There are so many debates online regarding whether or not it is beneficial for weight loss to exercise on an empty stomach. This stems from the idea that when our body is at rest during the night, our body is depleted of glycogen, a stored carbohydrate. So your body could potentially be then turning to fat as it’s preferred energy source because it’s preferred energy source, carbohydrates, are not available.
This can be a little tricky to gauge because it all depends on what you ate the night before or how much sleep you got - if the body is 100% depleted of glycogen, it may skip the fat burning and head straight to muscle burning, which is not what we want in a workout.
So what are the actual benefits of working out on an empty stomach if all goes to plan?
You can be inspired to workout consistently and eat less.
We all know what it is like to become lazier and lazier as the day goes on. When you wake up and exercise straight up in the morning with no distractions, then you are more likely to keep up your fitness regime.
When you wake up, grab a coffee, have some toast - you quickly derail your plans as life continues to pop up and demand action.
As well as this, many people claim that after fitness, their appetite decreases, meaning you eat less throughout the day. Moreover, we all know that overeating can be one of the leading causes of weight gain.
You can potentially burn fat faster.
This is due to the depletion of glycogen overnight and your body is turning to stored fat cells as its form of energy source.
One study involved 12 active males that either ran on a treadmill before or after breakfast, the men who run on an empty stomach burned up to 20 percent more body fat than those who had breakfast first.
You can Improve your fitness and performance
There have been studies that show that when you workout, while your carbohydrate levels are low, helps to improve your performance during exercise than when you have high carbohydrate levels.
This is known as ‘Train Low, Compete High’ and is the act of working out in a glycogen-low state and helps to train your body to be more efficient at fat burning during times when the carb levels are high.
This ultimately helps train your body to maintain its weight instead of gaining weight during periods of non-exercise and high carbs, so if you fall off the bandwagon, it is easier to jump back on board!
Adding a workout to your fitness regime that has you not eating before heading to the gym could most definitely help to amp up your weight loss and health, combine this with healthy eating, green teas and keeping hydrated and you will be on your way to achieving your health and fitness goals!
Comments will be approved before showing up.
