Fasted cardio, or exercising on an empty stomach, is a tried and tested weight loss tool that some people use first thing in the morning before they eat breakfast. But most people prefer to work out in the evenings, and now researchers have shown that adopting the daytime pre-workout post-workout tactic burns 70 percent more fat than eating before exercise. People who had eaten lunch at 11:30 a.m. and then didn’t eat again for seven hours before exercising at 6:30 p.m., they were found to burn 7.7 grams of fat after 30 minutes of cycling. Those who had another meal at 4:30 p.m. and therefore were not hungry or in a fasted state, they were found to have burned only 4.5 grams. Scientists from Nottingham Trent University recruited 16 people who followed a strict daily diet and exercise program. Every person in the study had breakfast at 8:30 AM. (golden syrup flavored porridge, cereal bar and strawberry yogurt) and lunch at 11:30am. (sandwiches with tuna or chicken mayo, ready salted chips and a chocolate bar). Then half were not allowed to eat before going to the gym at 6.30pm and cycled for half an hour. The other half ate a meal at 4:30 p.m. before the same workout at 6:30 p.m. After completing the half-hour cycle, participants were given a meal of pasta in tomato sauce 15 minutes later and allowed to eat as much as they wanted until they felt “comfortably full and satisfied.”
“A powerful way to increase the benefits of exercise”
Participants would do the experiment twice, once in the fasted state and once in the fed group. The data show that, on average, the group ate about 100 calories more during the evening meal, but during the day they actually had 443 calories less. “We wanted to explore the impact of fasted exercise in the early evening, which we found was the most popular time for people to exercise during the week,” Tommy Slater, a sports science researcher at Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology . , he told The Telegraph. “Fasting before evening exercise may benefit certain health outcomes by increasing the amount of fat burned during exercise or by reducing the number of calories consumed during the day. “If done regularly it can improve the way the body deals with blood sugar spikes after eating.” The research, published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, found however that seven hours without food had some drawbacks, as the fasted group performed worse in the exercise test and also reported lower levels of pre-workout motivation, energy. , preparedness and enjoyment. These mental barriers can, Mr Slater said, “make it difficult for some people to stick with it in the long term”. Dr David Clayton, an expert in nutrition and exercise physiology at Nottingham Trent University, added: “The combination of exercise and fasting can be a powerful way to increase the benefits of exercise, so we would like to evaluate this over a longer period of time. space and explore other ways we can make fasting easier and more convenient for people.” “This study demonstrated that fasting for seven hours prior to evening exercise may be an effective method for reducing net energy intake while increasing fat oxidation,” the researchers write in their paper. “The chronic success of this intervention may, however, be compromised by increases in appetite and decreases in voluntary performance, as well as decreases in motivation to exercise and enjoyment of exercise sessions.”
