What are the advantages and disadvantages of fasting weight training?

When we practice bodybuilding, it is essential to eat properly by having a good supply of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. This way of proceeding accelerates your evolution to be in good health while bringing to our muscles the necessary nutrients for its evolution. But there are other ways to do this depending on our goals. Indeed, sport on an empty stomach can be, for example, a good method to lose weight, the advantages and disadvantages are multiple, the important thing is to understand how our metabolism works in order to do sport on an empty stomach in an effective and healthy way. This is what we will see in this article.

Why exercise on an empty stomach?

Exercising on an empty stomach is a method often used by people who want to lose fat.

It should be noted that if a person wishes to follow a low-calorie diet to lose weight, whether he or she does sports on an empty stomach, sports with food beforehand or even does not do sports at all, he or she will still lose weight, it's just that the speed with which he or she loses weight will be slower or faster depending on the method used. 

In our case, what could be interesting with the fasting workout would be the solicitation of fat in the parts where it is difficult to lose it such as the hips, the buttocks, the lower abdomen, the saddlebags or even the love handles even if it is difficult to scientifically prove the loss of localized fat.

Doing sport without having eaten anything beforehand would therefore allow you to burn these fats, thanks to blood stimulation of these areas that were previously inaccessible.

An athlete who works out after eating will not be able to use his reserves during his physical exercises, but will first use the nutrients from the food he has assimilated. This will result in a production of insulin, is the hormone that promotes the storage of fat in fat cells.

It is true that he will be able to lose weight, but it will take longer, because the body will first use the carbohydrates from the food absorbed during the last meal.

Can training on an empty stomach make you lose weight faster?

Fasting before working out reduces insulin and releases fatty acids, this method is very effective for fat loss. The carbohydrates will be quickly assimilated into the muscles during the training sessions, which will allow you to lose weight more quickly, but if you overdo it, you will eventually lose muscle.

Thus, with this method of sport and food, the body will secrete an interesting hormone: it is what is called, the growth hormone which could increase up to 2000%.

What is the role of growth hormone?

It is what bodybuilders, bodybuilding athletes look for in their muscle gain.

Thanks to it, the increase of protein synthesis, the decrease of the fatty quantity present in the adipose zones and the manufacturing of bone and muscular tissues are allowed.

It allows to repair and to stimulate the muscular gain, it is all the more effective that it is manufactured thanks to the deterioration of the fat cells due to the practice of a sport with fasting, like for example running with fasting or even fasting in body-building.

But to benefit from the effects of this growth hormone, it is necessary to combine fasting, sports exercises and food. This is called intermittent fasting.

Do you want to lose weight and are looking for a solution? 

What is intermittent fasting?

It is the alternation between fasting and eating in the same day.

In practice, we do not eat in the first part of the day, then we eat in the second part of the day. For sportsmen and women, it is between these two moments that we do sports, hence the name of fasting sports.

In this way, it will promote weight loss because the body will draw on its fat reserves to provide the energy needed to do the training. But be careful, no more than 30 minutes of physical exercise or even 40 minutes maximum, because beyond that, the catabolic phenomenon as well as cardio vascular problems will occur, which we will see in the second part of the article.

This method is the Lean Gains method developed by Mr. Martin Berkhan.

It was created in the late 2000s and has since helped many athletes achieve more than satisfactory performance.

The benefits of intermittent fasting for bodybuilding

Its benefits have been more than remarkable since this study, which was first carried out on animals concerning the alternation between fasting and feeding, allowed the following conclusion to be drawn: the animals that benefited from this experiment live longer and in better health.

This method was then used on humans, the observations made it possible to see the clear difference that our body underwent following this dietary change:

The brain starts to produce new neurons that help concentration, improve memory and eliminate toxins. This phenomenon is due to the use of sugar stored by insulin, which is transformed into fat, thus feeding the brain and producing new neurons. 

Finally, the other positive effect is the production of testosterone. Testosterone is the main hormone responsible for increasing muscle mass and decreasing body fat.

In order to stimulate this hormone, it is advisable to train heavily by alternating short sessions with intense bodybuilding sessions.

Once the training is over, in order to enjoy the anabolic windowIt is recommended to eat foods rich in rapidly assimilated proteins and high glycemic index carbohydrates.

Let's see in practice how to apply intermittent fasting on a daily basis while working out:

Organizing a day out for a sportsman

• Fasting is generally done for 16 hours in a 24-hour day
• Feeding is done during the following 8 hours divided into three to four meals

Organization of eating habits during the week of an athlete

• On non-training days, the diet should be lower in carbohydrates, composed of protein-rich products with the right number of calories per day for energy needs and energy expenditure. Limit carbohydrates as much as possible to glycemic index high
• Before physical exercise on an empty stomach, remember to take 5g to 10g of BCAA
• On training days, products with a high nutritional value and a high carbohydrate content will be more appreciated at the expense of foods containing fat, so remember to force the calorie intake right after training with a good portion of your carbohydrates for the day.

The disadvantages of this method

Doing sports on an empty stomach would allow you to lose weight more effectively, however, there are still some disadvantages to this method:

The body is able to produce an effort having assimilated nothing before a training thanks to its glycogen reserve in the muscles, however, its duration of effectiveness is limited.

If the training exceeds 30 to 40 minutes, the body's defense mechanism will be activated, so it will, in order not to suffer from too much fatigue, start to draw its energy from the muscles. This will result in catabolism, which is the destruction of muscle cells.

Muscles being a real reservoir where proteins and amino acids are found, the risk will be a muscular loss. In this case, the athlete will not have gained anything, since he will certainly have lost weight, but also muscle.

However, this situation is what should be avoided at all costs for any bodybuilding practitioner.

The need to eat well with a consistent intake of carbohydrates and amino acids is essential for the body to be able to work properly and therefore optimize muscle gain.

Can we progress on an empty stomach and reach an ideal weight?

Yes, it is quite possible to make progress on an empty stomach, but there are some rules to follow:

• It is important to have a balanced diet and not to fast for more than 16 hours
• Train on an empty stomach with short sessions
• Ensure adequate rest time between training sessions
• Especially drink well and take BCAA (branched-chain amino acids) before and during the session
• Make sure you eat well during your lunch so that you don't have an empty stomach after training, so plan to eat right away

How to make a good dry ? Understand everything about fat loss

Conclusion

Fasting before exercising is not a problem, especially if you want to lose weight or keep it off. However, it's important to bear in mind that our nutritional needs must be met after training, and that micronutrients and macronutrients must be present in our diet to avoid muscle catabolism and enable us to do sport or bodybuilding with serenity.

Fasting cardio can be a good way to lose fat, but there's no scientific proof that it's any better than doing cardio at any other time of day, having eaten beforehand (if in both cases the same number of daily calories consumed remains the same). So it's up to you to decide what suits you best, depending on your schedule and how you feel. Whatever method you use, the important thing is to be able to stick to it over time.

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