Tin of worms time with this one as it separates the whole fitness community
Some people believe they burn more fat when training fasted and other benefits that are pseudo science.
Fat loss is based on overall energy balance over a 24 hr period which can be manipulated by food intake and expenditure.
If you burn 300 calories doing your cardio session its 300 calories…… simple, it doesn’t have fairy dust on it if it fasted or non fasted, its still 300 calories
Fasting or intermittent fasting is where you shorten the window of when you consume foods. This is usually an 8 hour window or a 4 hour window. Training during this window doesn’t alter overall calorie balance but shortening the window often does reduce overall calorie ingestion hence why people tend to lose weight.
- fasted in my opinion is not better or worse than non fasted cardio
- for people up really early it may work better as a heavy stomach for some isnt great
- some people feel better and stronger training fasted, others feel worse
- some people feel clearer mentally on fasting and the opposite is true of others.
- fasted cardio if done should be done at a low or moderate intensity due to the energy systems we are trying to use whilst doing cardio fasted.I always recommend HIIT and other very intense cardio variations to be done with some pre workout nutrition, even if its a shake and some fats like a whey shake and small amount of nut butter.
So to summarise this short blog
- fasted cardio is great if you enjoy it and feels better than cardio after food
- whether you do cardio fasted or not it wont make much difference in overall fat loss
- fasted cardio is usually only needed when early shifts need it or if you struggle training early with food beforehand or deliberately fasting using an intermittent fasting protocol.
Key as with all other training is consistency, so keep some form of conditioning . cardio part of your overall fitness / fatloss training.