Fasted Cardio: What it is & Why I love it

 

Disclaimer: I am not nor have I ever been a certified personal trainer. You can find all sorts of information on fasted cardio on the Web. I compiled most of my information from my favorite fitness site, Bodybuilding.com. This is simply a post on the basics of fasted cardio and why I love it for my own fitness goals.

 

What it is:

In a nutshell, fasted cardio is cardio on an "empty stomach." By empty stomach, I mean early in the morning when you first wake up. You have fasted during your sleep for several hours, so your stomach is probably pretty empty. It can also mean cardio after a fast during the day, usually six hours after a meal. I prefer my fasted cardio sessions in the morning; I do it every Saturday and Sunday morning. Some people prefer to eat a small bite of something before they perform their cardio (a slice of toast, tablespoon of peanut butter, a few spoonfuls of yogurt).

 

 

Most fitness experts believe that 30-60 minutes of fasted cardio causes your body to turn to its stored fat for energy, burning that fat in the process. Some disagree and feel that fasted cardio is completely useless. Others say it kills some of your lean muscle mass.

 

I say...

 

Why I love it:

It works for me. I know it works because I always have tons of energy for the remainder of the day after performing fasted cardio. I wouldn't recommend it on a daily basis for sure, but twice a week? It's great! I usually do about 30-40 minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) on the treadmill for my fasted cardio sessions, and it works well in my fitness regime. According to my body fat monitor, I have lost nearly 3% of my body fat in just over a month of doing fasted cardio twice a week. That's not to say it will work this well for you, but if done the correct way, I think fasted cardio is a great tool in burning that hard-to-get-to stored fat!

 



 

Happy Friday! Go work out!