Fasted Cardio: To Do or Not To Do, That is the Question?!

Fasted Cardio

 

So lately I have been seeing a lot of articles on fasted cardio. I am not one to jump into a program lightly so I have been doing some research. I was surprised to find so many articles contradicting the other. So I want to discuss the reason people do fasted cardio and my opinion on cardio.

 

First, the definition. Fasted cardio = cardio on an empty stomach. Second, the purpose. The purpose of fasted cardio is so that your body will be at a glycogen (fuel) deficient state that your body will have to pull fat to burn for energy. So is fasted cardio better than "normal" fed cardio? To the best of my knowledge...no it is not. For people looking to put on lean muscle mass, fasted cardio can acutally be detrimental to your progress. During fasted cardio your body is breaking down fat and fatty acid are released into the bloodstream, but there are too many and the body isn't able to process and therefore they are reabsorbed back into fat cells. It has been shown that low intensity fasted cardio does burn fat, but you have to do cardio for longer than 90 minutes...thats 3 episodes of The Big Bang Theory! I don't have that kind of time lying around in the morning! Fasted cardio may burn more calories upfront but you stop burning calories the minutes you stop doing cardio. To burn fat you want your body to go into "excess post-exercise oxygen consumptions" (EPOC) this is called afterburn, these are calories you burn hours after you have stopped exercising...this doesn't happen with fasted cardio.

 

My suggestion? HIIT cardio. It has been proved over and over that high intensity interval training is the best cardio for your body. First, it is quick (average 15-45 minute sessions). Second, it can be done anywhere (outside, home, gym). Third, intervals keep the person guessing so time goes faster. I LOVE HIIT. This is the only way I do cardio anymore. Usually I do cardio right after weight lifting so 15-45 minutes is the perfect amount of time. I also like it because it's not boring...I am not one of those people that can run on a treadmill or ride a bike for hours...I would DIE. My suggestion is to get a heart rate monitor, doing this you will be able to monitor your heart rate and adjust intervals to your necessity. I have posted a couple of HIIT workouts...some of my favorites are on the treadmill but I have recently started going outside to do cardio. Cardio outside is also great because I can do it with the dog...two birds with one stone anyone?!?!

 

HIIT is also super awesome because it help your hormones. When you have a good diet, sleep 7-8 hours a night, lift weights, your hormones will be super helpful in building lean muscle. Always remember...

 

lean muscle = more fat burning = awesome sauce

 

Cassie's Tips for Cardio: (kinda sorta stolen from Men's Health)

1. Always Always Always warm up - at least 5 minutes before cardio AND weight lifting

2. SPRINT - do max for 30 secs and then recovery for 90ish secs

3. Good posture - when on any cardio machine it is easy to have bad posture, you want to make sure that you have good posture in order to decrease possible injury.

4. Recovery - when doing interval you want to go to 90% of your effort, with this being said you need to give your body time to recover. When sprinting you should find it hard to breath at the end of the 30 secs, and then 90 sec recover to normal breathing.

5. Take your cardio outdoors - I mean hello...vitamin D!! :-)

This is one of my treadmill HIIT workouts. 

1. Warm up - 5 minutes (spd 3.0, inc 7)

2. Lunges - 1 minute (spd 1.8, inc 1.5)

3. Walking plank - 1 minute (spd 2.0, inc 1.5)

4. Push-ups - 10-15 reps

5. Jump squats - 10-15 reps 

6. Walk- 1 minute (spd 2.0, inc 1.5)

Repeat x4

6. Cool down - 5 minutes (spd 3.0, inc 7)

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