Exercise and Intermittent Fasting
I get tons of inbox questions about intermittent fasting and exercising.
When it comes to cardio, itâs generally recommended that you exercise on an empty stomach, so that the calories burned come from body fat and not from the foods you consumed beforehand. This means you can perform a workout like HIIT fasted at any time before your first meal.
What about strength training? It actually goes against conventional wisdom to strength train on an empty stomach. A lot of personal trainers do not recommend it as itâs supposedly detrimental to strength gains and may even lead to muscle catabolism.
However, it looks like conventional wisdom is being turned on its head as studies show that this clearly isnât the case. This study (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00421-009-1289-x) actually shows that resistance training in a fasted state may actually elicit a greater anabolic response than training in a fed state.
Nevertheless, there is still always the possibility of some muscle loss (especially if you go CrAzY in the weight room), which is why it’s not a bad idea to take a BCAA supplement before beginning a strenuous weight training session. 