should you work out on an empty stomach

Is it recommended to exercise on an empty stomach before eating breakfast? If you want to know if you can exercise on an empty stomach or not. If you want to know the advantages and disadvantages of exercising on an empty stomach, we recommend reading this article.

 

 

Introduction

For a long time, most people thought that exercising before breakfast on an empty stomach helped burn fat, so people thought that if they exercised on an empty stomach before breakfast, they could lose weight. There are many people who still continue the method, and they even get the result. But we need to know what this result, that is, achieving the goal of losing weight, is possible at the cost of losing. If you want to learn more about this, we recommend that you read the following article.

 

Exercise on an empty stomach? Yes or no

It is said that when a person, for example, exercises on an empty stomach in the morning before breakfast because a few hours have passed since his last meal last night, his body has no source of energy other than fat and therefore by exercising and physical activity at this time, the fat is burned, so people with this idea and on an empty stomach, start exercising. If we want to take a closer look at this issue, we must say that at first glance, it seems to us that this type of exercise has a much better and more appropriate effect than when you ate breakfast and exercise after breakfast.

But there is a difference between this two times of exercise.

The main difference is muscle wasting. Of course, we must say the type of exercise you do will also play a role in this Negative achievement.

There are many people who take slow walks for twenty minutes to half an hour before eating breakfast. Other people do aerobic exercises such as running as well as bodybuilding and They do high-intensity exercise before breakfast. Now let’s talk about what benefits and harms these groups get from this exercise before breakfast.

Maybe a group that only walks slowly will make the body burn fat with this low walking time and intensity of activity, or maybe there is no difference in fat loss between them and those who do the same walking with the same speed after breakfast. But other groups, when they do moderate-intensity exercise on an empty stomach and before breakfast, their bodies enter a phase of destruction in order to provide a single calorie, so their muscles will weaken if this process continues.

 

Fat burning when exercising on an empty stomach? Yes or no

Your question may be that when you exercise on an empty stomach, is it only fats that are burned and consumed. If you pay attention to our description in the previous section, you can probably guess the answer to your question.

Exercising on an empty stomach will increase fat burning. This is based on the fact that when exercising, your muscles are looking for an energy source to do their activity and if they do not find a sufficient source of energy produced in the body, they will use alternative proteins and fats as an alternative source of energy.

A major problem with exercising on an empty stomach is that, unfortunately, the protein used to supply energy is provided by the muscles, and this can lead to a loss of muscle mass if continued. There is no way to prevent the use of protein in the absence of carbohydrates. So you cannot adjust your body to consume only fat to provide calories.

 

Why is it not right to exercise on an empty stomach or, in other words, fasting exercise to lose weight?

levels of the stress hormone called cortisol are high in the morning, On the other hand, physical activity by the body is considered as an anxious condition and this will increase the secretion of more cortisol. In order to find its calories and fuel, cortisol also breaks down the body’s muscles into muscle proteins and converts it into glucose as a source of energy, Aside from that low levels of glycogen during exercise release the hormone cortisol, which leads to the breakdown of proteins for fuel, which in addition to the process of burning muscle and reducing muscle mass, will also disrupt the immune system.

So, we can say that in this situation you are sacrificing your muscle mass to achieve weight loss.

Additional explanation: Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands when exposed to hypoglycemia and stress conditions.

 

Under what conditions can you exercise on an empty stomach?

In the early morning, as we said, cortisol is very high in the body. Well, this is high because there is a special reason because high cortisol in the early morning causes you to have enough strength and energy to wake up. If you do not consume anything, the level of cortisol will gradually increase, and if you combine exercise and aerobic exercise with these conditions, more cortisol will be produced in the body and muscle burning will reach its peak, so what should we do if we want to exercise fasting?

The condition is the use of appropriate medications. Fasting aerobic supplements prevent muscle burning during aerobic exercise.

But it is interesting to know that if a bodybuilder does such exercises and does not use supplements, the result will be nothing but muscle burning.

If you do aerobic exercise on an empty stomach, the process of fat oxidation will be significantly reduced over the next twenty-four hours. Your fuel level will not be high and most importantly your body will enter the next phase of extreme fatigue and your energy for activity during the day will be very low.

 

Previous research

Many studies have been done in this regard, which sometimes show completely opposite and contradictory results. These studies do not mention the type of nutrition a person eats during the day and only exercise on an empty stomach before breakfast and before consuming carbohydrates or protein, is checked.

Regarding the studies that have suggested exercise on an empty stomach, it should be said that in these studies, the level of cortisol has not been considered and only the amount of weight loss is examined.

On the other hand, less attention may be paid to the fact that the rate of weight loss is due to fat loss, followed by the destruction of muscle mass.

In addition, low immunity, impaired blood sugar levels, decreased muscle tissue, and the threat of high blood pressure can be side effects of high cortisol levels for a person who exercises fasting.

 

Concluding remarks

Losing weight is much more than just exercising on an empty stomach in the morning and reducing your calorie intake throughout the day. In this way, instead of waiting for a long time to lose weight, you will stop losing weight or even worse, you will gain weight. Instead of exercising on an empty stomach in the morning, it is better to eat breakfast and then manage or reduce the amount of carbohydrates during the day.

On the other hand, increase nutrition towards protein and fat intake, of course, to the extent your body needs.

Hard work does not always mean a better result, but choosing the right way to achieve a favorable and lasting result is more important.

So you need to get help from a specialist to provide your own program for your goal. Again, we emphasize that exercising on an empty stomach causes loss of muscle mass and weakens the immune system and can also put you at risk for high blood pressure in the years to come.

Of course, it is not bad for weight loss, but it is not clear what bad consequences weight loss will be associated with.