‘Should We Workout Before Breakfast Or After?’ – Monica May
There are so many benefits of working out in the morning.
From boosting your metabolism, increasing your daily energy and helping you lose weight faster to helping you develop discipline and consistency.
With a busy schedule, there’s no doubt that getting your workout out of the way is the way to go.
However, there’s one question I always get when it comes to working out in the morning, and that is: Should we workout before breakfast or after?
And today, I’m taking all about it!
Let’s get started right away!
Should I Workout Before Breakfast Or After?
I would say it depends on the type of the workout you would do.
However, in general, I am always recommending eating something before you workout.
In my article Meal And Workout Schedule – When Is The Best Time To Workout And Have Meals I outline the importance of having a balanced breakfast before jumping into your day.
I always eat something before I workout.
Eating your breakfast is so important not only for your health but to the whole weight loss process too.
You see, when you exercise on an empty stomach, you may burn valuable energy sources and have less stamina.
Low blood sugar levels may also leave you feeling lightheaded, nauseous, and shaky.
Studies suggest that eating or drinking carbohydrates before exercise can improve workout performance and may allow you to work out for a longer time or at a higher intensity.
Yes, I agree 100% with this.
But imagine a scenario like this: Getting up at 4:00 am to work out, because you have to leave for work at 6:00 pm.
Now in an ideal world, you would wake up, eat your breakfast, and after two hours you go workout.
Especially if you have a high intensity workout, with lots of intervals, strength training and heavy weights.
If you don’t have the time to eat your breakfast and workout after 2 hours, I would suggest having a smoothie or a snack before you workout – something that’s light and easy to process like banana, protein shake or a protein bar.
At the end of the day, your body needs fuel to function and perform better, so an intense workout might cause side effects of low blood sugar.
But What About Fasted Cardio?
You must have heard about it!
Fasted cardio refers to cardio workout performed in a fasted state, usually referring to, exercise performed in the morning before the first meal of the day. and the participants have not eaten for eight to twelve hours.
In fact, many people believe that “fasted” workouts are a better option and could actually help you burn more fat.
Doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, forces your body to use the fat reserves to make energy, rather than the immediate food you consume.
So that way, when you exercise your body burns more fat.
However, things are not that simple.
Maybe you’ll find results in fasted cardio, maybe it will make you fell lightheaded all day.
In fact, small studies have suggested that cardio in a fasted state can help you burn more fat.
There are also concerns about, especially when it comes to strength training and HIIT.
I would say, as long as it’s not taken to an extreme, fasted cardio is safe. Just keep in mind that your body needs fuel to function, so keep it short.
My Morning Workout
On busy days I like to workout first thing in the morning, to make sure to get it out of the way.
But no one has the time and the energy for a 2 hours training session this early.
That’s why you have to keep the working out in the morning short and explosive.
And one of the best exercises you can do in the morning is HIIT, which stands for High Intensity Interval Training.
The training sessions are short and explosive, yet will give you excitement throughout the whole workout keeping you burn calories even hours after finishing the workout.
That being said, I have the perfect quick morning workout packed for you.
Head on to check it out > My Morning Workout Routine
I hope I helped you figure out if you should workout before breakfast or after.
If you liked my article, don’t forget to share it with your friends!
Till next time,
xoxo
Not eating before you workout is DANGEROUS! You could easily pass out. And this is very wrong! If you read any fitness website that knows what they’re talking about, you’ll learn that by not eating, your body goes into starvation mode and burns MUSCLE and NOT fat! Your body will actually hold on to this fat cause it thinks it’s starving!
I have to agree that fasted cardio actually has more detrimental effects on body composition and performance/recovery than this article would lead people to believe, especially for the “dieting population” who are already in deficits. Fasted cardio burns into glycogen stores first in your muscles, then your liver, (not fat stores) then protein (your muscle) then stored fat (if/when you are in a deficit, and yes indeed it is a survival mechanism).
True. Your liver holds a store of glycogen which is released in the absence of eaten nutrients to provide glucose in your blood. If you are like 63% of the population, you have a tendency to over-release insulin, which , of course, takes an overage of glucose out of the blood stream and stores it as fat, also leaving you with low blood sugar. This is how you can GAIN weight without even eating! Do NOT skip meals! This is why it’s so detrimental to do so.
Hi!
I usually eat cereals (mix of oat and corn flakes) with linseed, sunflower seed, dry or fresh fruit and yogurt or milk. I was wandering is that correct breakfast, cause I’m trying to eat clean and how long after this breakfast I can workout?
Thank you for your site (I found it on Pinterest :) ), you helped me a lot, in my country (Serbia) there’s no much sites about this subject, especially not so in detail.
Hey Tamara,
Well that sounds like a perfect breakfast to me! Just be careful with the dried fruits, some of them contain added sugars.
Thanks for all the great comments about my blog,
All the best to you
Monica <3