Fasted cardio has been a hot topic in the fitness and nutrition industries for the past few years. Many people have raved about their experiences with fasted exercise.
It is important to remember that exercise while fasting is not for everyone. Listen to your body and do what feels best for you.
Research on fasted exercise is still in the early stages, but some studies have shown that working out on an empty stomach can help reduce health risks.
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One study done on a sample of healthy males found that those who exercised while fasting experienced improvement in their bodies’ response to insulin. With increased sensitivity to insulin, their cells can use and store glucose more effectively.
Experts have found that fasted exercise can help decrease low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol, in another study. Balanced blood sugar levels and lower LDL levels can help protect from Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The human growth hormone (HGH) plays an integral role in lean body composition, cell repair and metabolism. Studies found that HGH boots muscle growth and helps recovery from injury and illnesses. Furthermore, the impact of fasted exercise on blood sugar levels extends to HGH. Research has shown that insulin spikes can disrupt natural HGH production.
Intermittent Fasting: Should You Exercise On Empty?
When exercising on an empty stomach, the body turns to stored fuel to compensate for the spent energy. It utilizes our glucose and fat reserves. A small study found fasted exercise can help you burn up to 20% more fat than those who work out after a meal. However, some experts have found that fasted cardio does not have an impact on fat loss overall.
Whether you choose to workout fasted or not, remember that reaching your fitness goals is a result of a cumulative healthy lifestyle (Learn about four benefits you stand to gain an active lifestyle).
Your nutrition, especially during Ramadan, is essential in maintaining your energy levels throughout the day. We’ve shared a few ways to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your iftar meal to keep you hydrated and energized here.
Weight Loss Workout: 4 Tips And Tricks For Losing Weight While Fasting
Healthy Livingis a frequently updated content section brought to you by the Saudi Sports for All Federation. In the spirit of supporting our #HealthyActiveCommunity, we’re sharing tips around wellness, physical activity and more!AFTER LEARNING TO count your macros, spending your time and money on grocery hauls and meal prep, and going all-in on protein, you might be looking for a different way to tweak your nutrition plan to meet your fitness goals. You'll probably land on one of the most popular practices for physique-minded folks in recent years: intermittent fasting.
The practice has come a long way since its humble beginnings: In the early 1940s, scientists were testing the effect of daily fasting on the lifespan of rats. A daily practice of fasting appeared to correlate to a longer lifespan in the animals—springing the idea for the now popular diet strategy. The process is spelled out in the name: You'll eat only for a small window of time during each day. By only allowing for such a small period for intake and eliminating opportunities for mindless eating, you’ll create a calorie deficit. You’ll gain control over your consumption by simply sticking to a timer—no more logging meals or purging your kitchen of foods some restrictive diets don't allow.
Of course, there are some caveats to the practice. Food is fuel—and we need that for our workouts. If you’re the kind of person that struggles putting forth your best effort in the gym unless you’ve had your pre-workout snack, you might find it difficult to determine when to fit your workout into your day while you're intermittent fasting.
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This is important for more than just your energy levels. Our bodies utilize glucose stores for energy during exercise. Fasting diminishes those stores, lowering our blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar levels may cause several symptoms including elevated heart rate, shaking, confusion, and dizziness—increasing your risk of injury in the gym.
That doesn’t mean you can’t work out when you’re using intermittent fasting. It’s a matter of proceeding safely in a way that will still optimizes your training. A few small changes in your schedule and practices and you can continue your quest for that dream physique safely..
Let’s back up for a moment. First, it's important to understand the intermittent fasting schedule before you consider how to implement the strategy within a workout plan.
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The most common type of intermittent fasting is the daily, time-restricting format. Typically, there’s a 16-hour fast, followed by an eight hour eating window. For example, someone could make their eating period between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m., only consuming lunch and dinner.
The time schedule can vary depending on your day. If you’re a person that needs more fuel in the morning, you may run on a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule instead. The time of day doesn’t really matter, as long as the consumption window sits at eight hours.
If you frequently succumb to the temptation of a nighttime walk to the fridge, IF might just be the thing you need to keep your snacking in check and lose that excess weight.
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“Intermittent fasting puts a cap on eating and can eliminate or minimize overconsumption at night. This can decrease calorie intake, can help with better sleep as the stomach won't be having a fiesta when it is time for a siesta, ” says Leslie Bonaci, R.D., M.P.H, sports dietician for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Weight loss isn’t the only benefit to the practice, though. There’s some evidence to suggest that intermittent fasting can reduce the risk of diabetes, lower blood pressure, and help maintain muscle mass.
That said, intermittent fasting is by no means the perfect diet for everyone, or a magic bullet for weight loss. For some, it’s a simple practice that may help eliminate those extra trips to the fridge. But for others, eating in a small window of time is just not sustainable— and the best diet is always one that keeps you consistent.
Intermittent Fasting And Muscle Gain
If fasting is that diet for you, exercise is vital to keep your heart healthy and muscles strong while dieting. Take these tips to schedule your workouts appropriately with your feeding hours.
Whether it’s a 5/2 protocol (eat for five days, fast for two) a 16/8 (fast for 16 hours, eat for eight), or any other version of IF, most people on a fasting diet wind up losing weight. That’s because it’s much harder to overeat if all your daily calories are crammed into an eight-hour window than if you can spread them out over 15 to 16 hours. That’s what makes IF such an effective weight-loss tool: by restricting the time frame in which you can eat, you effectively restrict the number of calories you take in as well.
But if your main goal is maximizing muscle, fasting isn’t a great idea. “Unless you’re a real novice, you can’t build appreciable muscle in a caloric deficit, ” says Angelo Poli, ISSA, co-owner of Whole Body Fitness in Chico, CA, creator of the MetPro diet and exercise app. A pound here and there? Maybe. But you won’t build anywhere near as much as you would if you consume a few hundred extra calories above and beyond what your body needs each day. So don’t try. Your primary goal while fasting should losing fat. To build muscle, you need fuel.
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Even if your main goal is losing fat, you still need to lift, which prevents your body from burning through muscle to fuel your daily activities. You won’t gain much muscle if you’re fasting, but if you lift, you won’t lose it, either. “The same activities that build muscle when you’re fueled help preserve it when you’re in a caloric deficit, ” says Poli.
Since you’re only trying to maintain the muscle you have—not pack on additional beef—you can get away with a fairly infrequent lifting schedule—2 to 3 times per week, exercising your whole body each workout (try this routine).
Lifting weights, sprinting, doing CrossFit WODS, and other high-intensity activities all depend on carbohydrates for fuel, explains Poli. If you perform any of these activities during (or worse, at the end of) your fast, your performance will suffer. Instead of getting stronger and faster, you may well get weaker and slower.
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What to do? “If you’re a big guy with a lot of weight to lose, no big deal, ” says Poli. “Go ahead and lift on an empty stomach. You might lose a little bit of muscle, but you’ll burn fat, too—and that’s your main goal.”
It’s vital that you eat before you workout so that you can get the most out of your lift, but depending on your build, it might be good to ensure a little something afterwards. “Eliminating the post-workout refueling may delay recovery as well as muscle protein and muscle glycogen resynthesis, ” says Bonaci.
So, if you’re on the slimmer side and are worried about losing some of your muscle definition, it’s probably better to schedule your lifting workouts during your feeding window. So if you eat from noon to 8 p.m. each day, try to hit
