I think it is safe to say that we all want the most out of our morning workouts. For many of us that means firing up our metabolism and burning fat, which are two benefits of getting the heart rate up. I also believe it is safe to say that a lot of us think that if we do not eat before working out, we will burn more calories.. I know I used to believe this.
Do you think its beneficial to run on an empty stomach? Does it burn more fat and fire up the metabolism to skip breakfast?
NO! This is a long held fitness and weight loss myth. While it seems like it should be true, that if you have no food to fuel your body, your body will burn fat straight away, but this is not true.
Make sure to fuel up in the morning for maximum fat burning effect!
Here’s Just a quick explanation of how it all works. The main fuel of your body during exercise is glycogen, which is carbs that have been broken down and stored in the liver and the muscles – but you cannot store much. After sleeping, your glycogen stores in your liver are depleted by as much as 80 percent. When you wake up and begin exercising, once you have burned through all the stored glycogen your body begins to use muscle tissue to fuel your movements. This is by some evolutionary trick, since muscle takes more energy to preserve and fuel compared to fat, the body uses it for fuel to create less of an energy need. So by exercising on an empty stomach you could be actually losing muscle.
If you are planning on working out, doing cardio or strength training, you MUST eat something before you do! Carbs preferably. A banana is a great option! I do understand that some of you don’t like eating breakfast, but I can’t stress to you enough how important it is that you do. You can’t run a car on an empty tank, it’s exactly the same as a person. We need our fuel so we can work to the best of our ability. Something as small as a banana or even a piece of toast in the morning before a workout can make a world of difference, and you will be able to push yourself that much more without flaking out. Too many clients are training on empty stomachs which are leading to dizziness, not being able to finish a whole training sessions and in turn their fitness is not improving.
I never used to eat breakfast, but now I seriously cannot start the day without a huge breakfast! It is my favourite meal for the day. I know your always hearing people say “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, but it actually is the most important meal! I really believe this!
So please guys start your day off healthy with a bite to eat and plenty of water before you start your training, it won’t take long to get in the habit of having breakfast every morning before your session, in no time you won’t even think about having to eat breakfast, it will just be part of your morning routine and you will be thinking “How did I ever skip this amazing meal each day?”
