Does exercising on an empty stomach increase fat loss?
Morning Cardio for Fat Loss The old bodybuilding mantra declares that doing morning cardio on an empty stomach will help burn more fat than eating beforehand. Let’s begin by dissecting this statement and evaluate its truthfulness. It’s true that 90% or more of exercisers want to lose fat and improve body composition. And it seems logical enough that doing cardio on an empty stomach would facilitate this goal since if there is nothing on the stomach to burn, like a breakfast, the body must resort to using its fat stores for energy to exercise. Unfortunately, it is not this clear cut. It is important to evaluate the hormonal situation of the body upon waking. The body has just undergone an overnight fast and during the night, the body uses both its blood sugar and some of its sugar stores (glycogen) to do work, like repair muscles, digest food, detoxify the body and boost immunity, etc. Luckily, the body also uses fat to propel this work too; you are always using both fat and sugar as en
