No one doubts that exercising regularly is beneficial for our health, both physical and mental. However, we do tend to wonder what type of training is best or most effective, how often to train or at what time of day. Today we focus on this last aspect, in particular on doing sports on an empty stomach . If you don’t know the advantages of this practice, here we leave them for you!
Fast or not?
Intermittent fasting continues to gain followers, due to the belief that spending a very high number of hours without eating manages to detoxify our body. This trend has been joined by doing sports on an empty stomach, as a method to burn more fat and, therefore, lose weight.
Here we should make a stop and reflect on the reasons why we fast or practice sports . Whatever our goal, limiting food intake to the point of non-existence is never healthy. If you want to lose weight, just look for the caloric deficit . That is to say, spend more calories than are consumed, and that can be easily achieved with the regular practice of sport.
On the other hand, our body already contains organs whose specific purpose is the elimination of toxins from the body. This is the case of the liver, which purifies the blood and eliminates all waste and harmful materials it carries. The kidneys, in turn, also filter the blood , with all the waste passing into the urine. To prevent their functions from being affected and diseases from appearing, it is enough to follow a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and legumes.
If what is intended with doing sports on an empty stomach is to improve sports performance, then you are interested in knowing that there is a so-called strategic fasting . This consists of allowing three or four hours to pass between the last food intake and training . This time will be enough to get the benefits of having an empty stomach. But what are these exactly?
Benefits of doing sports on an empty stomach
Mobilization of fats
Our body produces a multitude of hormones; one of them is cortisol , which in addition to appearing in very stressful situations , also appears in long and intense training sessions and in fasting. It is capable of mobilizing accumulated fat and using it as a source of energy, as well as degrading muscle amino acids. As the highest levels are first thing in the morning, doing sports on an empty stomach would increase said fat intake .
Reduction of insulin levels in the blood
Another hormone involved is insulin , released by the pancreas when carbohydrates or sugary products are consumed. Since both trigger blood glucose levels, insulin allows it to enter the cells to be used as an energy source, since it is the main one for our body. If there are no hydrates, insulin does not appear and, therefore, other resources are used to obtain energy; again, fats .
Increased growth hormone
As a result of the above, if insulin does not come into play, other hormones that help us to be active act . Among them is growth hormone or GH . This helps our body to create muscle tissue, improve the quality of bone structure and burn fat.
When do we start losing fat?
Since fat burning is a common point among the different benefits of doing sports on an empty stomach, you should know that it does not occur from minute one of training. Rather the complete opposite! Depleting muscle glycogen stores takes time, specifically, between 20 and 30 minutes after starting physical exercise.
But also, it must be a moderate intensity . When high intensity training such as HIIT is performed , glycogen depletion occurs at the beginning of the session. Subsequently, and in order to maintain the high physical requirement, proteins are used, which gives rise to catabolization. In it, the body begins to feed itself and makes use of proteins, which leads to the loss of muscle mass. And this is never the goal!
If you consider doing sports on an empty stomach, keep in mind that a lack of practice can cause dizziness or increase your desire to eat after the session. Also, if for some reason it doesn’t finish convincing you, remember that the important thing is to be able to carry out some activity regularly . To achieve this, on the Olimfit website you have a variety of routines to keep you motivated. You can do them on your own at home or participate in our online classes. Training with company will help you achieve your goals!