We've heard it all when it comes to weight loss schemes. One frequently-mentioned one is the idea of exercising before breakfast. People who prescribe to this notion believe they'll force their bodies to burn fat sooner because of low blood sugar levels. This fitness myth has been around for a long time, but exercising with low blood sugar doesn't help you lose weight or gain fitness. While you sleep your body burns through about 80% of the stored carbohydrates in your liver. When you wake up and exercise before you eat, you burn through the remaining 20% pretty quickly and your blood sugar falls rapidly. However, this mainly deprives your brain of fuel, not your muscles, because they have their own glycogen stores that weren't depleted overnight.
So, instead of your muscles burning an increased percentage of fat, they're busily burning the carbohydrate they stored after dinner last night while your brain is starving. As a result, you feel nauseous and lightheaded and the quality of your workout suffers. This means you have trouble maintaining a high pace or intense effort during cardio workouts or that you struggle to maintain the focus to complete effective strength training workouts.
What I'd rather see athletes do is wake up and immediately eat a small amount of carbohydrate - a bar or gel works very well for most people. This boost to your blood sugar is typically enough to power your brain through a 45-60 minute morning workout.
Bonus Tip: Mornings are typically the best time for busy professionals to exercise because it means your training is out of the way before the day gets away from you. However, like me, many of you are not "morning people." One tip that can help you get going is to keep your fitness clothing in your bedroom or bedroom closet. If you put on your workout clothes as soon as you step out of bed, you're one big step closer to doing your training. If you have to go downstairs to dig around for workout clothes, you're much more likely to skip it and sit down with a cup of coffee and the newspaper.
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