If you’ve been exercising for a while or you hang out with people who do, you probably heard this debate between fasted and fed cardio. Many people choose to do cardio in the morning before breakfast and some people choose to do it after a meal. Some claim one is better than the other, but which one actually is for weight loss?
WHAT’S FASTED CARDIO?
Fasted cardio is done in a state where you have gone for a long time without food. In most cases, that would be after waking up in the morning, and before breakfast. In that fasted state, the body is relying on your fat cells as its main fuel source because those are the only ones available for energy. In the presence of food, insulin is released. This hormone facilitates the absorption of glucose from the food into your muscle cells, fat, and liver, where it becomes energy. In the presence of food in the stomach, the effects of insulin are reduced, rendering fat loss more difficult.
There are a few issues with this type of cardio, though. First, there is a higher nitrogen loss in fasted cardio. Fasted cardio also reduces the EPOC, or excess post-exercise consumption, commonly known as calories burned after a workout. This means that on a fasted cardio, you will burn fewer calories after your training session has ended.
Because of the benefits mentioned above, fasted cardio is usually the favored type of cardio over fed cardio for many who are working toward weight loss. It is also worth mentioning that two other drawbacks of this type of cardio are that because you are working out in the absence of carbs and therefore glycogen, which is the primary source of energy for the body under normal circumstances, the intensity of your workout may be slightly reduced, as well as the length at which you would optimally exercise.
WHAT’S FED CARDIO?
Fed cardio is the opposite of fasted cardio, where you eat before your cardio session. For those wanting not only an intense workout session but also a longer one, a meal before they start is very important. Unlike in fasted cardio, the body turns to glycogen readily available from the food you had before your training session as the main source of energy to fuel the workout.
Fed cardio is also very flexible as it can be done anytime during the day, and not just in the morning as fasted cardio is usually done. And because in this type of training the sessions are more intense and longer, you would therefore burn more calories as well.
I personally workout first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. But that is not because many still look at fasted cardio as the best type of cardio for weight loss. In fact, it is not, and fed cardio is not either. Have I lost you yet? There is actually no difference between both, at least on the bigger picture. As I was saying, I workout on an empty stomach, whether it is cardio or strength training. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, having any food in my stomach makes me very uncomfortable during my workouts and even leaves me felling pukey. That has a big and negative impact on my training sessions, and results in a poor performance and a negative experience. The other reason is schedule. I am a busy beast. Outside of fitness and content creation I am a full-time aerospace engineer. Mornings are the only times that work best for exercising within my schedule. I have 2.5 hours between the moment I wake up and the time that I start the engineering job. I also keep those sessions to 45 minutes maximum, making them as intense as I can in that short amount of time. And for cardio, if it is not the steady type such as power-walking or jogging on the treadmill, then it is 20 minutes of high-intensity cardio such as Tabata for instance. Getting my workout done first thing in the morning also helps me start my days on the right foot, energized and vitalized.
Both fasted and fed cardio are good options, and it is up to you to decide which one is best for YOU. If you are limited on time, then fasted cardio might be the one for you. You just need to decide where to incorporate it in your schedule if not first thing in the morning. If on the other hand you have plenty of time to dedicate to exercising and want the flexibility to workout anytime during the day, then fed cardio would be the better option. Regardless of which cardio type you choose, remember to consume water or other fluids during your workout to keep hydrated. Now, it is your turn. Do you have a preference between fasted and fed cardio? Or fasted and fed training sessions in general? Do let me know in the comments below. Until next time, Beastie, hug your loved ones and train mean!