Exercising first thing in the morning without eating anything beforehand has advantages and disadvantages, depending on the situation. Here you can find out exactly what these are, what you should pay attention to and when exercising on an empty stomach is not a good idea.
Exercising on an empty stomach is considered a particularly efficient way to lose weight. According to this theory, the body draws most of its energy for a morning workout from stored fat cells and carbohydrates, rather than from food that has just been ingested. So you should be able to lose weight faster. However, whether this is actually true is scientifically disputed.
However, some people prefer to exercise on an empty stomach for completely different reasons. For example, they may feel too full and tired to exercise for many hours after a meal. At the same time, sufficient nutrition is of course also important in order to have enough strength and endurance for a sports session. So whether exercising on an empty stomach makes sense depends on a number of factors that you should weigh up depending on your individual requirements.
Exercising on an empty stomach: better for losing weight?
Endurance exercise on an empty stomach has gained a lot of popularity in the fitness scene under the term “fasted cardio”. However, it has not yet been clearly proven whether people with cardio units actually lose weight faster if they have not eaten beforehand. According to Healthline magazine, there are studies that speak for and against it.
On the other hand, if you do weight training and want to build muscle, exercising on an empty stomach is definitely not a good idea. According to the Cleveland Clinic, in order to build muscle, it is important to have consumed enough protein before the workout.
Eat before exercise for enough energy
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / Ichigo121212)
When you wake up early and haven’t eaten, your blood sugar levels are particularly low. If you then challenge your body with an intense workout, it can lead to drowsiness, fatigue and lethargy. This effect is also known as “bonking”. In this case, you feel weak and cannot carry out your sports unit as vigorously as it might have been possible if you had already eaten something.
Especially if you want to build muscle, run faster, train for a long distance (like a half marathon), or have similar fitness goals, it may make more sense to eat something before your morning workout. If you can’t manage to eat a proper breakfast, you can just have a light pre-workout snack to get you through your workout. Easily digestible things that provide you with nutrients but are not too heavy on your stomach are particularly suitable for this. For example, eat some fruit, such as a banana or an apple, a granola bar or a slice of bread with some jam or nut butter.
However, whether a small pre-workout snack is enough also depends on the intensity of your exercise routine. If you are planning a light to moderate workout of around 30 minutes, a snack is enough. If you’re training for an hour or longer, you should have a large enough meal beforehand, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This also applies to particularly intensive sports units. Make sure there is a two to three hour gap between your meal and your workout. That way you don’t have too much food in your stomach. Especially with particularly long endurance units, it is sometimes necessary to eat during the workout. Fresh or dried fruit or muesli bars, which you can easily take with you, are also suitable for this.
intermittent fasting and exercise
Especially people who do intermittent fasting and therefore want to skip breakfast and still exercise in the morning may be dependent on sober training. The extent to which intermittent fasting and exercise can be combined is scientifically controversial and depends on the individual case.
According to experts from the Austrian Society for Sports Nutrition (ÖGSE), long periods of fasting and hard endurance training can result in an energy deficit, which in turn can have a long-term negative effect on performance, strength, coordination and regeneration. At the same time, studies with athletes during Ramadan show that sober endurance training can even have positive effects – as long as the total daily calorie balance is not too low. Then moderate exercise on an empty stomach could promote fat loss and increase insulin sensitivity.
According to the ÖSGR, there are also studies for weight training that cannot identify any significant differences between the successes of fasting and non-fasting athletes. However, the experts emphasize that a sufficiently high amount of protein is required for successful muscle building. They consider it unrealistic to eat these within a time window of just eight hours, as the widespread 16:8 fasting method envisages.
Conclusion: For whom is exercise on an empty stomach suitable?
You can test out for yourself whether exercise on an empty stomach is something for you with a light workout. If you notice that you are lacking in strength or that you feel dizzy and weak, it is better to stop the workout and eat some food first. On the other hand, if the training is easy for you, there is nothing wrong with doing sports on an empty stomach.
Older people, on the other hand, should refrain from exercising on an empty stomach. People with health restrictions or previous illnesses should also seek medical advice first in order to avoid short- and long-term physical damage.
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