Real Talk on the Fasted Cardio Topic

If you've ever wanted to lose body fat but didn't quite understand how to approach it, I'm sure at one point or another you've gone straight to Google to figure out how to get the job done. Upon searching time and time again, you may have learned about certain forms of cardio such as steady-state cardio, high intensity interval training, as well as fasted cardio. 

Many humans have a tendency to take the short and easy route a lot of the time. It's relatively painless, and requires very little effort, comparatively. In this article, I want to discuss the potential (keyword: potential) benefits of fasted cardio, as well as the consequences if not executed correctly.

SO YOU WANT TO LOSE FAT FAST

Don't we all? Hitting any sort of goal in an extremely short amount of time would be great, but that's just not how the world works, nor do our bodies. Losing fat is a slow process that needs to be done with consistent macronutrient tracking, clean eating, and patience. But, there HAS to be a way to speed it up, right? Well, yes and no. There are a lot of factors that go into fat loss during cardio sessions such as prior food intake, current well-being, genetics, etc. 

There are rumors out there that fasted cardio can actually help you target fat loss quicker because the body is in a fasted state after you've slept, thus it has no choice but to use stored fat. This is true, BUT only under certain circumstances as well as precautionary measures that must be taken in order to avoid the one thing we don't want: using muscle tissue as fuel. 

FIRST, SOME SIMPLE SCIENCE (kind of)

In order to transition into the necessary steps to almost guarantee fat loss, allow me to quickly discuss how our bodies operate under these conditions. Believe it or not, our bodies are much smarter than we think they are. They can adjust to certain environmental and behavioral situations without us even realizing it. It's quite fascinating. So what does that mean for fitness? Well, it means that our bodies are quick to enter survival mode (where it wants to hold on to a certain amount of fat), so at a certain point it will hold on to body fat and start using muscle tissue as fuel. When performing fasted cardio, our goal is to trick the body into thinking that it's not in survival mode, and it's free to use whatever fat stores it has for fuel. 

SO HOW DO WE TRICK THE BODY? 

When you wake, your body has nothing to work with. It's been feeding off of practically nothing for the past 6-8 hours. So, we must give our body something in order for it to feel like it's not in survival mode so it will utilize fat stores. Did you catch that? "Fasted" cardio that works isn't actually fasted cardio. Sure, your body has less to work with because you haven't eaten as many calories, but it must have some sort of carbohydrate to work with. This is because the intensity of the training can outweigh the body's ability to utilize fat stores as fuel. So at some point during the fasted cardio session, your body says away with the fat and on to the muscle.

There are studies performed that say those who perform cardio on an empty stomach are more prone to loss of muscle tissue over time compared to those who consume carbohydrates before their training sessions. Not good, because we want to conserve as much muscle tissue as possible. Anyway, we must fuel the body before cardio. Some good examples are carbohydrate protein shakes, fruits, and at the very least, branch chain amino acids. 

THE TAKEAWAY

If you want to maximize fat loss over a period of time, stick to fed, high intensity interval cardio sessions. If cardio fits into your schedule best in the morning, then do it. Just make sure you fuel up with a fast digesting carbohydrate beforehand. If cardio works better for your schedule in the afternoon, great. You will burn fat either way. There are no significant studies that say fasted cardio can significantly increase body fat loss. All we do know is that there is a chance that our bodies can use muscle tissue as fuel after a certain amount of time. So what's the tangible takeaway? Do what works for you. Track your body fat and your lean body mass over time and see where your plan takes you. If you do choose to do cardio immediately after waking, I do suggest getting some fast fuel in your system such as a fruit, carbohydrate protein shake, or branch chain amino acids.

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References

Blomstrand, Eva, and Bengt Saltin. “Effect of Muscle Glycogen on Glucose, Lactate and Amino Acid Metabolism During Exercise and Recovery in Human Subjects.” The Journal of Physiology 514.1 (1999): 293–302. Web.

Why Whey?

Whey protein has been all the buzz for quite some time, and it should be for many reasons. Why, though? With all the other kinds of protein on the market like casein, soy, milk, and egg, what makes whey so special? In today's blog I'll keep it short and sweet. Here's why you need to have some whey protein in your diet.

WHAT IS IT?

When making cheese, there is a watery portion that separates from the curds. Curds is such a gross word to me. Curds...

Anyway, the watery portion is whey, and whey protein is taken from that. The protein is made up of all nine essential amino acids and has very little lactose. Over the years, we have been able to develop filtering systems to create more high-quality whey concentrates.

WHAT DOES IT DO?

Whey protein is used for many reasons, but the place it is used the most is in the fitness realm. And no, I'm not just talking about meatheads that train biceps every day of the week. A lot of people use whey and here's why. 

Whey protein aids in maintaining and increasing muscle mass. After training, your muscles are in a catabolic (muscle depleting) state. In order to keep our body away from that state, we need to feed it amino acids and proteins to put it in an anabolic state. Whey is perfect for the reason I discussed before. It has the nine essential amino acids, and your body absorbs/uses it much faster than other forms of protein like casein.  

But what's so special about the protein powder itself? Why can't any other form of protein be consumed after a workout? Well, any form of protein can be consumed after a workout, but whey protein exceeds all other forms in that it is absorbed by the body much quicker. When mixed with water, it is easy for whey to travel to our muscles and keep them from staying in that catabolic state. This is why I have all my clients take whey protein with water in between their resistance training and their cardio. The cardio and increased blood flow will aid in shuttling the protein throughout the body. 

Whey has also been shown to aid in weight loss. When I say "weight loss", I'm talking about good weight loss. A loss of body fat. Protein aids in boosting your metabolism as well as calories burned because it takes the most amount of energy to digest proteins in comparison to carbs and fats. 

COOL STORY, BRO

The information is good to know, but you still need to make a decision when you go to the store. So what whey protein should you buy? To be honest, I think most products are the same across the board. It might take you time to figure out what you like most. There are a lot of factors that will influence your decision like taste, ability to dissolve, etc. My one piece of advice is this: AVOID proprietary blends. Another word for proprietary is: SKETCHY. Proprietary blends don't tell you exactly what's inside, and that should raise a big red flag for you. Make sure that the product lists every single ingredient as well as it's amount. If you see something like, "monstrous post-workout matrix... 700mg", that's freaking sketchy, and you shouldn't trust it. Do your research, educate yourself, and make good choices.

BOTTOM LINE

If you're not including whey protein in your diet and training regimen, I highly recommend doing so (with your doctor's approval). It could make a big difference in the overall composition of your body at the end of an exercise program. 

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