Is Fasted Cardio the Best Fat-Burning Method?

Is fasted cardio in the morning the best way to burn fat? The answer is Yes and No.

Some research does actually show that when you do cardio fasted in the morning, you burn up to 20 percent more fat. A recent study from the UK published in the “British Journal of Nutrition” found that when subjects were fasted during morning cardio they burned 20 percent more fat than when they had a meal beforehand. Several earlier studies show similar results.

Fasted cardio in the morning is effective because as you sleep and fast overnight your body conserves its precious carb stores and leans toward mobilizing fat for fuel. However, your body also breaks down amino acids into glucose overnight, so fasted morning cardio mobilizes more fat and potentially more amino acids for fuel, which isn’t ideal if building muscle is your primary goal. This isn’t a huge problem as long as you consume a fast-digesting protein like whey, along with some slow-digesting casein, after your cardio.

So, if you’re like most people, your best bet is to not worry about doing cardio fasted first thing in the morning. If doing cardio first thing in the morning is best for your schedule, then go for it, but try to at least have a pre-workout protein shake. If your goal is building max muscle, then I highly recommend you have a protein shake and some carbs, such as fruit, before the workout. If you’re trying to limit carb intake, then you might want to avoid the carbs until after the workout is over. But again, it all depends on your diet.

According to Ph.D. Jim Stoppani, doing a bit of fasted cardio can work for certain people at specific times. He found that fasted cardio can work well for men with body fat in the low single digits (5-6 percent) and females with body fat in the low teens (13-14 percent), especially if they have specific problem areas like the lower back or thighs.

Stoppani also found that once people drop the majority of their total body fat, fasted cardio seems to work well on resistant or stubborn areas. Although there’s no direct data to reference, it might be that when a person only has a small amount of fat lingering in hard-to-attack areas, exercising in a fasted state could spark those resistant fat cells to release stored fat so it can be burned for fuel.

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