Eating Before Morning Cardio: Yes or no?

Dear Georgie,

With the New Year and all the new fitness goals of everyone I am having difficulty with this question. In many of the competitive sporting rings they preach cardio in the morning BEFORE eating anything. I have done research and found multiple articles on the fact that if you exercise without a small breakfast of some sort- you’re just burning the hard-earned muscle we are all working for. Can you put this to rest for me? I prefer to have my 1/2 cup oats mixed with some protein powder immediatly when I wake up. I find if I do NOT eat a bit of something I get shaky, dizzy, nauseated and very weak. I cannot even DO cardio feeling like that. Anyway, many of my clients now read your page and I thought a public forum might be a good place to address this. Also, I have people show up at the crack of dawn with NO FOOD in their system.

TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT??? (that is the question)

Thanks so much!
Maria

Great question Maria, and many people wonder the same thing. That feeling you described, being shaky, dizzy, nauseated and weak, comes from low blood sugar. If you are following a strict bodybuilding diet (fat loss phase), with limited calories and carbohydrates, your body’s stores of glycogen are very low in the morning. After 8 or so hours of sleep and no food, your body is asking for some fuel! To go to the gym and exercise in this state would only make you feel awful and result in muscle catabolism.

Your body’s blood sugar regulation system is designed with one main priority, to maintain enough glucose in your bloodstream to keep your brain happy. Your liver releases glucose into the blood – and that glucose can be derived from carbohydrate, protein, or a miniscule amount from the glycerol in triglycerides. (You cannot actually turn fatty acids into glucose). Carbs are the first source, but when these are limited, amino acids will go next. If you consume amino acids from protein before working out, they can help provide glucose for your brain, but with no food in the system, your body will take the amino acids from muscle protein.

In addition, the hypoglycemic state (low blood sugar) causes the release of cortisol, a stress hormone. Exercise also causes cortisol release, so combining the fasted state with exercise would be expected to produce a very high release of cortisol.  Cortisol signals the body to break down proteins and fats to make glucose. So yes, you will be burning muscle if you do fasted morning cardio. As a side note, calorie and carbohydrate restricition, coupled with exercise can be strongly immunosuppresive – meaning you may get frequent colds, and are more susceptible to the flu.

But what about fat burning? There will be some associated fat burning going on, but you will burn the fat more efficiently if you have carbohydrate available! You’ll probably be able to exercise more productively, with better focus, more comfortably, if you give your body some fuel first! Doing fasted morning cardio is something akin swinging a wrecking ball, it will cause breakdown of both muscle and fat in efforts to make enough fuel. It would be much more strategic (spare the muscle, burn the fat) to provide carbohydrates for fuel, and amino acids to prevent muscle breakdown, but keep the calorie intake below your expenditure, so fat burn is maximixed.

Becuase I know it is the aim of a fat-loss phase to reduce bodyfat as much as possible while retaining muscle mass, I recommend a small portion-controlled breakfast just like you described, mixing complex carbohydrates with some protein. Oatmeal and whey is perfect! I would also follow up the workout immediately with another small carb + protein meal. This will:

1. Minimize cortisol and catabolism

2. Give you enough energy to do the work in the gym

3. Provide enough carbs to maintain muscle and immune function

4. Provide continuous amino acids so your body won’t have to get them from muscle.

5. Small portions still allow for a caloric deficit to be achieved, so you’ll have a net fat loss.

(6. And stop you from hating your trainer, hating your workouts, and avoiding the gym altogether as a place of suffering!)

Now, Maria is a highly competitive body builder – What about the average exerciser?  For the average person, it is also advisable to consume some breakfast before working out. You can get a lot more done in your session if you have some fuel in the tank. Plus, if you are trying to build muscle, you are largely wasting your time if you strength train after a nightlong fast. Your body is in full-on breakdown mode, and without the raw materials you won’t be able to build muscle tissue!

For those who say they have no morning appetite, this is often a sign of overeating at night. Decrease the amount of food you eat at dinner, or between dinner and bedtime, and watch that morning hunger magically appear! It’s a normal, healthy sign to wake up and be eager for food. So fuel up and get a great exercise session in!

Best,

Georgie Fear RD

Related posts:

1. Are some protein bars better than others?
2. You heard it here first!
3. Gaining lean mass & regaining muscle after injury
4. Calorie Confusion: How to recover fully but not bulk up?
5. Can you boost serotonin with food?
6. Does Cooking Protein Powder Affect Its Potency?
7. Why go lowfat in recipes, if fat isn’t bad?