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The benefits of exercising on an empty stomach

Curiosities, English - November 16, 2022
Image 1. The benefits of exercising on an empty stomach

Not so long ago, there was a very deep-rooted concept around the world that it was necessary to first eat very well before a sports activity. But now, all studies agree that the most strategic thing to do is to train at least four hours after the last time you ate something. The most advisable: on an empty stomach very early in the morning. Let’s see right away, all the enormous benefits of exercising on an empty stomach: you’ll be surprised! Let’s see:

Easier and faster recovery

It has been called “strategic fasting”. And the fact is that science is finding more and more wonders in all kinds of intelligent fasting. With this, the aerobic muscle metabolism can be highly favored, because it stops producing so much lactic acid and also contributes to its elimination from the body.

This would be reflected in a fast recovery capacity of the muscular glycogen deposits. Specialists add that we should try to consume as little sugar as possible, since it is a very harmful substance that attacks the muscles and the whole organism.

The feeling of happiness increases

The activity in the gym, such as jogging, swimming, training in any way, in a fasting state, provokes a very peculiar well-being in the body and the mood with which the day to day is carried is improved notably. It is one of the best cures for depression.

Doctors explain that the body proceeds in a natural way by burning fat, in order to obtain energy and in this way, everything can be oxygenated, from the brain, which works much better because it has more energy at its disposal, improving the overall performance of the person who practices fasting exercise.

Improved muscle aerobic performance

All these findings are actually not new. Since millions of years ago, humans in ancient times used to go hunting or harvesting, at the moment they saw their food supplies exhausted; then, they went out in search of food, which involved considerable physical activity and once the goal was achieved, they ate and gave themselves to rest.

Scientists now refer to this procedure as “Fast-Fasting” and argue that fasting and sport increase muscle aerobic performance and thus oxygenate the tissues better.

Better fat metabolism

It is a great advantage that is obtained and consequently, now the body will use fat reserves to produce energy.

Increased state of satisfaction

At the end of the exercise or training, you can perceive a greater satisfaction. You feel that you have really achieved very good results and your emotions are now of a higher quality. These rewards of fasting sport are too motivating to carry on for life.

Experiments

Several universities have conducted various experiments and tests to investigate this issue. The explanation is very simple: before eating, the level of insulin is much lower and in this sense, the organism comes to take the fat from the muscles and tissues as fuel.

One of the main tests was carried out on 30 individuals who were divided into two groups: one group practiced sports before breakfast and the other after. Evidently, they found that the body responds more optimally to training on an empty stomach.

All the experiments used overweight people and as a result they perceived a better insulin tolerance after the sport and thus, the probabilities of contracting diseases such as type 2 diabetes were reduced. But those in the exercise group after eating did not show such benefits and the insulin response remained the same.

Finally, nowadays, experts do not hesitate to recommend sports activity before breakfast and the conclusion that is highlighted in the medical community in general is the following:

“Our results suggest that changing the timing of when you eat when you are going to exercise can lead to profound and positive changes in your overall health. We found that the men in the study who exercised before breakfast burned twice as much fat as the group who exercised after. Importantly, while this had no effect on weight loss, it dramatically improved their overall health.”