bfit4life
24 September, 2007

Ask the coach: Morning cardio on an empty stomach?

Morning cardio on an empty stomachQuestion

What are your thoughts on a fasted morning cardio which involves doing your workout on an empty stomach?

Answer

Personally, I'm not a fan. The quality of your workouts will deteriorate, as there are no nutrients for your body to use as energy.  Another common concern about doing cardio in a fasted state is the possibility of losing muscle.

After an overnight fast, glycogen, blood glucose and insulin are all low. This was once considered an optimum environment for burning fat, but it really is an optimum environment for burning muscle.  A successful fat-loss programme should produce lactate. Research shows that growth hormone (GH) production that helps build muscle is directly co-related to a drop in blood PH.

So, when you produce lactic acid, as with sprints or weight training with short rest intervals, your blood PH goes down so your GH goes up. If your goal is to drop body fat, have a breakfast and choose a sprint program or a properly designed weight program.