I did it while on a zero carb diet and it sucked. Lifting on empty is brutal and my gains were next to nothing. It did help with the weight loss but God damn I was a mess. I like the Carb cycling diet better as it allows for carbs on training days.

Listen, it's all about the long term. Sure you can do it on an empty stomach but for how long?

i dont like that idea at all. without carbs before a workout, your muscles will be depleted of glycogen fairly quickly. you will be weaker, feel flat the whole time. if you want to PERFORM when you train then eat. i want my body to perform the best, and i need to eat before a workout in order to do that.

Hi, here's another article showing the opposite. Who should we trust, only God knows...

"Supposedly, by doing cardio on a empty stomach, you tap directly into fat stores since glycogen (carbohydrate) stores are somewhat depleted after an overnight fast.

Seems to make sense, but research has proven this to be wrong.

Several studies have shown no difference in substrate utilization (glycogen vs. fat) for those working out on an empty stomach vs. those who eat a small meal prior to their morning workouts.

In fact, one study showed the exact opposite—those who had a small meal first burned more calories and more fat than the empty stomach group.

How can this be?

The reason is rather simple if you think about it. I was kicking butt and taking names with my workout, and Mikey was barely able to get through his. Even if not eating beforehand allowed you to burn more fat (which it doesn’t), the major trade off is performance.

And why does performance matter? Well, if you can’t perform at an optimal level and put forth maximal effort, then you are not going to be burning an optimal amount of calories–period.

The truth is, empty stomach cardio is an outdated philosophy whose theory was proven incorrect by research. Still, there are plenty of people who hold on to the theory despite the available research. Perhaps they’re not aware of it, perhaps they just go by what the fitness and bodybuilding magazines tell them (bad idea); I’m not sure.

Whatever the reason, popular philosophy doesn’t always mean correct philosophy, and this is one such instance.

So I’ll leave you with some practical recommendations:

At the very minimum, have a couple scoops of whey before any morning “cardio” workout.

That said, if it’s still negatively affecting your performance, you need to go a bit further. The meal doesn’t have to be large, but it should contain some complex carbs (oatmeal, etc) along with a small serving of protein.

Give it about a half hour to begin digesting and then hit your workout."

Source: Joel Marion Fitness Solutions, LLC

My concern with this is that we as a weight lifting community go to the gym to build muscle. This cannot be done in a catabolic state. The body can quite easily go into this state while training. Proper nutrition is required to avoid this whilst in the gym. What you are saying though does make sense for a cardio session where you don't elevate your heart rate above the fat burning range. So in other words a weights session where your heart rate often goes over the 85% mark. But low impact cardio it should be ok. Before you fully believe a report you should see who wrote it and who was paying for the research. This will give you an idea as to what the bias (whos paying) was behind the report in the first place.

If no carb stores are available while exercising, your body turns to your protein stores for energy.

Without getting into the science of it all, this would only apply to cardiovascular workouts. Due to the energy pathways during exercise you will want to have some carbs in you before lifting.

In theory cardio on empty, if the cardio is slow and low, will maximize fat loss due to the primary metabolism of fats for energy that occurs with low submax cardio.

I have lifted after breakfast and before i eat and im much stronger if i lift before i eat breakfast..

One of the best moments of the day to burn body fat through aerobics is waking up (empty stomach)because you have little glucose in the body.This is the best moment to use your fat to produce energy.when you wake up don't wait long time before training,be careful! because after an hour you could consume your muscles for energy yet

When my premed goals were in nutrition the PhD teacher stressed food types for activity involved. Long distance Burman better on a high fat premeal. More enetgy and the way the body converts energy. Fat has 9kcal/GM while carbs are merely 4kcal/gm. Muscle building Burns carbs while cardio Burns fat. Two different pathways. Eating clean prior to workout gives you the fuel to complete your exercise. Timing and proper intake of food after gym helps you keep that muscle. Example....whey mixed in water after weights so you're not catabolic. Best examples of foods vs exercise is clearly seen just looking at the body form of a long distance runner next to a bodybuilder. The runner is ultra low fat and nonbulky shredded muscles. The bodybuilder with good diets and cardio will have low bodyfat AND large dense muscles. You must eat and train for your goals.

This is a load of shit! Do some more research cus this is garbage,.. Or post the article link

I read an article saying to eat yogurt, greek yogurt preferably, pre workout to help burn fat.

I would like to add that i have also heard that doing cardio before eating works better. thinking about it idk about intense weight lifting though. Im sure.you might want to have a lot of carbs and.proteins to push heavier weights which in turn will burn fat

Could it burn muscle though too?

i usually train first thing in the morning. i, at most, will have a banana or piece of bread.or something but that's usually it. Im not some freak though with my strength or even where.i should be which is why.i sometimes think maybe that's why