Does FASTED Cardio Burn More Fat? (What The Science Says) 

I'm a kinesiology student (at Queen's University in Ontario!! Fellow Canadian!) and this is exactly what we are currently discussing in my Exercise Physiology class! My prof even mentioned one of the studies you cited here. I may email her your video to see if it can be played in one of our lectures because it really does summarize a good chunk of our current unit. Thanks again for another great science based video :)

Next Myth bust Monday: muscle soreness = muscle growth

I lift and do cardio fasted as of right now, because many times that I have tried to go to the gym after eating a meal even after waiting 3 hours, many times I get stomach problems and it heavily effects my workouts. Also, It's much much easier for me to control my caloric intake when I fast and only eat during a 6 to 8 hour window.

Guys lets take it to a new level: eating breakfast while doing cardio

Those edits are 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Really interesting. That's some sweet editing too

Caloric deficit, cardio and weight training = weight loss. SIMPLICITY

I think fasted cardio tends to lead to less calories consumed overall and that’s why people lean down more. If you eat before your workout, you’ll probably want to eat again after: whereas you’d only be eating after if you fasted. Also in my own experience, working out fasted helps suppress my appetite after the work while at the same time energizing my body for the day=going longer into a fast.

I train fasted, but that's cos I do intermittent fasting. I do intermittent fasting during cuts because I have a huge appetite and intermittent fasting makes my appetite smaller as well as the fact that it feels like I've eaten a lot of I save all my meals at the end of the day.

Smh i learn more watching jeffs youtube videos then i do at university

He can't say ''RER'' without sounding like a pirate.

It’s also hard to run on a full stomach

I'm still going to run fasted.

Fasted cardio is more than just fat loss. It’s an entire different psychological & spiritual game

I've been doing fasted cardio for around 2 months and lost 17lbs from 200lbs, so far its been working.

Love what you have to say here Jeff! The only bit I would add from my own experience as an endurance athlete is that when I train in the fed state I tend to be able to perform at a higher level thus allowing for a more effective workout and burning more overall calories. Due to this I believe that it's always better to train fed when doing specific workouts or long runs. On easy days, however, I wouldn't see any issue in training in the fasted state!

we need you to cover all peripheral topics related to fasted training, starting with its effect on lean mass

Jeff, I've been watching your videos for about a year now, and I can say in complete confidence that you have truly set the bar for educating true physiology and science behind all our fitness conundrums. You dive into more research than anyone else is willing to do, and you put it together in the most perfectly aesthetic way. I'm glad your channel exists my dude

The takeaway message here is that cardio, in general, works. I've done both - fasted cardio and high intensity interval cardio in 20 minute increments and both work. I prefer fasted cardio first thing in the morning because it's not as physical thus leaving more energy for my weight training sessions. I am a 29 year study (started this when I was 18 and I am now 47).

So basically fasted cardio or fed cardio is virtually the same. It doesn't fucking matter. Weight loss is achieved through a caloric deficit...agreed?

I’ve found that the few research articles that “debunk” fasting are bias, and they never observe proper types of fasting. I personally think there’s going to be a war on fasting by the food industry. These are the same people that told us we should be eating 5 meals a day, we should be eating a lot of carbs, and many other myths.

In other words; do what you feel is best for you

All I can speak for is personal experience. To get beach ready, I start doing fasted weight training and cardio in February. Works every time!

Great video

We’re about to learn today!!!

I'd love to hear you talk about how fasted exercise impacts metabolism and lean mass!

I was about to embark on 6 weeks of trying fasted cardio to break through a sticking point in my fat reduction. Thanks Jeff for making me think!

I do fasted cardio because I love doing my cardio first thing in the morning, as it gives me an energy boost for the rest of the day. I get that 'runner's high,' which gives me more energy in my strength training later in the day. I especially love this when the weather is nice enough to run outside before dawn.

Editing goals!👍🏻🔥

Practical Takeaway 5:47 watch the vid for the science behind it!

I think its the first channel (and i watched a lot) that tries to educate you. I mean, its so nice to see somebody that start to explain and says "NO, NO I WONT SAY DO THAT OR DO THAT, I WILL EXPLAIN YOU AND YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION AND JUST AFTER YOU CAN CHOOSE FOR YOURSELF".

What if you continued your fast for a longer period of time? forcing your body to continue running on fats for the rest of the 24 hours? What about fasted lifting? What if you did both fasted cardio and lifting?

I just did my first IF workout and I’m so proud of myself, never thought I would be able to do it.

Love your videos. Even though there's no difference between fed and fasted cardio, I still think fasted cardio has the upper hand simply because you tend to eat less calories. People typically eat a post workout meal. So if I eat before AND after a cardio (HIT) workout, my total calories is going to be more. I also prefer fasted cardio because I just feel lighter on my feet.

I did fast cardio first thing in the morning. No food , just a glass of water with a cup of black coffee no sugar. I reach the best shape of my life.

I think it depends on how long the fasted state is. Like 8 hour fasted vs 28 hour fasted cardio will yield a better fat loss for the second participant. I can say from experience in the Army we worked out fasted and ate three times a day. I lost 10 pounds in both AIT and basic trainingc (235 to 225 to 215). In high school, I would eat nothing all day long, workout during school and after school then eat right before bed. I lost 25 pounds in a month (I was already in ok shape in high school 225 to 200 lbs). -If you are really trying to lose weight, go with this. Drink black coffee (i use ice to take away the bitterness) before your morning workout. Drink water throughout the day. Eat one big salad with a meat source (about 8 ozs) approx 2-3 hours before bedtime. -This routine has worked for everyone I know. The black coffee helps with fat loss, hunger depression, and better workouts. Drinking water throughout the day keeps you hydrated and decreases hunger. The whole point of this routine is to keep your insulin levels low. -Jeff and everyone let me know if this works for you guys PEACE!!

I've done fasted cardio and weight training and noticed a HUGE difference. I burned a LOT more while fasted and had more energy two day into my fast compared to when I was eating. An added benefit was insulin sensitivity increased fasting for at least 3 days while working out. Also if you are working on an emplty stomach but are not fasting the rest of the day you still improve your insulin household and sensitivity.

I just really LIKE doing fasted cardio (typically getting a run in) first thing in the morning. I like to get it done while the rest of the world is still sleeping. About an hour after my cardio session, I have so much more energy the rest of the day!

Those studies have a very likely additional limitation, which is where the subjects have only have fasted for less than 12hrs. Short fasts less than 12hrs still have a significant amount of glycogen stored in the muscles. The definition of an empty stomach vs a true fasted state are significant enough to affect the clarifications of the study. But, love the videos pls keep them coming!

Loved that u included these studies. Especially the meta-analysis!

I feel better when I do cardio and training fasted.

I appreciate this video so much Jeff! I hope coaches who absolutely insist and push clients to do fasted cardio see this and start to come to terms with the research given. Thank you for putting so much into your channel, your subs love it! ❤🙏

It’s about the stuff your body burns before it uses fat. Glucose and then glycogen get used up first, and after it gets depleted around 45 minutes then it switches to burning fat. With fasting exercise you skip the glucose and glycogen reserves and go to fat burning directly

Im a nurse and greatly appreciate these evidence-based educational videos!! Thanks so much! I know how to find reliable data but I just don’t have the time as a single mom and grad student. Really appreciate this!! ✊🏻

I tried training fasted and just didn’t have the energy for it, when I train before dinner I can make my workouts more intense. I do fasted, long brisk walks on Saturday mornings, I can deal with those.

Jeff could you do a video on Anterior Pelvic Tilt (APT)? Given the amount of us that work jobs that involve sitting on a chair all day, I feel like it's something that affects the posture of the majority of people, yet on RU-vid right now there is very little in the way of scientific literature/fixes for the problem

I've found working out on empty stomach I lose weight faster. I think it just depends on you.

I just discovered your channel, and as a fitness gal and a researcher in biology, I'm a big fan! Thanks for your work, it's really informative.

You kept saying training but this was specific to cardio. Is there any difference for resistance training not cardio?

Hey Jeff, Great video. But I think you should look for topics that aren't simply false. Like a similar style to mythbusters where at the end, some myths are true or false.

Dude at this point your videos could just be 2 second clip of you saying “yes” or “no” and I’d take your word for it 😂😂😂 credibility game is strongff

Loved the video 😊 I would love more and more info about it. I go for a quick fasted run every morning with my dog, and my number one reason for doing that was exactly what you mentioned: I just don't wake up hungry. Going for a run with my pup is just an easy way to get me and him up and going, and by the time I'm back I'm ready to eat.

Good to know that caloric deficit remains the key element to a successful weight loss diet. Thanks for the thorough analysis, Jeff. Best MBM so far!

Can you talk about fasted weight training and muscle loss?

I am a 51 years old woman following You and very happy for your videos,!

3:45 or maybe the study was “funded” by Quaker Oats and therefore had a “predictable” result of saying there’s no difference in fasting in the morning time or not because it would cut into their profits long-term, we really don’t know so how about us not having so much blind faith in the supposed “scientific studies.“ what I’m suggesting is that you approach all of the scientific studies that you simply throw out to us with a little bit more skepticism. Especially when it involves some thing that could involve the substantial loss or gain of money for other interested parties.

I think the biggest effect is that if you tend to work out in the mornings while fasted you generally will just eat less calories for the entire day anyway. So you end up losing the weight faster due to calorie deficit. Once start working out while fasted you dont realize you arent hungry anymore so its just easier to head to lunch and then dinner, then all the sudden you only are two meals for the day.

Conclusion is... well, get out of the chair and exercise. Also, i would choose H.I.I.T over cardio. Takes less time.

A follow up video on the topic of fasted cardio's impact on lean mass would be great. By the way, great work. I love this channel!

Fabio Zonin and Marco Neri, two of the authors of one of the articles were my professors when I got my fitness diplomas in 2012!!! Great work on your channel!Greetings from Italy!!

From what I understand the real benefit to fasted training is the change of insulin sensitivity in the body. Higher insulin sensitivity results in better nutrient partitioning, sort of priming the body to uptake carbohidrates in a more efficient manner and storing it as muscle and liver glicogen instead of fat tissue. What's your take on that Jeff?

Very well researched, so basically caloric planning is more important than all the fad exercises and diets.

You overlooked carb’s inhibition of growth hormone release and since the most growth hormone is released while sleeping, this could lead to decreased GH secretion at night.

This is really useful. I’ve been told I would burn more fat doing fasted cardio. But I notice I perform miles better eating before hand. So this is good news! 💪👍

Can you do a video on warmups and stretches for optimization. I know you previously did a video debunking static stretching. But can you do a video showing your favorite for upper or lower days. Would love to hear your opinion. Awesome video

Studies say one thing, but real life examples say another. Everyone I know who did fasted cardio lost a lot of body fat very rapidly without changing their diets. I had one friend who was fairly obese. He decided to exercise by doing fasted cardio. Every morning he got up at 6 and lightly jogged for at least 45 mins, every day. In one year he wasn't obese any more. He continued to do fasted cardio and changed it to faster jogging/light running for 1 hour. He became shredded. His diet was shit. He didn't watch anything he ate, in fact he ate worse and a lot more food than before. So this whole thing of fasted cardio doesn't work, yeah okay, whatever. Just try it yourself for 3 months and see what happens. Studies don't mean much when real life examples refute them.

I Hope you really see this message, I think the Whole FITNESS community is grateful for your existence, I think we are tired of the bro science dudes, although they do have their place, people need straight and upfront knowledge, about fitness. Supporting you out here from china, breaking the rules and all but its worth it!

The production quality of your videos has improved so much. I normally don't like fitness content but your channel is an exception and I will surely subscribe!

I'm way more curious about how to drop BF%, I hope Jeff gives us more info in walk and talk

I’d like to know if there was any difference between fasted cardio vs fed cardio with regards to the preservation of muscle while in a caloric defiicit over a substantial period of time. Would one style of cardio induce more muscle breakdown, or would they both elicit the same results?

I feel like doing cardio while the body is "hungry" would naturally push it to more quickly elevate all your vitals and allow you to train in that state longer, even if it's a shorter actual training session. As long as your training intensity is there, rather than doing LSD type cardio, that is. Over time it could increase your VO2 max which increases training capacity, to increase metabolism more drastically.

Clicked on the video by accident, as I just didn’t feel the need to watch it. Though you got my attention and well enough that I thought I should comment too. Good job! Edit - I’d appreciate a video addressing the topic on cardio, whether fasted or not, and lean muscle

Hey Jeff. I’m a competitive cyclist and we do some fasted rides in the morning to train our bodies to burn more fat since our efforts and endurance based. I don’t know if there’s any scientific basis for this, and I was hoping you could find out for us fellow cyclists out there. Thanks! Love your channel.

I always do fasted cardio one of my favorite ways to help cut!

Would love for you to explore those peripheral topics! Keep the series going for sure. This and science explained are great pieces of content!

the strong mechanistic case for prefering one over the other is inlammation from food consumption and insulin, etc.

Absolutely love this video! Did you ever do a myth busting Monday concerning artificial sweeteners?

I like how you say “RER”. Sounds like a pirate saying “Arrr eee arrrrr”. Also plz do a video on grass fed bs corn fed beef.

Can u do a video about joint health? The science behind keeping them healthy and how certain exercises can make them healthier and how certain exercises can deteriorate them. Thanks

Brilliant video. May i suggest some more soft furniture or sound proofing to reduce echo on the audio?

Hi Jeff. Would you be able to do a video on if altitude masks are beneficial?

Don’t let this distract you from the fact that Jiren bout to fsu next week

Thank you for this video!! This morning I'm contemplating on doing my 40 minutes on the spin bike prior to eating breakfast. Part of my reasoning is based off my eating a buffet the other day. The more I eat one day, the next day I eat less and or lighter meals. Since early June I've lost 48 pounds of unwanted weight.

Great post, as always! I love that your posts are full of fact and empirical data, rather than just opinion. Thanks, Jeff.

What I want to see, is a study for fasted or fed cardio and specifically its effects on your hunger. I.e. if you burn fat in the morning, is there a correlation towards wanting to eat more/less throughout the day overall?

Yes! I’m so glad I found this faster cardio is difficult for me I always feel so tired but I thought it was the best for fat loss! Glad that’s over

Hey Jeff, hope you notice this comment, but wanted to thank you for all your videos and the knowledge you've shared with your fan base over the years. I've known about you for a year now and you as a fitness enthusiast and lover of the science of the body, have improved greatly. I'm 16 myself and I have a passion to do things like this and learn everything I can there is to learn about how the body works and the knowledge there is to gain from all these different sources online, but the biggest problem for me when it comes to this is where to start. i feel like there are so many different areas to learn about and I am currently struggling to find my starting point. I have dedicated my entire life to the lifestyle of fitness and I love everything about it even from when I first began at 12 years old. But, I have had a recent epiphany on where to start learning and that is your content and i'm glad I can start right now learning about everything I can from every video you have to offer. Thanks man, I really appreciate your contributions to the fitness community and I hope to meet you sometime. I almost forgot to mention, I remember about a year ago I was struggling to find a way to improve my strength and at the time I didn't have a trainer and so my first instinct was to look up how to build a stronger back and guess who I found; You! And thanks to your numerous videos explaining how to really develop your back, it's now my strongest part of my body and in return I have learned to get my pull from 300 to 470 and i can thank at least 50% of that to your videos.

You are extremely well versed on sports nutrition and research! I’m glad you looked into more studies & even mentioned that the acute studies may not be giving proper evidence. Great video!

Thanks for this great video. I‘d be interested if there are differences between LISS and HIIT cardio as a suggestion for the walk and talk follow-up. It seems to me that when I‘m doing HIIT fasted, I hit the barrier earlier and might thus not burn as many calories as if I had trained in a fed state.

Did anyone else notice how beautiful this background is?

By far the most intelligent and selfless bodybuilding athlete/content creator out there. Thanks Jeff. It takes a great guy to share all the knowledge from scientific studies (which no layman would source for himself) and make our lives easier.

I gotta admit this is probably my favorite series on youtube! Keep up the great work man, appreciate all the good content.

My question: does lifting fake weights on Instagram = more followers and likes compared to lifting real weights?😂 Love your videos though Jeff!

Curious about weight training + cardio in a fasted state. Same difference?

Do a video on how cortisol levels affects belly fat loss vs overall fat loss. Specifically does high cortisol levels cause stomach fat or the prevention of fat loss around the stomach. Love these videos

Very true, calorie deficit has helped me lose 73lbs and keep it off. I have issues with my hormones and edema so when I experience a weight loss plateau, a 45 min cardio workout, with both equipment and no machines, helps the edema go away and helped the plateau break. I cant speak for everyone else, this has just been my experience. Wonderful video

I totally agree, however to burn the optimal amount of STUBBORN fat, I do fasted cardio along with yohimbine HCL (a beta receptor agonist), the reason for this is that glucose interferes with the yohimbine and nullifies its effects, I’ve definitely noticed a difference in STUBBORN fat loss with this method when compared to fed cardio

Would this apply to those who are doing keto? My girlfriend does keto, and always wondered if working out fasted on keto is any beneficial, since you're already in the state of fat burning

Short answer is yes. Fasted training with things like yohimbine hcl and hmb (which is just a metabolite of leucine to preserve muscle over a 2 month cut or so) actually increases fat loss. You can add other supplements to increase these effect. Like egcg being better absorbed on an empty stomach actually can maintain the effectiveness on the same dosage. Also, if you're maintaining calories to burn fat it doesn't matter. Just do what you want. Fasted training can increase fat loss to stubborn areas with yohimbine with the alpha/beta receptors related to the insulin response.

Glycogen is stored in muscle and liver. When someone is fasted they might have low levels of glycogen in the liver , but still have glycogen stores in the muscle. We use glycogen first over fat as fuel , therefore we use fat after our glycogen stores from our muscles are used up.