Trying to lose weight should i eat anything before cardio?

[RBtrucking4]

I am currently 222 6'4 trying to get down to 190-200 i have noticed that my cardio in the morning is still challenging and i have been doing it for a long time now at least 10 months i run 3 miles at 5mph with the incline at 5 for the first 2 miles should i have a protien shake or something before my workout? would that make it easier and give me more energy or should i keep it on an empty stomach if im trying to lose weight?

 

[Lifterforlife]

I would.....bodyfat needs certain elements to burn it. Amino acid can be one of them. In a completely fasted state, if they are not available, those amino acids will have to come from one place....wasted muscle tissue. This may help explain things a bit.

 

[alex2678]

Not a big fan of doing cardio on an empty stomach. The whole point of doing cardio to lose bodyfat is to increase energy expenditure/calories burned. I was never the type of person who could just roll out of bed in the morning and hop on the treadmill for an hour and expect to perform at a fast pace; thus negating the purpose. After having a few meals during the day, I'd have a much better cardio workout and have plenty of energy to burn more calories throughout my workout.

 

[swaptrex]

eat some fruit

 

[*Bunny*]

I am currently 222 6'4 trying to get down to 190-200 i have noticed that my cardio in the morning is still challenging and i have been doing it for a long time now at least 10 months i run 3 miles at 5mph with the incline at 5 for the first 2 miles should i have a protien shake or something before my workout? would that make it easier and give me more energy or should i keep it on an empty stomach if im trying to lose weight?

Since you have been doing the same cardio routine for the last 10 months why not switch it up and throw in some intervals/sprints? Maybe even move to a different piece of Cardio Equioment and shake things up a bit? A good session of HIIT can cut the time spent on cardio down a bit as well as increase cals burned.

IMHO, if you can handle AM cardio on empty then go for it, but if you feel for YOU that your progress is not up to par, try consuming something or having a shake to see how your body reacts. You will only know if it will/won't work for YOU until you try it

Over the last 10 months how has the weight/bf% progressed? Dropping? Plateau? Any change? How is your diet?

 

[RBtrucking4]

went from 380 to 222 i hit a plateau at around 240 because i was only eating one meal a day but i started eating more and now im losing again but it just seems like the 3 miles a day isnt getting any easier its not like im dying or anything maybe its just that im not pushing myself like i used to.

 

[Lifterforlife]

As I mentioned, have some amino acids pre cardio. The mechanism of fat burning must be understood. That is why I posted the diagram.

Referring to it, you may notice this...for fats to be converted to citric acid, oxaloacetate must be available. Without oxaloacetate, citric acid cannot be formed and acetyl-CoA cannot be further processed.

Oxaloacetate can be produced from the breakdown of certain amino acids. The amino acids will need to be derived from muscle tissue, leading to muscle wastage if they are not available.

After an overnight fast, say 8 hrs. average, you run the risk of this ocurring. However, if you do it any time during the day, and are eating a normal diet say every 3-4 hrs., your risk is much more minimized due to having circulating serum levels of amino acids.

You will also lessen that risk of "hitting the wall" too early. As you get leaner, this gets more easily done.

 

[*Bunny*]

went from 380 to 222 i hit a plateau at around 240 because i was only eating one meal a day but i started eating more and now im losing again but it just seems like the 3 miles a day isnt getting any easier its not like im dying or anything maybe its just that im not pushing myself like i used to.

Honey you need to FEED that body of yours, and feed it often. When you say 'eating more' is that 5-6 times a day 7-8? Every 2-3 hours? Can you post your diet? At least 2200 - 2800 cals if not more, depending on your goals (cutting)?

Chances are everyone will tell you different advice, so take little parts, test it out, it could work for you to help you get over the bump

DEFINITELY try switching some things up a bit with the cardio ... throw in some intervals, if you can't full out sprint, move to the elliptical & do some 'sprints' ... Do you know the basics of HIIT? Just in case ... some HIIT basics & basic diet info

 

[Arniceous]

I eat before my workout which is 1hr 20 min typically then perform cardio immediately afterwards. If I was going to do only cardio in the morning or something which I'd never do by itself I would perform 70% intensity on The Tred Mill an empty stomach for about 25 min then id swich up to 80% 10 min on a spinning bike then cool off at 50% for 15 min on the Gauntlet or Step Master with a Diet Rock Star Afterwards I'd recover with 100cal 25gm Protein shake like BioPlex, Dymatize or something. But I am not in a caloric deficate need more of a maintance or toning phase with my cardio. Don't rely greatly on Cardio for weightloss better to focus on a diet system that works for you. Remember that the caloric burn from fat doesnt really take effect during cardio until the 2nd hr window. This is my all BB's perfrom cardio after floor movements. So dont eat before cardio definately not if you dont plan on weight training afterwards. Give you body a chance to burn up some carbs from the night befor like glycogen, glucose, dextrose, maltose all in various stages in your blood stream and muscle. enough said good luck!