousy if I exercise first thing in the morning without eating. Almost fainted on the treadmill one time. Bad scene!

Joel, THANK YOU!!! This is yet another great article from you; and I appreciate all your insight and easily discernible information! I have for some considerable time, contemplated performing empty-stomach cardio (esc) because I was inundated with those notions of esc being the most effective means of burning fat early in the day. But I work out alone with heavy dumbbells, and I invariably need every ounce of energy and focus to perform incline dumbbell presses (for safety reasons as well as training). So I always feel compelled to at least have a large cup of coffee mixed with creme & whey protein to be revved up. On that basis, I had assumed I was sacrificing a bit of the fat-burning benefits (to avoid dropping weights on my head- :D). But after reading this, I’m pleasantly surprised to find that my assumptions were wrong. Thanks again, and keep up the great job!!!!

Hey Joel,

Love your posts in general, you’re right on, but this one’s a little deceptive. Glad you said right at the beginning you were really talking about metabolic resistance training. I do about 10 minutes of high intensity interval cardio 3 days a week on an empty stomach when I first wake up. I NEVER do long slow distance, as I believe it’s an inefficient waste of time. I also do my strength training on an empty stomach when I first wake up, but I’m not into the “body builder” approach. You can see my results at age 60 here:

http://lookgreatnakedatanyage.com

Thanks for all the great info!

Robert

I do weight-training workouts 5 days a week. I always have a whey shake and some slow digesting carbs before a workout (Jeff Anderson’s pre-workout supplement formuias work great). However, recently I started doing a lot more cardio in order to cut some of the fat off my body, and I’ve noticed that I do great on a single whey protein shake and some yogurt about 30 minutes before my workout/run. I’m 5’11”, 220lbs, but with low body fat (not sure right now). I have a body-builder body type, however, I recently finished two 10K’s without any cardio traing prior to them beating my friend who runs all the time. It’s becaue I keep my weight training intense, and I really think the pre-run shake/yogurt combo with a bit of caffeine had given me the perfect amount of energy. Without it, I wouldn’t make it

I’m a religious progress journaler, and there is no doubt whatsoever that I get superior results doing intense cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I don’t even get half the progress if I eat first.

I have been working out in the mornings on an empty stomach….but just didn’t know any better. Thanks for the tip. I’ll try it out.

I never do cardio or weight training on an empty stomach. I get nauseous, dizzy, and feel totally wiped out in the first few minutes if I do. Like your post said, I can perform better with something in my stomach and I feel better while I am working out! Great article!

I understand the idea of not doing intense work on an empty stomach, but I think most advocates suggest very light cardio(like a brisk walk) on an empty stomach. This way you are not relying on a high performance workout to burn your calories. Instead you are trying to increase your calorie burning overall with something which won’t tax your CNS and interfere with recovery and your resistance or metabolic workouts. Thoughts?

Joel! great article! First off, I want to mention that I agree 100% but I also think that it depends on the individual. I know many people who can work out on an empty stomach and never hit a wall and they lift heavy and never fizzle.
With that said, I’m here to tell you that I’m not one of those people lol! I tried it many times before and felt EXACTLY like your friend did and I gave up working out in a fasted state. I always eat something before I do any exercise and My strength and workouts are MUCH,much better. Now that I read this article, I wonder if the people who don’t eat before exercise would have even greater workouts/results if they ate something prior to exercise. I remember back in the day when Bill Phillips came out with the morning cardio routines on an empty stomach and Im willing to bet that the ECA stack that he recommended had more to do with the fat loss then the empty stomach theory :)
I hope all is well!
~R~

@Marge –
Marge,
I too am just starting the Cheat Your Way Thin and am on the first week of the Priming Phase of Low Carbs too. You can eat a little more carbs before or after a workout than your other meals and still be ok. I don’t over do it, but I allow myself more before or after a workout (whichever you do) to give me energy or refuel.

@Danny K –
Danny K: A tip, keep a journal where you write down what exercise, how many sets, reps and weight you used. That way you keep track of your progress. If you can, add a little weight each time to your final set of the excercise (if you do more than one set).

I do cardio weight training twice a week along with weight training three times a week. I take a whey/soy protein combo along with pineapple juice before exercising. I also add a teaspoon of powdered magnesium with my pre-morning shake.

Hi Joel – This one always concerns me. Truth is, I do just fine and get in hard workouts, but I’ve heard about the research you mention so I wonder. I get up at 3:30am and I’m in the gym by 4am. Taking the time to eat just doesn’t work for my schedule. Should I mix up a small whey drink the night before and drink it when I get up? Would my body actually use it while I was working out? I do drink a lot of water during my workout. After workout I immediately do whey and now following the primer stage of your plan. Thanks! Shawn

I actually do well with the empty stomach cardio but I will try it with a small bowl of oatmeal and some egg whites to see if my performance gets better. Thanks for the update. It never hurts to learn more.

I used to do this when I was younger (I’m 39 now). I also used to walk to work for more than an hour each day, and I’d try to make the walk without eating breakfast, thinking it’d shave off a little more fat. I had a serious body image problem, because I was already very thin and beautiful – everyone would tell me so – but I thought I must not be thin enough because I wasn’t happy yet. I thought if I were thin enough then I’d be happy. I know now this isn’t true.

This thought pattern along with a traumatic marriage put me in my current state of adrenal burnout. Now I can only walk for exercise, and not too long, or I end up exhausted.

Joel, do you have any experience with adrenal burnout, or anything to say on the topic?

Joel,
I take daily thyroid medication that has to be taken first thing in the am on an empty stomach…an hour before eating anything. I am a busy mom with 3 kids so I work out at 5:30 in the morning (or else it doesn’t get done!). So what do you suggest for me? I can’t change my medication regimen… I feel okay exercising in a fasted state.

Hey Joel, From reading responses set to my email. I just want to say ‘happy feedings’ is up to ones own personal prefrence & sched. So may variations.

I know for sure sound nutritional multi-feedings thru the day is optimal for growth.

I like the poundage I have 175, 5-11, 8.6 BF. With your sensibe multi eating..& awesome Cheating..
In all tho, what counts most in my personal opinion is:
ENDORPHIN RETURN… Every lift, every HITTT cardio just get’s better w/each rep(!) Thanks again for your common sense approach to working w/body instead of AGAINST IT!!! Nekomas ~

In my case I tried both empty and with a small meal. The differences I realized is about performance (I can’t measure how many fats I burn per session with or without meal, and I really don’t care) and pre-mind setup. In my opinion Is better having something in my stomach first, I feel stronger, well tempered and the workout is really enjoyable. More than one reason to have a good and effective training session.
Lifestyle, that’s what we are talking about. Don’t make it bothering.
Regards to the forum , and excuse me for my English, I’m not native speaker.
Joel, thanks for your advices, I find them really really interesting.

I agree with you Joel. You have to put something into your stomach if you are going to do resitance training. I always try to get a small protein based snack in before my resistance training, usually it is whey protein mixed with water. If I want to add carbs then I may mix the whey with fat free milk and add a banana. I personally can not do resitance training without some sort of fuel in me. However, I have seen no effect to doing HIIT (I don’t do long cardio) on an empty stomach.

Last summer I did mostly empty stomache workouts (HHIT for 15 min + core exercises) 5 days a week. I lost 14 lbs. Stopped for several reasons (hormone issues + sick child). I hit a brick wall, HARD. Put it all back on and am now stuck.
Been working out 3 days per week since Jan doing lots of resistance training, I feel strong and actually have some muscle definition (very cool) but the scale will not budge.
I started Cheat Your Way Thin in hopes of changing this but it’s too early to tell. I was just thinking about starting morning workouts again. But I do notice I have way better workouts post supper on Mon, Wed than I do empty stomach Sat morning.
I think this just confirms that for I prefer to have the stamina to go that little bit extra. I’ll be eating breakfast on Saturdays now.

Hi, I am doing John Bensons 7minute Muscle workout followed by 12 minutes high intensity interval training on the treadmill five days a week at 6.0am before work. I never have breakfast before I train and I am in the best shape I have been in for years. ps I am 63 years bold. Reguards Chris.

Having trained regularly for over a half century, including eight different sports, I don’t think there is a definitive answer to the “eat before a workout” issue. If you are going to run hard, you better eat at least an hour before you train, or you might see your breakfast a second time. A small meal with carbs can help you if you are going to do an intense work out. Other than that, you are going to burn you body’s glycogen stores. If they are depleated, you are in for a rough time…like the guys in the marathon who “hit the wall” at about 20 miles.

How you feel in your morning training session may have more to do with what you ate the night before than with what you ate that morning. If you skipped dinner or starved yourself the day before, you could wind up with a lousy morning trainig session the day after.

My main thought is that you need to look at what you have been eating for the three to four days before your workout to guage how you will perform. There are many other factors to consider. If you are overtrained, it does not matter what you eat..you will do poorly. Fixating on the one meal before a training session genrally will not tell you very much

@Michael Powell –