If you exercise on an empty stomach. Exercising on an empty stomach: will it help you lose weight? recipes for energy balls that are healthier and tastier than candy

There is an unspoken classical attitude according to which an athlete’s diet before training should consist of either food containing proteins and carbohydrates, or sports nutrition with the same composition (for example, gainers). The scheme is used to provide the muscles with enough energy for training. It is recommended even during drying, and by experienced athletes.

But there is another opinion on what is presented as an axiom. Many athletes believe that training in the morning on an empty stomach is more effective. How justified is this, is it worth training on an empty stomach and breaking existing rules? This is what we are talking about today.

Many people believe that morning workouts on an empty stomach are dangerous because by the morning glycogen negligible remains. They are sure that if you don’t have breakfast, your body will have to waste energy to get energy. own potential. Therefore, it is urgent to replenish it, so as not to faint on the exercise machines and not go into the “other world” from catabolism. However, not everything is so sad.

During sleep, the body enters the anabolic stage. Adrenaline and corticosteroid levels drop and the body begins to produce growth hormone, which is responsible for protecting and repairing muscles and bones. For the functioning of brain cells, cardiac activity, nervous system and other important functions performed in the absence of food, the body uses liver glycogen.

The breakdown of muscle glycogen occurs only during muscle activity and is used by them exclusively for their needs. Muscle catabolism during sleep is not true. An overnight “hunger strike” will not reduce the supply of muscle glycogen, and, in fact, the liver glycogen, too.

You shouldn’t load up on protein at night - drink milk, protein, eat cottage cheese, there’s no point in this no necessary.

How quickly is glycogen used up?

It is known that the fastest supplier of energy in the body is glucose. Fats and proteins are its “slow” form, because much more time is spent on their fermentation.

An athlete's daily diet should contain 60% carbohydrates. Under this condition, glycogen is preserved to the maximum. Its total amount in the body is from 300 to 500 g, muscles account for 200-300 g, the rest accumulates in the liver.

Every hour of intense strength training on an empty stomach causes the body to consume about 150 g of glycogen. After it is spent, the destruction of muscles will begin and only then - adipose tissue.

Glycogen reserves are vital for the body, so they are not completely depleted (we are not talking about long-term fasting). Active training processes reduce glycogen reserves, but not enough to switch to a strategic type of fuel - fat. In one workout on an empty stomach, it is unlikely that you will be able to completely extract all the glycogen, therefore:

do not rush to immediately pounce on nutrition because of the threat of death from catabolism;
do not replenish glycogen stores within 20-30 minutes. after training, and within 24 hours.

Theory about elevated level Fat burning during workouts on an empty stomach has become especially popular after the publication of the book “Body for Life” by American writer and entrepreneur Bill Phillips. This training strategy is explained by the fact that in the morning, before the first meal, we reduced level glycogen - in this form, the body stores carbohydrates in the muscles and liver for energy supply. This is a tactical reserve, in case of deficiency of which the body chooses an alternative source - fats. It is logical to assume that this way you will lose weight faster. Sounds reasonable. Let's find out if this is true.

When and how do we burn fat?

Always. The most important thing to understand and accept is that the body cannot completely turn off one energy source and start another. There is no way to run on fat alone or squat solely on carbohydrates. It doesn't happen that we run and burn only fats or do squats exclusively at the expense of carbohydrates. We spend both stored carbohydrates and fats, just in different proportions, in which the body decides.

Briefly about the physiology of fat burning:

Fats in the body are stored in the form of triglycerides in special cells - adipocytes.
Mobilization (lipolysis) occurs due to special enzymes - lipase. They break down triglycerides into glycerol and fatty acids that enter the bloodstream.
Next comes the oxidation of what has entered the blood, followed by the production of ATP, a molecule that we use as an energy source.

Why is everything not the way we want it to be?

Research conducted in 2011 and 2014 showed how the body responds to fasted training, whether it can use increased levels of fatty acids for energy, and whether consuming carbohydrates interferes with fat burning.

Conclusions:

1. In 2011, two experiments were conducted in which people exercised on exercise bikes for 80–120 minutes. The results showed:

– Consuming carbohydrates before or during exercise does not interfere with the use of fat as an energy source.

– In participants who trained in a fasted state, the mobilization (lipolysis) of fatty acids actually occurred faster and in greater volume. But they did not oxidize - that is the body did not use more free fatty acids for energy. Accordingly, everything unnecessary returned to its place.

2. 3 years later, in 2014, in JISSN (Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, “Journal of the International Society for Sports Nutrition”) sports nutrition") came the result of a study in which participants performed cardio training for an hour at moderate intensity 3 times a week for a whole month.

There were 20 people in total, who were divided into 2 groups: 10 people trained in the morning on an empty stomach, the rest - after eating.

Both groups ate the same meals throughout the day, with a calorie deficit of 500 kcal.

The result: All participants experienced similar changes in body composition regardless of whether they exercised after a meal or on an empty stomach.

3. It is incorrect to consider the fat burning process only during training. We have a complex body that constantly adapts to changing living conditions and regulates the proportion of use of fats and carbohydrates as energy sources.

4. The rational way is to monitor the training process and nutrition comprehensively and over a long period of time.

Ideally, do a bioimpedance analysis of the body, at least twice with an interval of several months. This is a study that shows body composition: the amount of adipose tissue, basal metabolism, muscle mass, weight (normal, deviations), etc. The service can be used, for example, in fitness clubs. If repeated analysis shows that nothing has changed, it is worth, for example, adjusting the training format (mode, intensity, type) and nutrition.

Possible consequences of training on an empty stomach

Any exercise on an empty stomach can make you feel unwell: nausea, loss of consciousness, and in the worst case, hypoglycemia and hypoglycemic coma due to low blood glucose. If you prefer to train in the morning, but cannot or do not have time to eat before training, take slightly sweet water with you - this will protect you from unpleasant situations.

A healthy lifestyle is becoming the norm for a person. People are looking for effective techniques training and nutrition that will lead to maximum results in perhaps a shorter time.

The benefits and safety of training on an empty stomach are a hot debate among beginners and even pros. Today we look at the pros and cons of exercising on an empty stomach, based on expert opinions.

Should you exercise in the morning on an empty stomach?

Traditional opinion

There are two diametrically opposed points of view about the benefits and harms of strength and cardio training on an empty stomach.

According to the traditional view, it is absolutely impossible to train without breakfast. In the morning, the body does not have sufficient energy reserves to be effective.

To replenish your energy boost, you need to have breakfast with foods containing complex carbohydrates. They are digested slowly, which allows the body to feel energized for quite a long time.

In addition, for muscle growth during training, it is necessary to replenish the protein supply in the body, otherwise the effect of strength exercises will be minimal.

For maximum fat-burning effect, adherents of traditional views recommend drinking about 300 ml of clean water before training.

Debunking myths about exercising in the morning

An alternative philosophy - fasting training - is becoming increasingly widespread and popular. Scientists have long established that in the morning the hormonal background of the body differs from the daytime and evening states.

In the morning, the body has the minimum amount of insulin and the maximum amount of somatotropic hormone (growth hormone). The first is released into the blood after each meal. It helps extract glucose from food and send it from the blood to the liver, muscle and fat tissue.

Subsequently, glucose is transformed into energy, which contributes to more efficient fat burning during training on an empty stomach.

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Optimizing Hormones for Weight Loss and Muscle Building

Let us highlight the following features of the hormonal background of training on an empty stomach:

Modern man eats often and a lot. This develops insulin resistance in the body, which makes it increasingly difficult to lose fat, and also increases the susceptibility to disease. of cardio-vascular system. Increasing the intervals between meals and short fasts normalize insulin production and increase the body's resistance to it.
Somatotropic hormone has unique abilities. Due to its high concentration in the blood, efficiency increases strength training, muscle and bone tissue grows better, fat burning increases. It has been proven that daily fasting allows you to achieve maximum concentrations of growth hormone in the body. Its level reaches 2000% in men and 1300% in women. Consistently high levels of this hormone in the body help support increased intervals between meals and fasted workouts.
The effectiveness of fasted exercise is based on the fact that in the absence of additional nutrients from food intake, the body begins to use up its own glycogen reserves, which is facilitated by low insulin levels in the morning.
Nothing can be said about testosterone. Although this hormone is not produced on an empty stomach, but is synthesized in the muscles, its level will increase during training with increased levels of growth hormone.
Elevated testosterone levels are responsible for positive attitude, sexual desire, increased physical strength and decreased fat mass.

Which exercises to prefer for morning training: strength or cardio?

It is believed that cardio training is most effective in the morning on an empty stomach. The level of fat burning in the morning is highest.

This is due to the optimal hormonal activity of the body. Therefore, the process of losing weight will be quite active.

Strength training for bulking muscle mass on an empty stomach general rule are still not recommended (at least if you are not a pro), since in the absence of a sufficient amount of nutrients, some muscle fibers are lost, and muscle mass even decreases somewhat.

Athletes-bodybuilders, who probably know what they are doing, go to the gym on an empty stomach while preparing for competitions. This helps them reduce the fat layer as much as possible and draw out the relief of the body.

Morning workouts can also be included in the strength training plan of athletes looking to build muscle mass, as a boost to increasing the effectiveness of the next workout. This can be explained by the fact that if the body has adapted to cope with a deficiency of nutrients, then when they enter the body, the effect of their use during training increases significantly.

It has been proven that training on an empty stomach is beneficial for developing endurance in athletes who need to withstand significant physical activity for long periods of time.

In the morning hours, the efficiency of use and absorption of oxygen by the human body increases three times.

Need to know! Morning workouts shouldn't be too intense. It is most effective to carry them out at a medium pace. The duration of the workout should not be less than 30 minutes. Burning fat from body reserves begins after this time.

There is no need to force things, causing yourself inconvenience. It is important to remember that you should not abuse fasted training. The optimal regimen is 2-3 classes per week lasting about an hour.

How to easily adapt to a new rhythm

If you decide to start fasting training, sometimes there is uncertainty that it is difficult to get involved in it. Of course, difficulties may arise at first:

It is better to do a fasted workout in the morning, since it is much more difficult to control yourself and not eat too much during the day or evening.
You need to come to training well-rested, otherwise you simply won’t have the strength to conduct a full-fledged lesson. Therefore, it is important to follow the regime.
To make it easier to get used to the new lifestyle, you can first soften it a little.
Instead of plain water, you can drink black coffee, black or green tea, caffeine tablets and other non-caloric drinks.
If you become unbearable to endure hunger, you can break your fast at any time convenient for you.

Over time, the body will adjust to a new rhythm of life, and the discomfort will disappear.

Important! At the first meal after training, proteins should enter the body to restore muscle mass, and only then complex carbohydrates. And during training, be sure to drink clean water.

Useful video

Watch the video to find out if you can train on an empty stomach:

Main conclusions

Any theory has two poles of opinion: for it and against it. Morning workouts on an empty stomach are no exception. In any case, playing sports should bring joy and pleasure from the process. Therefore, everyone is free to choose the method that suits them. It is important to remember that you should start exercising only after consulting a doctor, so that the sport brings only benefits. You may also be interested in our next articles.

People who go to the gym with the desire to lose weight often make one common mistake. They think that working out on an empty stomach will help them burn more fat. If you are also sure that this method has a rational grain, we hasten to disappoint you. In fact, avoiding food before a workout has many more disadvantages than advantages. Let's talk about this in more detail.

Hungry Athletes Burn More Fat

You dream of having an ideal body, you count calories every day and have developed the ideal workout program. It's time to hit the gym. It seems you have thought of everything. Stop! Did you remember to eat two hours before class? Or do you decide to skip a meal? Proponents of exercising on an empty stomach suggest that they can speed up weight loss by not eating. A scientific study published in the British Journal of Nutrition confirms these findings.

During the experiment, participants who attended the gym were divided into two groups. As you might guess, one group of recreational athletes did their workout on an empty stomach, while the other did not ignore food before training. As a result, it was found that participants in the fasting group managed to burn 20 percent more fat than their well-fed opponents. Similar results were obtained in another study. From which the following conclusions follow: aerobic training in a state of hunger reduces the percentage of fat in the body.

Why does excess fat disappear?

Everything seems fine. You can deprive yourself of one meal, exercise and only then make up for the lack of calories. Sports nutritionist Kelly Pritchett explains how the body switches fuel sources. Intense physical activity (running long distances or lifting weights) cause the body to burn glycogen and carbohydrate stores. During long workouts or when you skip meals, these resources can be completely used up. And then the body switches to another mode. To maintain movement, it begins to use previously accumulated fat. Ideally, your pre-workout meal-skipping plan should work, and excess weight melt rapidly.

There are several nuances

However, in reality, you will have to face unprecedented resistance from the body. You will be surprised when in practice you come across several features at once that are, in fact, protective. Firstly, the human body is not a fan of fasting, so it tends to store fat in reserve. When you burn fat quickly, your body switches to energy-saving mode. Remember yourself at the moment when you insure yourself against unexpected financial expenses. When the amount of remaining money reaches a certain point, you realize that you don’t need to spend any more and turn on the saving mode. The same thing happens with fat reserves. The body realizes that it is at risk of losing its nest egg and begins to regulate its metabolism to compensate for this loss. This way, you will actually make some progress in your first few workouts. However, after some time, the indicators on the scale will remain unchanged.

Defense mechanism

Don't blame your body for disobedience. This defense mechanism really needed for survival in extreme conditions. If internal resources were instantly consumed, not a single person lost in the forest would survive even a week in the wild. But in fact, we know examples of people returning home even after 30 days of ordeal.

In survival mode, the body burns far fewer calories than usual. You think that you can outwit the body, but in reality you yourself are deceived. The dinner you eat after your workout completely makes up for what you just spent at the gym. These findings are confirmed by a scientific study, the results of which were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. As scientists have found, long periods of fasting can lead to a slowdown in metabolism. Are you still ready to give up food before training?

Skipping meals makes you eat more after exercise

The following pitfall of fasting is faced by all fans of express diets, who get their body into shape in a month, and then gain excess weight again. The same thing happens to you, only in an even shorter time frame. If you skip meals during the day, then in the evening, be prepared to face an insatiable hunger attack. A study published in the journal Appetite found that participants who didn't fast before exercising felt less inclined to crave food later. Overall, volunteers from both groups burned the same amount of calories per session. Considering the fact that weight loss comes down much more to the quality of your diet rather than the number of calories burned in the gym, this can be an important factor for those who exercise to lose weight.

Is being healthy easy?

Many of us seem to know the golden formula for health: eat less, move more. It's easy to write on paper, but difficult to translate into reality. Another secret is that to burn fat we need strong muscles. They are your allies in the fight to speed up your metabolism. Protein is required to build strong and elastic muscles. If you fast, then you risk burning not only excess fat. Intense workout will take with it not only part of the loose fat layer, but also muscle proteins. At first glance, the method of fasting before training can be effective, but until the recovery process comes into play. You can't do this without good, strong muscles.

Satiety promotes progress

Success morning jog does not depend on whether it was done on an empty stomach, or whether you consumed breakfast before going out. According to the results scientific research, in the morning the body has a sufficient amount of glycogen remaining from the evening meal. However, here too there is one important nuance: A body without fuel cannot produce its maximum. This means that the effectiveness of training suffers. Progress in your fitness is only possible if you improve your results and update your personal records. This, in turn, becomes possible only with a full tank of fuel (a full stomach).

Ideal nutritional balance

Some people exercise on an empty stomach because they don't like feeling heavy. However, there are many disadvantages to this method. The ideal option would be to eat complex carbohydrates approximately an hour before class. Eat protein foods for recovery after workouts. Agree that it is better to end the lesson on a positive note than to feel exhausted.

We all come to understand that we need to eat less. This long and thorny path is strewn with incomprehensible experiments with vegetarianism, a raw food diet, separate meals and other things. A special practice is fasting. The thing is interesting and useful in every sense, especially in the context of sports.

Which is better?

How do you prefer to train? On an empty stomach or after a solid meal? I personally am only able to move in the early morning, before breakfast. Many people, on the contrary, can function normally only by eating heavily.

The debate about the best way to exercise will probably never go away. Fans of exercise on an empty stomach are squabbling with those who like to snack one more time, and it seems that the truth is still far from true. Today we will try to give a definitive answer to the question of how to exercise most effectively.

It's time to debunk old myths about food and exercise.

It is, of course, difficult to give a definitive answer. All people are different, and everyone achieves best results training in various conditions. Telling a person how he should exercise is kind of like telling him what time of day to work out or what diet to follow. Everything is too individual. But there are a number of myths that people continue to believe.

Contrary to popular belief, research shows that snacking throughout the day does not speed up your metabolism, skipping meals will not automatically make you fat, and exercising on an empty stomach will not invalidate your workout results. In reality, intermittent meal skipping, also known as intermittent fasting, the alternative nutrition diet, or the longevity diet, can be pretty damn beneficial.

So let's start with the good. For example, from the fact that handsome Hugh Jackman, preparing for his next role as Wolverine, practiced intermittent fasting in order to build muscle mass. Why did he choose this particular diet? The fact is that it triggers a chain of hormonal changes that are beneficial both for building muscle mass and for burning excess calories.

Exercising on an empty stomach has two significant benefits

1. Increases insulin sensitivity

Let's talk very simply. When we eat, the body produces insulin to help absorb nutrients. The hormone then redirects sugar from the blood to the liver, muscles and subcutaneous fat to be used for energy later. The problem is that the habit of eating too much and too often makes us more resistant to insulin, that is, it reduces sensitivity. In medical practice this is called insulin resistance. Low insulin sensitivity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and also makes it much more difficult to lose weight. In short, it interferes with life with terrible force.

Reducing the frequency of meals - good way solve the problem of insulin resistance. The body produces insulin less frequently and, accordingly, becomes more sensitive to it. Blood flow to the muscles improves, it becomes easier for us to lose weight, and the effects of an unhealthy diet are curbed.

2. Action of the hormone somatotropin

Somatotropin is an almost magical elixir of youth that helps the body build muscle tissue, burn fat, strengthen bone tissue, improve physical function and prolong longevity.

Along with regular training and good sleep, easy post is the best way increase the level of somatotropin in the body.

One study found that after 24 hours of fasting, growth hormone levels in men increased by as much as 2,000%, and in women by 1,300%! The effect wears off quickly, so there are good reasons to fast regularly in order to constantly maintain the level of somatotropin, which has such a wonderful effect on our body.

Fasting and sports

When talking about beneficial hormones, we cannot ignore testosterone. It helps increase muscle mass and reduce body fat. In addition, it increases the level of physical strength, energy and libido, helps in the fight against depression and heart problems in both men and women. Fasting itself has no effect on testosterone. But there is an amazing way to force the body to produce more testosterone and growth hormone at the same time, thereby creating ideal conditions to build muscle mass and burn fat: fasting + active sports!

Exercise, especially intense exercise that targets multiple muscle groups (compound exercises like barbell squats), causes large spikes in testosterone. This is why it is useful to combine exercise and fasting. Numerous studies have shown that working out while fasting is a great way to build muscle and improve insulin sensitivity. This approach is effective not only because of hormonal reactions, but also because it helps the body absorb nutrients from food much more actively.

In short, exercise on an empty stomach helps proteins, fats and carbohydrates to be stored as fatty tissue in the smallest quantities. It has been found that people who actively exercise while fasting lose weight at a much greater rate (possibly due to increased levels of oxidative enzymes).

Such training teaches your body to use energy more efficiently and not waste it, and increases the efficiency of glycogen storage in the muscles. Periodic “fast training” further improves the quality of regular ones. Some studies have also shown that "fast training" can significantly improve athletes' endurance, which is measured by the ability to take in and use oxygen during exercise, and is a pretty smart way to measure exercise.

Not everything is rosy, of course.

It would be dishonest to gloss over the fact that not everything is rosy. Some studies have shown that exercising while fasting results in impaired performance. True, they studied mainly such traditional fasts as Ramadan, which does not allow the consumption of liquids (which is not recommended for athletes). Even the fact that most people eat before playing sports already suggests that sports after eating already gives good results. Heck, there are even studies that show that eating before workouts can lead to fewer calories consumed throughout the day. But all this does not in any way cancel the undeniable benefits of periodic training on an empty stomach.

So, if you want to try working out on an empty stomach. ↓

Action plan

We understand perfectly what you are thinking right now. Something like this: “Screw it, I won’t be able to withstand the stress without eating anything!” First, let's have a little more faith in ourselves. You can do much more than you think, you just need to arm yourself the right attitude. Secondly, we will give some simple tips that will help you master this diet more painlessly:

You can drink more than just water. Don't be afraid to break your old habits and get energy from black coffee, tea, caffeine tablets, creatine and other non-caloric substances.
Stop fasting whenever you feel like it. Many people prefer to eat immediately after training, after a short fast has already had its effect. It doesn't make much difference if you extend your fast. Even if you exercise in the morning and don't eat until the evening, the wave of hormonal changes will last throughout the day and prevent muscle loss. No matter what you decide, your body will always support you.
Eat as much as you want. Notice we didn't say "eat as many calories as you want." After all, it is not at all necessary to eat a lot of food.

And finally

The habit of eating is probably the most durable human habit. We are all people, we are all human, our habits are us. Fighting the habit of constantly eating something is a noble, but thankless task. This is terribly difficult, especially for those people who have spent N amount of time learning to eat regularly and at the same time. It's true: Intermittent fasting takes time to get used to. Our body must get used to the fact that it will not receive food as often as before. This uncomfortable feeling goes away over time, but if you feel that this way of eating is not for you, then there is no need to continue. Just don't be afraid to try.