I always train in a fasted state. Although I also workout in the morning. I follow up afterwards with 4 scrambled eggs.

It’s also much like the beginning days when humans needed to gather their food before eating; working out before eating essentially.

I find I can push harder in a fasted state. I did try a couple times in the beginning to eat first and it was awful because you’re scrunched up in different positions or have your head below your waist or food hasn’t settled yet.

I know others who will follow up with a protein shake immediately after their workout. Whole foods focusing on protein is best in my opinion.

Fasting is tricky and there’s disagreement on its benefits. Some argue it’s good because your body burns more fat than muscle and carbs in the morning. Then there are others that say it’s not great because prolonged fasting spikes cortisol. This makes sense to me based on my experiences with fasting. I feel ok in the beginning but after a while I start to feel like shit. It affects your mood.

If you do choose to fast, drink tons of water and make sure you’re getting electrolytes. I always add a bit of salt to my water. It’s important because we evolved to survive in the wild. And if our ancestors were able to find water, then food was also going to be close by. But if you’re fasting and you’re not drinking a lot of water, your body will think something is wrong and go into survival mode. Once in survival mode, your body shifts to low energy in an effort to preserve the resources needed for survival.

Also, our ancestors were hunters not bodybuilders. Pushing your muscles to their limit and breaking down all the muscle fibers was not something our ancestors did intentionally. They did it coincidentally during their hunts and battles.

For example, when you train legs really hard you’ll notice that there’s a feeling of anxiety that creeps in as you start to fatigue and approach muscle failure. My belief is that your body is sending a signal that you’re in danger. Obviously you aren’t and the best bodybuilders ignore this and push through that discomfort. But your ancestors didn’t do squats for aesthetics. They were likely being chased or in danger. When they’d feel that burning sensation and anxiety they knew that their muscles are going to fail soon which would lead to imminent death. At that point you have to look for a tree or something to get out of harm’s way. Well if you’re training while fasting, you already have less resources to utilize.

Training while fasting seems like a terrible idea to me. I don’t think I’ve ever had a good workout while hungry. I’d say give it a try and see how you feel. Do you have similar strength? Do you feel less motivated to finish the workout? Alternate between the two and try to compare how strong you are.

Your diet probably has a lot to do with it too. Someone nostr:npub1an6xs9jt6apmw45rmvu8pnspewdp6juwcgp76fk72ruky4dmcadqwfze63 who is fat adapted probably can handle a workout while fasting better than I can. Also how early you do the workout matters too. If you wake up at 7 am and workout at 8 am, you’re probably gonna have a better workout than if you were to do it at 12 pm.

I've heard a back and forth on this. I usually don't training while fasting; like your Xfit fren says, even a banana for pre-workout will go a long way....

I feel like it depends on your goals. I'm definitely weaker (a couple less reps and a little less weight when I'm training fasted) ... vs normal ... And then creatine probably gets me another rep or two.

Maybe creatine offsets food?

I don't see them as either or, just tools for different things

Early morning fasted steady state, like a big walk or ruck can help with fat loss.

I would never train fasted. Have some OJ at least. Training with low blood sugar obliterates the thyroid and causes chronic cortisol = you'll go bald as a reward.

I fast until 2pm-ish. I workout around 11am. All I have prior is water, coffee and creatine.

Eating before workouts makes me feel sluggish.

If I have to workout later during the day, it is typically 2-3 hrs after eating.

Forgot to tag you. Would love your input on this

You don’t need a loicense to answer 🤭

What’s that?

Mike Mentzer was decades ahead of his time in this capacity and I would recommend giving him a listen if interested

For a decade I was working out hard in the morning on a fasted stomach.

I’ve actually reduced my number of workouts per week to recover more, and started lifting later, and I am significantly stronger. Considering I’ve been lifting 16 years I don’t see gains all that quickly anymore so I must admit I’ve had to re evaluate my training paradigm quite a bit

It makes sense to me

To move maximal weight, you need to be

1) maximally recovered

2) maximally nourished/hydrated

The X factor is intensity and it’s difficult to be at max intensity without being in the most ideally recovered state

best answer :3

Also worth noting, roughly speaking, I spent years athletically outdoing most of my friends while eating 2 low carb meals per day, so it's not like I hadn't adjusted or adapted.

That’s interesting. Thanks for your input

This makes sense to me as well. Never felt compromised while working out fasted. Thanks man

Of course

You fast from supper until right after your workout? So 3 meals per day?

ah and protein for muscle growth is best within one hour of training.

this is all backed by peer reviewed studies. just punch it into a deep research.

This is during the training or during the whole fast?

🎯

I think this is an important concept.

When I went carnivor, fasting became commonplace. If you eat a lot of carbohydrates, you just get hungry more frequently and always feel like you need more.

I was just listening to a podcast about the mongols. Marco Polo reported back they could force march for 8 days without so much as stopping to even light a fire and then go directly into battle with the Chinese. The mongols knew that if they could catch the opposing (rice fed) force off guard and keep them in battle for an extended period that they would become weak and easily defeat them if they missed a few meals.

The mongol hoard was known for eating nothing but meat & yogurt (keifer) made from the female horses they rode into battle.

How fkn savage is that?!?

Eat like your ancestors did.

Pretty god damn simple.

🧡👊🏻🥩

Yes

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I specifically tagged most of my strong friends on this note. They all answered. Proactive friends