Breakfast or “Workoutfast”
Tomorrow morning wake up and shred fat fast! Don’t go straight for the eggs and toast, but get to your gym and work. Sounds extreme right? Nevertheless new research from Northumbria University suggests that people can burn up to 20% more body fat by working out in the morning prior to breakfast. For the millions of Americans who are looking for anyway possible to lose body fat this sounds like an amazing technique to cut the fat. You might be asking yourself many questions by now such as, how does this work? Or is exercising on an empty stomach safe? Or am I going against everything my nutritional knowledge has told me? These are all fair questions you might ask yourself after reading such a bewildering claim. Unfortunately for you, I have the answers and they might not be what you are expecting.
The science
When you exercise, your muscles use up their glycogen stores, which is the storage form of carbohydrates in people for energy. When you are in a fasted state, your body’s glycogen stores become depleted. Your body still needs energy so instead of taking away from your glycogen stores, it will use fat for energy. There is a Warning. First of all, carbohydrates are your body’s primary source of energy. Working out in a fasted state could lower your performance in your workout. This is why it is important to make sure that if you are exercising on a famished stomach, to include short moderate exercises, such as walking and to avoid moderate to vigorous exercises, such as running. Working out on an empty stomach may cause muscle loss from your body using protein as an energy source.
Safety First
Exercising in the morning on an empty stomach puts your body in low-blood sugar levels for an extended period of time. Having low-blood sugar levels and then working out could cause you to faint. Also, this may occur because some food provides hydration, and without eating and drinking water your body will not be properly hydrated, which can cause fainting. There is also evidence of muscle loss. When your glycogen stores are low your body will use lean muscle to help break down the fat. Losing lean muscle is one of the worst things you could do if you are trying to lose body fat in the long run. Losing muscle will slow down your metabolism because the more lean muscle you have the faster your metabolism will be burning more calories at rest. For example, a pound of fat only burns 2 to 3 calories per day, while a pound of muscle burns 75 calories per day. To prevent these issues eat 30 minutes to one hour before working out, and consume fluid. This will make sure your body is properly hydrated and has carbohydrates prepared to burn for fuel.
Take away
Whenever you’re reading a nutritional or exercise claim you have to be cautious. Although it may sound great at first, the negatives may outweigh the positives. In the case of working out prior to breakfast, I highly recommend you reconsider because of the dangers, and also the fact that you could be losing muscle. Losing 20% more body fat may sound great, but the dangers and risk of losing muscle should steer you away in a hurry. Any knowledgeable nutritionist will tell you that you need a healthy carbohydrate rich breakfast before working out to insure the highest performance. You need to consume complex carbohydrates so your body can use what it likes best as fuel instead of fat and protein. Some meals that I recommend before exercising are skim milk with frozen berries blended, oatmeal with fruit on top, 2 whole eggs with whole wheat bread, and whole wheat pancakes. At least 12-24 ounces of water should be consumed to insure proper hydration.
