Should You Do Empty Stomach Cardio?

Empty Stomach Cardio Is A Controversial Topic

Should you do Empty Stomach Cardio? Well my answer is, it depends on your fitness goals which are…

Performance
Muscle Gains or
Fat Loss.

Empty Stomach Cardio For Enhancing Performance?

This one should be obvious… Empty stomach cardio is not to be preformed when the goal is performance enhancement. This includes gaining muscle since it is a type of performance enhancement.

You need to eat before a workout in order to improve in performance. You need all the energy you can muster up to push yourself longer and harder then you did in the previous workout. This is why pre-workout nutrition is a key for improvement with each workout.

Empty Stomach Cardio For Fat Loss

When your goal is fat loss there are several considerations that need to be factored in…

During the time you exercise, you want to burn as many calories as possible.
Creating a hormonal environment for maximal fat loss.
Generating a fat burning after-effect called EPOC.

Empty stomach cardio accomplishes 2 out of 3 above points. Plus more and more studies have been published where empty stomach cardio burns more fat than when food was consumed before the workout.

So should you do empty stomach cardio if fat loss is your goal? My answer is yes… But only if you can handle this type of training.

My advice on empty stomach cardio is if your the kind of person that can workout with great intensity on an empty stomach, then you will see benefits with your empty stomach cardio. However, if your workout quality is suffering and you are not being consistent, then this type of training isn’t for you.

Fat loss success will ultimately be from how consistent you are and the quality of your workout, not if you eat before a workout.

Empty Stomach Cardio Tip

If you just don’t have the energy to perform cardio on an empty stomach, here is a tip that will help maximize your fat burning. Eat only protein before a workout instead of carbohydrates. Protein will raise both insulin and glucagon during your empty stomach cardio, which is more balanced for fat burning.