The misuse of fasted training

The line separating fasted workouts from disordered eating can become blurry for athletes.

Proponents claim that fasted workouts have several significant health and performance benefits. The main reasons why athletes perform fasted training include:

• Increasing the rate in which your muscles use fat for fuel 
• Sparing glycogen stores  
• Increasing mitochondrial density

Fat oxidation refers to the process of breaking down fatty acids. To oxidize fat, you need: 

• Healthy mitochondria (the powerhouse of cells where chemical energy is generated to power the cell's biochemical reactions). 
• Fat molecules (specifically triglycerides) to be broken down into glycerol and fatty acids. Fatty acids are then transported to cells and undergo a series of reactions (beta-oxidation) to produce acetyl-CoA to enter the citric acid cycle to generate energy.
• Oxygen (transported to the muscles by blood). Fat cannot be burned (or oxidized) without the presence of oxygen. 

While there are studies supporting the benefits of fasted training, what may start out as a genuine attempt to become more "metabolically efficient" can become a slippery slope that descends into disordered eating patterns. 

Although working out in a fasted state is not an eating disorder, it can be considered a form of disordered eating. This is because any type of rigid food rule about when you can eat may foster unhealthy behaviors around food and may bring on a hyperfixation on body composition. Telling yourself when you can and cannot eat is telling your body that the cues and signals given from the body aren't important and can be ignored. 

Fasted training may seem like an easy option to improve fat burning potential but if you are working out on an empty stomach in order to improve metabolic efficiency, consider the following when it comes to proper implementation: 

• Fasted training is shifting the eating window an hour or two later in the morning while still maintaining proper energy intake throughout the day to support energy and health needs. 
• Proper refueling is key after a fasted session. Failure to adequately refuel will have harmful effects on health and physiological adaptations. 
• The process of fat burning has several components and regulatory mechanisms. A critical component of fat oxidation is oxygen. Fasted training should only be used during low-intensity, "aerobic" training sessions. 
• Fasted workouts should only be done once or twice a week. When there are limited hours between training sessions to refuel and restore muscle glycogen levels, fasted workouts may impair recovery and workout quality may be compromised.
• The ideal phase of fasted workouts is in the early base period when workouts are of low intensity and low volume. 

Fasted workout reminders......

• Weight loss and body composition changes are not goals of fasted training.
• Only one or two low-intensity, low volume sessions per week should be in the fasted state. 
• You can't see or feel the fat that you use for exercise. Fasted workouts are not designed to specifically change how you look. 
• High intensity and high volume workouts should not be done in a fasted state. 
• Athletes should be cautious with fasted training, especially females. Negative effects include elevated cortisol, potential to break down lean muscle for fuel, slow recovery, increased adipose fat, and hormonal issues. 
• Fasted training doesn't work for everyone.  
• Fasted training should not be performed by individuals who have a history of disordered eating or an eating disorder. 

Fasted training for performance is not.......

• Fasting even when feeling low in energy, weak, lightheaded or hungry. 
• Carrying out all weekday training sessions fasted. 
• Increasing workout volume and intensity in a fasted state in order to burn more calories/body fat. 
• Testing how long or hard you can workout before you need to fuel. 
• Using fasted workouts as an excuse to skip a meal or snack. 
• Carrying out fasted training because you think it will help you lose weight.
• Fasting due to fear of gaining weight (or not burning fat or as many calories) if you eat before a workout.
• Using fasted workouts as a reason to "burn" the calories consumed the day before.

Many athletes are drawn to fasted workouts for performance gains but it's very easy to overuse or misuse fasted training as a way to manipulate body composition due to an unhealthy relationship with food and body. 

In my professional opinion, I am not a fan of fasted training. While fasted training may increase fat oxidation rates, there's little to no evidence that specifically working out on an empty stomach will enhance performance. Fasted workouts will increase the stress on the body in addition to the stress that is caused by life and training. There are many other areas to focus your time and energy on that will bring you far better gains in performance and body composition.

Consistent training (with a fueled body) is an effective way to increase the capacity of fat oxidation. Through training, you generate more mitchondria, more enzymes, more transport proteins, better muscle blood supply and faster breakdown of triglycerides into fatty acids. The end result is a greater capacity to burn fat. In other words: fasted training is not needed to become better at fat burning. 

 
If you have not achieved at least 90% of your athletic potential through years of consistent training, healthy lifestyle habits, good restful sleep, proper recovery and optimizing mental health, you shouldn't be chasing the final 10%. The 90% are the real magic bullets that will help you optimize your health and performance. 

Is fat burning undermining your performance?

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The media loves to make nutrition simple. Workout fasted and you burn more fat. If only it was this simple. 

When it comes to the physiology of the body during exercise, nutrition is a complex topic. Researchers are still studying the different effects of nutrients, nutrient timing and supplements on exercise and exercise performance. This isn't to say that fat burning doesn't work (it does!) but it's not as simple as not eating carbohydrates before and during a workout. 

There's a lot of debate about fasted training, training low, LCHF diets, keto and low carb. Unfortunately, with no middle ground, athletes tend to direct their energy and attention to what's most trendy and popular and for the past few years, carbohydrates have received a bad reputation from the media. 

I am a proponent of carbohydrates in the diet. I feel strongly for nutrient timing (eating before/after workouts) and I believe that the use of sport nutrition is critical in optimizing health and performance for endurance athletes. But this doesn't mean that I prescribe eating all the carbohydrates, anytime and of any kind. But I am also a proponent of fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and water. In other words, fueling for sport performance is not black or white. If you sit on either end of the spectrum you could be sabotaging your performance and compromising your health. 

I'd like to start off with some not so breaking news that often gets overlooked when it comes to fat burning. 

• Through endurance training, you will increase fat oxidation by upregulating the enzymes of the fat oxidation pathways, increasing mitochondrial mass, increasing oxygen update and improving economy of movement. 
• To become a better athlete (ex. faster, stronger, more powerful), your physiology needs to change. While some individuals may experience a performance boost because of an improvement in health, the diet or body composition, a race weight means nothing if you haven't done the work to significantly change your physiology and to arrive to the race in an optimal state of mental and physical health. 
• Don't underestimate the importance of the relationship between your lactate threshold, economy of movement and VO2max. Having a lean or muscular body or performing workouts in a fasted state does not ensure that you are economic and able to quickly oxidize carbohydrates (without GI distress) to optimize performance. 
• Carbohydrates are the primary fuel produce ATP (energy). But you also need to keep up with your hydration (water and sodium) needs in the face of sweat losses induced by intensity, duration and the environment. 
• Don't rush the process. To truly change your physiology for performance, you have to continue to stress your body in different ways. Otherwise it gets comfortable and you no longer receive an adaptation. High intensity efforts and strength/power training are just as important as easy sessions, endurance sessions and recovery. And don't neglect skill and technique work. All of that training is for nothing if you can't hold good form under fatigue. 
  
• You have to fuel and hydrate on race day. There's no beating the system here. If you want to perform (and have some fun doing so), you need to take in carbohydrates, sodium and fluids - in proper amounts, frequently and consistently during your long distance event. And to figure out the best fueling and hydration strategy, you have to develop confidence (and the ability to digest/absorb nutrition) through training. More so, consuming carbohydrates teaches your body how to store and utilize carbohydrates more efficiently which will reduce the risk for GI issues on race day (while promoting more efficient use of carbs to delay fatigue).
  

If the majority of well-designed research clearly shows that the strategies to become a better fat burner does not show a direct correlation with improving athletic performance. So it's worth asking the question.....are you undermining your health and performance by restricting carbohydrates, performing fasted workouts and trying to complete workouts in an underfueled state?

For many athletes, the strategies applied to become a better fat burner for metabolic efficiency or to burn more fat to change body composition are nothing more than a form of underfueling - which means you are not eating enough to get the results that you desire. Yet scenarios play out all the time as athletes try to apply the weight loss methods for the non-athlete population, assuming that eating less carbs = fat burning and weight loss.

Sadly, far too many athletes are using endurance training as compensation or punishment in order to look a certain way or to justify eating patterns. You don't need to ride your bike for 3 hours in a fasted state just to "earn" a bagel. And you don't need to punish your body with a high intensity workout just because you ate a cookie. 

The methods that you are using to become a better fat burner (or to lose weight) are likely not working. I know this because I see it time and time again. Not eating adequate carbohydrates in the diet, not timing nutrition with training, not utilizing sport nutrition properly and having an unhealthy relationship with food (alongside body dissatisfaction) turns training into a method for weight loss, but it doesn't work. You are simply undermining your training, sabotaging your health and these methods have the exact opposite effect on your body composition than you are trying to achieve.

As a result, health is compromised, fitness improvements are slow to achieve (if at all) and all that training, time, energy, money and effort is for nothing come race day because the body is undernourished and overtrained. 

Fat burning is catchy, trendy and enticing. And some methods may work for improving performance in the short-term. But the long-term repercussions of not feeding your active body enough food and nutrients are concerning - from a weakened immune system, bone loss and nutrient deficiencies to gut issues, damaged endocrine, hormonal and metabolic health and psychological issues. 

With so much great research and science demonstrating a positive relationship with carbohydrates and performance, are your methods for weight loss and metabolic efficiency negatively impacting your health, performance and body composition?

Let's look into some of the reasons why fat burning is not all that it's cracked up to be. 

If this blog was helpful for you, please share, especially with your fat-burning obsessed training partners. 

Athletes - be careful of trending diets

It seems like fasting is all the rage these days. Although not a new concept for athletes (fasted workouts have been studied by researchers for several decades), not eating has grown in popularity over the years as a way to enhance and optimize fat burning and to promote weight loss. There's also the claim that fasted training can improve athletic performance in endurance athletes - although according to consistent research, that doesn't appear to be the case.

One of the major reasons for a massive shift in how athletes eat is an overwhelming obsession with energy, performance and body image. Athletes are also hungry for direction, guidance and quick fixes.

In addition to fasted training and intermittent fasting, there is a wide spectrum of diet ideologies these days - ketogenic, vegan, clean eating, Gluten free and Paleo to name a few. What's interesting is the culture around these diets and their "communities."

The dieting behaviors embraced by followers is worth discussing for eating ideologies is very cult-like. It's almost as if athletes are joining a movement and you are either in or you are out. Behind every diet is a number of extremely passionate individuals. The more rules, the greater the devotion among followers. Advocates of certain diets (or styles of eating) can often get very defensive when methods are questioned. Sadly, within every diet is a lot of unhealthy and unethical information. Question your dedicated followers and you'll quickly be attacked.

Interestingly, those who are successful with a diet often become more credible when it comes to offering advice. It's almost as if those who can succeed the best are given higher authority to promote the diet. Sadly, this is almost always independent of nutrition background. Often, those who lose the most weight, can fast the longest or perform the best on a certain diet quickly become an expert and chief advocate of the diet. As a very important reminder, what works for one person doesn't give that person a right to give advice on nutrition.

As a professional in this field (with a license to prescribe dietary advice), I find it important to not be tied to one diet belief. While there are healthy eating components that everyone should follow, dietary choices and patterns can differ. There's no one-size-fits-all approach to eating - especially when it comes to health, weight loss, body composition or performance. Genetics, metabolism, culture, emotions, economics and health status all influence eating patterns and should be concerned when personalizing a diet that is sustainable and health and performance promoting.

If you are following a diet hot topic and its working for you - that's wonderful. But if you are questioning if you should be doing fasted workouts, putting your body into ketosis, going vegan or giving up sugar, dairy and grains, be mindful that diet does play a role in health and performance but food is not the answer to every health and performance concern. There's great power in food but food isn't the be all end all. Your diet needs to be flexible and shouldn't take over your life. If you experience shame, guilt, anxiety or stress because you can't be perfect with your diet, you are falling into a dietary trap that isn't right for you or your body.

Diet hot topics will never go away - especially when athletes are eager to find the "next best thing" to help improve performance or body composition. Athletes are overwhelmed by choice so it makes sense that athletes will seek a style of eating that has strict rules and a diet "leader" to reduce confusion. As a human being, you have a responsibility to your body and that means not believing everything that you hear. There's a lot of bad (and sometimes dangerous) advice out there - especially on the internet, in forums, on Youtube and from podcasts. When you are vulnerable for a health change (or performance boost), it can be difficult to decipher good from bad advice.

It's important to take charge of your health and find ways that work for you to help you reach your performance goals. That being said, be cautious with online diet communities, forums and podcasts as the advice you receive may be counterproductive to your health and performance goals.

If you have a health or performance concern or question, consult with a knowledgeable and credible professional, such as a Board Certified Sport Dietitian.