The benefits of a good strength training program are almost endless. Less disease, happiness and most importantly, showing off your muscles at the beach.Functional and core training is not just about looking good – its about bullet-proofing your your body from injury, skyrocketing physical performance and even improving your health.

1. Cardio
fitness

2. • Performing cardio on an empty
stomach (usually first thing in the
morning after an overnight fast) has
been a popular fat burning strategy
among bodybuilders for many
years.
• It seems to make sense…
Since there is no food in the
stomach, and since glycogen
levels are low, the body will be
forced to utilize more body fat for
energy during the session. As a
result, you’ll lose fat faster.

3. But just like the “eat protein
every 3 hours” rule, the post
workout shake obsession and
the “eat clean 24/7” approach,
fasted cardio appears to be yet
another piece of traditional
bodybuilding advice that
comes up short.
Although this ultimately a
highly complicated issue, let’s
go over the key points…

4. First off, the body is a far
more intricate and
dynamic system than
most of us could ever
imagine.
Its specific use of fuel during
exercise is constantly changing
and is affected by a ton of different
internal factors, such as different
hormones and enzymes. The
attempt to burn greater amounts of
fat by exercising on an empty
stomach is an extremely simplistic
approach to a far more complex
overall picture.

5. Secondly, worrying about what
happens in small spans of 30-60
minutes is an incredibly short-
sighted view of fat loss.
The process of losing fat is all
about the big picture and what
you do over the course of
several days (not hours) is
what’s really important.
For example, it appears that if
more carbohydrates are
burned during exercise, you’ll
simply end up burning more fat
later on in the day.

6. • In the same way, if you burn
more fat during exercise, more
carbohydrates are burned later
on. In other words, looking at
overall 24 hour energy
expenditure seems to be the
most important factor by far.
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7. Thirdly, cardio on an empty
stomach doesn’t appear to
burn more total fat in
comparison to having a
meal first.
• Fasted cardio does appear to
increase lipolysis (the amount
of fat that is broken down), but
does not increase fat oxidation
(the amount of fat burned).

8. • In other words, fasted cardio
causes the body to break down
more fat than it can actually
use for energy. And when it
comes to fat loss, the limiting
factor is fat oxidation, NOT
lipolysis. In the end, those fatty
acids that aren’t used for fuel
are simply re-stored as body
fat.
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9. Fourth, a pre-cardio
meal increases the
thermic effect of
exercise.
• Not only does fasted cardio
have minimal to no direct effect
on fat loss, but fed cardio may
actually be superior. This is
because having a meal first
appears to increase post
exercise oxygen consumption
(EPOC) due to an increase in
thermogenesis (calories
burned as heat).

10. Fifth, performing cardio in
a fasted state reduces
exercise intensity.
• At the end of the day, effective
cardio is all about maximizing
the total number of calories
burned. The more total
intensity you generate, the
greater the calorie-burning
effect will be.

11. • In most individuals, performing
cardio first thing in the morning
on an empty stomach will have
a significant negative impact
on overall exercise intensity in
comparison to having a meal
first.
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12. Lastly, fasted cardio
causes a greater degree
of muscle loss.
• The research has shown that
nitrogen losses are nearly doubled
when cardio is performed on an
empty stomach.
If you’re aiming to burn fat while
maintaining as much muscle as
possible, fasted cardio is probably
not the smartest choice.
So, to sum this all up…

13. • Not only does fasted cardio
appear to NOT increase fat
loss during exercise, but it
may actually lower the total
amount of fat burned due to
a decrease in post exercise
oxygen consumption and
overall training intensity. In
addition, fasted cardio
causes you to lose more
muscle.
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14. Bottom line?
If you’re looking to maximize
fat loss while minimizing
muscle loss, it’s probably best
to get a meal in at least a few
hours prior to your cardio
sessions.
Fasted cardio does not
produce any clear fat burning
advantages, and if anything, it
may be counterproductive.