Running/cardio exercise before breakfast?

Discussion in 'Boxing Training' started by DanishFightfan, May 21, 2012.

  1. DanishFightfan

    DanishFightfan Boxing Junkie banned

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    I have seen some mixed opinions on the subject.. Some people say that it is a great way to burn some extra fat and keep your metabolism running... Other people say that it isn't very good, because you're training on an "empty" engine..
    What do you think?
     
  2. scurlaruntings

    scurlaruntings ESB 2002 Club Full Member

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    Would you try and drive your car with no petrol in? Never understood the whole mantra about training on an empty stomach. Its a dumb idea because your body can't perform optimally, unless you had breakfast or a decent enough meal at least 2 hours before you work out. Certainly that works for me. Your metabolism will look after itself providing you exert yourself well enough.
     
  3. DanishFightfan

    DanishFightfan Boxing Junkie banned

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    Logically, that is why it sounds a bit weird to exercise before breakfast..
    But i have seen a quite few people say that it is good for your body..
    I believe that soldiers get up for early exercise before breakfast, Mike Tyson also used to get up like 4:30 AM to do a morning run..
     
  4. scurlaruntings

    scurlaruntings ESB 2002 Club Full Member

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    At the end of the day there's no one size fits all recipe here. For some people it works. For me personally its a dumb idea. And i wouldn't encourage it unless you had specific reason why. At 4.30AM the only thing i'm going to be doing is sleeping.
     
  5. captain hook

    captain hook Well-Known Member Full Member

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    my friend does his hill running records always on empty stomack. it depends on people, i could never do such a hard training without "fuel"
     
  6. edouardleniqueu

    edouardleniqueu Active Member Full Member

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    Lots of pro bodybuilders believe in cardio early in the morning on an empty stomach, according to them it helps burning fat more efficiently, but im not sure this has been proven scientifically

    Personally I wouldn't do that myself simply because I'm always starving in the morning so definitly I need some fuel before doing any physical effort
     
  7. viru§™

    viru§™ Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    It works ok if you're a model/body builder looking to get to sub 8% body fat, but for an athlete it's just dumb.
     
  8. Max Power

    Max Power Member Full Member

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    I run before breakfast 3 times per week, 2 track sessions, 1 longer run, and it works fine for me.
    I was having trouble eating beforehand. Anything I ate would tend to make me throw up or give me heartburn/indegestion.

    I saw a nutritionist who advised I had a slow metabolism and recommended I don't eat before but eat immediately after. So far seems to be working.
     
  9. Manassa

    Manassa - banned

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    I could bore you with the scientific aspects of it, but no, running on an empty stomach is not dangerous in the slightest - just be sensible. As long as you aren't living on a mouse's diet, are properly hydrated and don't run for more than an hour, you'll be fine. In fact, you won't notice a difference. Some people even perform better on an empty stomach.

    Think about it; we evolved in the wild, and in the wild there is no guarantee that breakfast will be awaiting your table every morning. The human body has adapted to irregular eating patterns and can easily cope with - and prevail under - less than desirable conditions.

    That said, keep a healthy diet.
     
  10. viru§™

    viru§™ Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Really? I tried it a few times before, I nearly passed out since I had no energy... :huh

    You can't be serious.

    And? The human body is an amazing thing. It can survive for x amount of days without any food... so what?

    When you're training for a sport it makes no sense whatsoever to starve yourself. Like I said above, only people looking to get very low body fat should try something like this.
     
  11. Manassa

    Manassa - banned

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    First of all, I quite reasonably stated that it isn't dangerous - and I'm right, provided you're fine elsewhere like I mentioned; you ate the night before, you've taken in enough liquids and you're not running for too long. High end or extreme endurance and you may start to feel a difference.

    That's where it ends, by the way, seeing as I didn't advocate running on an empty stomach. Don't jump the gun you ****ing spoon.

    Anyway, seeing as you asked so nicely, yes, I am serious about performing on an empty stomach. Not everyone has such a flawless system like yourself - me, well, I struggle to digest food easily and can be left feeling bloated and lethargic after even a small meal, so often I work out on an empty stomach, only to eat sensibly later on.

    Don't put a spin on it. I wasn't talking about extremes. I meant that it's fine for you to skip a meal, you can perform very well on an empty stomach actually, just as you were designed to, before replenishing later. I bet you're part of the same crowd who thinks you're going to **** up your routine if you don't eat every hour and that you can't digest more than twenty grams of protein per intake...
     
  12. scurlaruntings

    scurlaruntings ESB 2002 Club Full Member

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    You ever seen BB's run? Funny ****... And those big muffugaz don't run. They take diuretics.
     
  13. scurlaruntings

    scurlaruntings ESB 2002 Club Full Member

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    Jimmy? Jimmy Struthers? Is that you?
     
  14. AdamB

    AdamB Member Full Member

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    It definitely depends on the person, some people just need a HUGE amount of time to digest food which makes it impossible to eat before morning cardio. Personally, even if I eat a big meal at around 21:30, I'm hungry when I wake up at 6:00 to run. I usually eat a PowerBar and start sipping water as soon as I get up, then I'm good to run by 6:30. Alternatively, I have a sports drink and a banana, unless I'm going for a really short, light jog just to get the blood flowing and to be able to have a stretch before work (usually when I'm training in the evening and have been training hard the day before) in which case I'll do it fasted.

    I've been boxing for around 7 months now and was relatively sedentary beforehand so my body is still not quite up to 2 hard training sessions a day, hence the short jogs, but as I recall reading in the RossTraining article, you shouldn't really be doing any easy runs - I don't know about you, but the thought of doing intervals or hill sprints on an empty stomach is pretty horrendous. Even if you do a long, slow run once a week it should be at a brisk pace.

    However, just to reinforce that people work differently - I found out the other day that one of the guys I train with who's in his 30s doesn't eat before boxing on Sundays since he'd have to get up early to be able to digest it, he says it takes him around 4 hours. The thought of doing an hour and a half boxing session fasted is absolutely crazy to me.
     
  15. Archibald

    Archibald New Member Full Member

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    Hi DanishFightfan,
    You got mixed opinions because they don't have same objects. Agree with scurlaruntings and must have something before going for cardio exercise to meet body requirements for workouts.
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