Over the weekend I hit the gym with my buddy John for a morning cardio workout.

Now, I say “cardio”, but really it was a metabolic resistance training session.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the simple definition for metabolic resistance training is “cardio with weights”. We’ll cover this more in detail in another update so as not to get too off topic.

So we’re about 10 minutes into the workout and John looks like he’s in pretty bad shape (despite being in really GOOD shape). So I asked him what the deal was.

“I didn’t eat anything for breakfast.”

Me: Why the heck not?

“I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do if you want to burn the most fat from your morning workouts.”

Uh oh.

Perhaps you’re still believing this old myth just like John, so allow me to take a moment to dispel it.

The theory behind empty stomach is cardio is simple: supposedly, by doing cardio on a empty stomach, you tap directly into fat stores since glycogen (carbohydrate) stores are somewhat depleted after an overnight fast.

Seems to make sense, but research has proven this to be wrong.

Several studies have shown no difference in substrate utilization (glycogen vs. fat) for those working out on an empty stomach vs. those who eat a small meal prior to their morning workouts.

In fact, one study showed the exact opposite—those who had a small meal first burned more calories and more fat than the empty stomach group.

How can this be? The reason is rather simple if you think about it. I was kicking butt and taking names with my workout, and John was barely able to get through his. Even if not eating beforehand allowed you to burn more fat (which it doesn’t), the major trade off is performance.

And why does performance matter? Well, if you can’t perform at an optimal level and put forth maximal effort, then you are not going to be burning an optimal amount of calories–period.

The truth is, empty stomach cardio is an outdated philosophy whose theory was proven incorrect by research. Still, there are plenty of people who hold on to the theory despite the available research. Perhaps they’re not aware of it, perhaps they just go by what the fitness and bodybuilding magazines tell them (bad idea); I’m not sure.

Whatever the reason, popular philosophy doesn’t always mean correct philosophy, and this is one such instance.

So I’ll leave you with some practical recommendations:

At the very minimum, have a couple scoops of whey before any morning “cardio” workout.

That said, if it’s still negatively affecting your performance, you need to go a bit further. The meal doesn’t have to be large, but it should contain some complex carbs (oatmeal, etc) along with a small serving of protein.

Give it about a half hour to begin digesting and then hit your workout.

Better performance = more calories burned = more fat loss = improved cardiovascular functioning = even better performance = even more calories burned = even more fat loss.

Don’t be like my friend John and have a crappy workout because you didn’t eat. As I shared with you, the research shows that’s not going to make a difference anyway. Instead, eat your Wheaties and then dominate your workout!

Alright, now it’s comment time.  If you are one of our 5,000 new customers, we like to comment here.  Get involved; participate; that’s what this site is all about.

I want to know:  Do you still do empty stomach cardio? Will you give it up based on this post? Do you notice your performance suffers?

Or maybe you do REALLY well with empty stomach cardio.

Either way, let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below!

Chat with you below!

Your friend,

Joel

Content-wise,Cheat Your Way Thin e-book features a very easy-to-follow 3 phase program including a priming phase, core phase, and maintenance phase.

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Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
www.articles.atozfitness.com
AtoZfitness.com Google’s #1 fitness site.
www.atozfitness.com
Follow me on Twitter for updates from my blog….
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If you have any questions, you can contact me sending an
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Are Artificial Sweeteners Keeping You Fat?

Are artificial sweeteners keeping you fat?

Again, let’s take a look at what the RESEARCH has to say:

1. Kanders BS et al. An evaluation of the effect of aspartame on weight loss. Appetite. 1988; 11 Suppl 1:73-84.

In this study, two groups were analyzed: diet only and diet plus aspartame. In the end, the diet plus aspartame group resulted in 33% greater weight loss over a 12 week period.

2. Blackburn GL et al. The effect of aspartame as part of a multidisciplinary weight-control program on short- and long-term control of body weight. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Feb;65(2):409-18.

In this study, researchers at Harvard Medical School analyzed aspartame’s impact on weight loss and long-term maintenance of lost weight. Over a 19-week period, study participants regularly consuming aspartame lost more weight than those abstaining from its use. Moreover, the aspartame group was able to better maintain lost weight over a 2 year follow-up period when compared to the non-aspartame group.

3. Renwick AG. Intense sweeteners, food intake, and the weight of a body of evidence. Physiol Behav. 1994 Jan;55(1):139-43. Review.

A comprehensive review of the research done on HUMANS “does not support the concept that the consumption of intense sweeteners results in a paradoxical increase in calorie intake and body weight”
What about the idea that non-nutritive sweetener intake triggers one to eat more because it’s sending a sweet signal to the brain without the calories?

4. Van Wymelbeke V, et al. Influence of repeated consumption of beverages containing sucrose or intense sweeteners on food intake. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jan;58(1):154-61.

In this 2004 study, participants were given either sugar sweetened or aspartame sweetened beverages for one month; effects on food intake were analyzed. The result: the aspartame group did not experience an increase in food intake to “make up” for the calories not consumed in the beverages they drank (i.e. the sugar group consumed more total calories, and obviously, significantly more sugar).

And for those health professionals taking the stance that the use of nonnutritive sweeteners will lessen dietary adherence by causing dieters to crave other sweets, you’d also expect these individuals to recommend avoiding fruits and anything else both sweet and extremely healthful-but they’re not, leaving a huge inconsistency in the argument.

Simply put, in everything I have seen, the exact opposite has been true-the use of nonnutritive sweeteners increases dietary adherence by giving individuals a no-calorie outlet to satisfy the occasional sweet craving. Nonnutritive sweeteners provide a great alternative to sugar-laden beverages and other counterproductive sweet products and further lessen the temptation of resorting to such products to satisfy a sweet craving.

And as you can see, the research on non-nutritive sweeteners and weight loss back this up many times over.

A couple of important things to note:

1.  If you are using “packets”, be it blue, pink, or yellow - all of these have calorie-containing, insulin spiking “carriers” (the most common being maltodextrin).  Because there is less than one gram of these calories (really .8 grams or so), manufacturers are allowed to round down and claim zero grams and zero calories.  This is not a big deal at all assuming you are using one or two packets, but for those who add 10 packets of Equal to their cereal, sorry, you’re only fooling yourself.

2.  I still recommend the bulk of your fluid intake come in the form of good old fashion water.

With that, I’ll wrap up our discussion of artificial sweeteners, aspartame, safety, and weight loss.  In summary, people can talk theory and anecdotes all they want, but the research simply doesn’t validate it.

At least 100 comments and I’ll be back before you know it with more content (perhaps I’ll even do a post on Stevia and Agave)!

Joel

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Sarah, CPT
Lewis, Publisher
www.articles.atozfitness.com
AtoZfitness.com Google’s #1 fitness site.
www.atozfitness.com
Follow me on Twitter for updates from my blog….
http://www.twitter.com/atozfitness

If you have any questions, you can contact me sending an
e-mail to me at atozsupport@atozfitness.com .