The Facts about Fasted Cardio

 Many fitness professionals and fitness aficionados depend on fasted cardio to help them reach their goals, and take their fitness abilities to the next level. But for many people, who are just looking to get more fit, fasted cardio seems like such a foreign concept, or at least that is  how it seemed to me. When my trainer first suggested that I do fasted cardio, I was very hesitant because I wasn't sure that I would be able to do it.

For those of you who don't know, fasted cardio is when you wake up, and first thing in the morning before eating you do cardio. For me that seemed kind of dangerous. I have always eaten breakfast immediately after waking. I questioned if I would have the energy to exercise without eating? I gave it a try, and thankfully I didn't even notice that I had not eaten. Also, surprisingly I have become a fan of fasted cardio. I really look forward to it in the mornings, and best of all it has helped me burst through the plateau that I had been stuck on for what seemed like forever.

So the big question is, why does fasted cardio work? In simple terms, fasted cardio works because when you are exercising first thing in the morning the energy that is used during your cardio will come from the breaking down of fat that you already have. Since you have not eaten, this is your body's only available energy source. When you eat before your cardio, your body's first energy source will be the food that you have consumed. For this reason, fasted cardio is often used to lose those last few pounds that you just can't get rid of.

While expert opinions are still indecisive about whether or not fasted cardio is worth it or not, I really believe it is something that you have to try for yourself. Every body is different and each person's body will react differently. So I challenge you to give it a try and you may just be surprised what fasted cardio can do for you.

The Myth of Spot Reduction

Everyone has a body part that they think is the best. On the flip side, they also have the body part that they would probably sell their first born for in order to change (not really, but I have to throw some humor in here somewhere). The truth of the matter is, there is no such thing as spot reduction. You can’t focus on burning the fat from one body part. It just doesn’t work that way. To burn fat, you must burn it over the entire body through a combination of weight training (yes ladies, lifting weights!), cardio, and a healthy diet.

Doing just one of those three you will not produce changes. You must do a combination of them to see results. Fat cells are released by the body to be burned for energy, and unfortunately, you cannot choose which part of your body the fat comes from.

You also can’t focus on lifting for one body part in hopes that the fat will come off of it. Take your abs for example. You can do 1,000 crunches a day and still not have a visible “6 pack.” That comes from…you guessed it! Cardio, diet, and weight training. Many times the muscle you focus on when you try to spot train is so small that you aren’t doing your body a bit of good. When you try to target the larger muscles then you inevitably hit the smaller ones.

So the next time you hit the gym with every intention of focusing on one small muscle, work the whole body part instead. You’ll not only hit the area you’re trying to improve but you’ll increase your overall level of fitness!

How to Hit it Hard With HIIT

When I first started working out I remember spending hour after hour doing cardio. I eventually made it to the point where I could go a whole hour on the elliptical and not even break a sweat. While I was proud of this accomplishment, I got bored and wasn't really seeing the results I wanted to see. I began to research and realized that there are actually methods to doing cardio. Really? That seemed so silly to me. After all 60 minutes of cardio is 60 minutes of cardio, right? WRONG!!! All along I had been doing steady state cardio. From my research and cardio experimentation I realized that I can actually be more efficient with my cardio workouts by implementing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT for short)

So the big question is What is HIIT?

In simple terms it is alternating intervals of high intensity and low intensity in your workout which results in your heart rate going up and then coming back down.

There are a few things that you should remember when planning a HIIT session. You should always include a warm-up session before your workout and a cool down session afterward. When you are planning your intervals where you are alternating between working at your full capacity and giving it all you got (feel like you are dying but can keep going) and working at about half capacity (you are comfortable but still feel like you are working). You should have your high intensity intervals last about twice as long as the lower intensity intervals. For the most part a HIIT session should last no more than 30 minutes.

Here is what a typical HIIT session on the treadmill looks like for me. As a non runner, this workout absolutely exhausts me.

2 minute warm up walking at a comfortable pace

Repeat the following for 7 repetitions

1 minute running at 4.5 mph

2 minutes running at 6 mph

2 minute cool down walking at a comfortable pace

While I will be the first person to admit that HIIT really is a lot more physically demanding than steady state cardio, I personally have found that I can burn as many calories in 25 minutes doing HIIT as I can in 45 minutes doing steady state cardio. As a busy mom of 2, who works a full time job, that alone is a win for me.