Eating before doing Cardio

Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 2:01 pm

There is a myth running around these days that says that doing cardio on an empty stomach helps burn more fat. There is some logic to this, but thankfully science is against it. The logic behind empty stomach cardio is simple: supposedly, by doing cardio on a empty stomach, you tap directly into fat stores since glycogen (carbohydrate) stores are somewhat depleted after an overnight fast.

Thankfully, science doesn’t support train of thought.

Several studies have shown no difference in substrate utilization (glycogen vs. fat) for those working out on an empty stomach vs. those who eat a small meal prior to their morning workouts.

In fact, one study showed the exact opposite—those who had a small meal first burned more calories and more fat than the empty stomach group.

Why?

Apparently the answer is in performance. You and me both know, that without food in our stomaches our performance is going to drop. This is obvious considering we don’t have fuel in our tanks. If you don’t perform our best then we are not going to burn an optimal amount of calories-period.

The truth is, empty stomach cardio is an outdated philosophy whose theory was proven incorrect by research. Still, there are plenty of people who hold on to the theory despite the available research. Perhaps they’re not aware of it, perhaps they just go by what the fitness and bodybuilding magazines tell them (bad idea); I’m not sure.

Here are my recommendations:

If your not a science geek like I’am try to get at least a couple scoops of whey protein before any “cardio” workout in the morning. I get me whey protein here.

If you still feel that your performance isn’t as good. Try a larger meal that should contain some complex carbs (oatmeal, etc) along with a small serving of protein (couple of eggs).

Wait about a half hour to begin digesting and then hit your workout.

Better performance = more calories burned = more fat loss = improved cardiovascular functioning =even better performance = even more calories burned = even more fat loss.

If you are looking for a good and effective fat loss nutrition plan let me suggest this one

CHEAT YOUR WAY TO A THINNER YOU