Fasted cardio is having a moment.
But does fasting before a workout actually make a difference to your weight, or your health?
Not the way youd think.
Lets take a look at the science.
What is fasted cardio?
Fasted cardio doesnt require some kind of extreme starvation protocol.
It just means doing cardio when you havent eaten recently.
(The word breakfast even comes from the fact that the first thing you eat isbreakingyourfast.)
Does fasted cardio help you burn fat?
In a limited, technical sense: maybe.
In a real-world, big-picture sense: no.
Remember that we are all burning fatall the time,just by existing.
How do you think your body stays alive all night while you are sleeping?
In other words, there is a difference betweenburningfat andlosingfat.
We burn fat and replace it continuously throughout the day; burning fat doesnt mean losing fat.
We onlylosefat when we dont eat enough to replace all the fat that we burned.
Ultimately, you dont have to pay attention to what fuel your body is using at what time.
Unfortunately, the results are pretty clear that fasted cardio does not seem to help people lose weight.
Half the women got a shake before their cardio session, and half got the shake after.
Members of each group were eating the same number of calories each day in total.
Both groups lost the same amount of weight.
Fasted cardio provided no additional benefit.
But one 2011 studyfound that fat burning was greater among people who ate before they did their cardio.
Based on these results, I wouldnt trust fasted cardio to burn more fat, much less lose it.
You’ll be able to push harder, work longer, and feel less tired doing it.
Longer sessions will especially benefit from eating beforehand.
You dont have time to eat beforehand, and your workout will be a short or easy one anyway.
Long sessions still require fueling.
