Fasted Cardio: Why You SHOULD Do It To Lose Fat Faster (And How To Do It)

If you want to lose fat as fast as possible, then it's often wise to include some form of cardio in your routine to speed up the process. But to lose fat even faster, many suggest performing your cardio on an empty stomach or in other words, fasted, often first thing in the morning. And this is something I'll often personally do as well, especially as I get leaner. Why? Well, let's start out by discussing why exactly fasted cardio got so popular in the first place, and clear up some of the common misconceptions people have around it. So the basic theory behind fasted cardio being superior for fat loss is the fact that research has shown that when exercising in a fasted state, your body preferentially burns fat for energy since your insulin and glycogen levels are low during this period. Whereas when you eat before you exercise, your body now tends to preferentially use more carbs and less fat for energy when compared to if you were fasted. And this is mainly what led people to believe that performing your cardio in a fasted state would lead to more fat loss as opposed to eating before. However, although it's true that you burn more fat during a fasted cardio session, it's vital that you take into consideration the post exercise period and what happens to your body after the session. Because research has shown that although you may have preferentially burned more fat during the fasted cardio session, your body eventually compensates for this by burning more carbohydrates for the rest of the day. So by the end of it, you've actually burned the same amount of fat as you would have had you eaten before your cardio session, meaning that fasting wouldn't actually provide any superior fat loss effect. And this was proven In a recent 2017 systematic review and meta analysis on the topic which found that performing cardio in a fasted state had no superior fat loss effect when compared to performing cardio in a fed state, as it's a calorie deficit at the end of the day that's the overriding factor. And although as I've stated in the past, fasted cardio may be particularly beneficial for burning stubborn fat, this is only applicable to very lean individuals and has yet to be proven in human studies. But with all that being said, why exactly is it that I'd still actually recommend using fasted cardio? Well, for a couple of reasons. First off, it often makes it easier to eat at a calorie deficit by skipping your pre cardio meal or breakfast your days eating window will now be shortened as a result. This often makes it a lot easier when dieting since your meals are now closer to each other throughout the day, which I personally find helps a lot in terms of appetite suppression and preventing excessive snacking throughout the day. And these subtle changes often lead to a lower daily calorie intake, and this is something that's been proven in multiple papers. For example, a recent 2019 study from the Journal of Nutrition compared the daily calorie intake in healthy male subjects who performed the cardio either in a fasted state or with breakfast prior to their session. They found that the fasted cardio group ate on average 400 calories less than the fed cardio group, enabling them to achieve an energy deficit by the end of the day, which the fed group actually failed to do. And this alone, if repeated daily, would on average lead to almost a pound of extra fat loss every week for the fasted group. And another great benefit of fasted cardio is that for many people it's just more practical to do. Getting it done first thing in the morning can not only help get your day started and boost your mood and productivity for the rest of the day, but I find that it helps with consistency as well as leaving your cardio for later on in the day makes it more likely that you'll find some excuse to skip it and push it off to the next day. So you can see how these indirect benefits of fasted cardio may actually provide superior benefits on fat loss. Now as for what exactly your fasted cardio routine should look like. Although this will vary for everyone, I suggest sticking with the following general guidelines. 1. Stick to mostly low to moderate intensity cardio. Incline walking, light cycling, the Stairmaster and so on are all good examples of this. High intensity cardio sessions and interval training is fine as well, but they should be used sparingly as they cause a lot more muscle damage depleted, deplete your muscle glycogen to a greater extent and can negatively affect your weightlifting workouts if you'll be training later on in the day. 2. Keep your sessions less than an hour long. This just helps prevent any potential muscle breakdown from occurring and prevents your performance from being negatively affected, which research shows begins to occur in fasted sessions lasting over an hour long. And that's pretty much all there is to it. Although fasted cardio doesn't seem to provide any magical fat loss effect, it may be beneficial for you to use for the reasons previously discussed. But all in all, you need to choose what you'll be most consistent with and adhere to week after week, whether it's fasted cardio or not. Because at the end of the day, getting the work done and consistently achieving a calorie deficit is what's most important.

So to sum the video up, here are the main points to keep in mind. I hope that you were able to see that although fasted cardio may not provide any magical fat loss benefits, it does come with some indirect benefits that may actually enable you to lose fat at a faster rate. And for an all in one science based program that combines all these little details into a step by step plan to enable you to build muscle and lose fat at the fastest rate possible, then what you can do is simply head over to builtwithscience.com and take my Start Point Identification quiz, which is just going to tell you which program and what approach is best for you. Anyways, if you haven't already, I'd really appreciate a follow on Instagram. I post a lot more informative content and more videos on there as well, which I think a lot of you will find useful. And if you enjoyed this video then please don't forget to give it a like. Leave a comment down below as to what other topics you think I should cover. Subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications for my channel as well, as this all really does help me out and I really do appreciate it. Thank you so much everyone for your continued support and I'll see you next time.