Workout in Empty Stomach: Is it Right or Wrong?
Workouts and exercise are important activities that should be performed each day for around 30 minutes to an hour. Exercise and workout activities should be some of the major functions in the regular routine of any person. It has always been advised by several health care experts, yoga professionals, and other medical practitioners that one should always spend some time in their day performing exercises.
But many people are often found to become confused about the matter, whether to exercise on an empty stomach or to work out after having a meal. It is extremely important to have a clear idea about when to exercise and whether one can do that after having a meal or not because this can lead to an overall impact on your physical health and the total functioning of the body. The matter of working out on an empty stomach or a full stomach will differ from one person to the other. Some exercises should be done on an empty stomach, but there are also certain exercises that should be done after having some amounts of meals, at least not on an empty stomach.
So, whenever you are trying to practice exercises and workouts, it is important for you to have a detailed idea about which exercises should be done on an empty stomach and which should not be done. Some might have the idea that if they exercise on an empty stomach, that might help them to lose their body weight more easily. But that in some cases might make you feel dizzy and ill. Again, it is better to perform some exercises in an empty stomach. This article will effectively help you to get a clear and vivid idea about exercises in an empty stomach- whether you should do it or not.
Is Workout And Exercise on An Empty Stomach Truly Important?
We all know that performing workouts and exercise every day is extremely important. There are some people who prefer to do their exercises without having any prior meals, that is, on an empty stomach. This condition is known as fasted cardio according to medical terms. Medical science and many health care experts explain that the human body already consists of some amount of fats stored in different parts of the body, either beneath the arms, the thighs, hips, and buttocks, underneath the muscles, in the adipose tissues. When the stomach is empty and you have consumed no food for long hours, then there is an automatic biological mechanism, where the body consumes the fat, lipid substances, and carbohydrates that are stored in different parts of the body and after the fat is burned, the body can derive enough amount of energy to work and function effectively. So, it means that if you exercise on an empty stomach then you are most likely to lower your body weight in the above-mentioned process. In fact, there are some scientific facts and many health care professionals who advise people to practice exercises on an empty stomach so that it may help to reduce their body weight by burning excess calories and stored fats in the body, which in the end, will help them to stay healthy. There have been a good number of circumstances, where people are known to follow fasting for some hours and then going for working out and doing exercises and reducing their body weights gradually along the same time.
Apart from this, when you work out and do your exercises on an empty stomach, you are most likely to use up the stored protein components in your body. These protein substances that have been stored within your body for so long can be used as a potential fuel for increasing your energy levels and thus will help you to function effectively and you will also lose body weight easily.
Though it is known from doctors and health care practitioners that exercising on an empty stomach will help a person to reduce their body increasingly faster, but there are further studies, research works, and experiments that are yet to be conducted to generalize the statement and make people understand the importance of fasting occasionally in a month or for a short period of time before working out or exercising.
Safety Measures for Working Out And Exercising on An Empty Stomach
Now, the most pertinent question arises, whether working out on an empty stomach has any negative impact on your overall health or not. Though it is true that working out on an empty stomach will help you to lower your body weight easily by burning the excess fats that are deposited within the body, there are some different and opposite cases when people can experience some types of health problems because of practicing exercise and working out on an empty stomach. This happens to people, mostly those who have different types of physical ailments or a history of long-standing diseases or other medical problems. For instance, if a person who has low levels of blood sugar exercises for long hours without having any food before working out, then he or she is bound to fall ill and he or might start feeling sick due to health problems like the sense of light-headedness, feeling of nausea, which may or may not be accompanied by vomiting, dizziness, and in if severe cases occur, they might feel shaky and can even faint or become unconscious. So, whenever you are going to exercise on an empty stomach with the idea of losing your body weight quickly, particularly for those who have several types of physical disorders and health problems, then the first thing that you must do is to consult with your health care expert so that you can have suggestions and ideas whether exercising on an empty stomach is appropriate for you or not.
What Should You Have Before You Go Out for Exercising?
Now, if you must consume some amount of food before going for your exercises and workout, then the most important thing here is that you must know what food you must have before going out for your exercises so that you do not store any excess number of calories in the body and you can improve your performance alongside. The most important suggestion when it comes to the matter of food is that you must always maintain a healthy and balanced diet that is filled with all the essential amounts of nutrients that are quite beneficial for your overall health and physiological functioning. So, a list of food components should be necessarily provided. Some such components are given here as follows:
- Eat plenty of fresh fruits such as bananas, pineapple, guava, pomegranates, apple, peach, berries, oranges, lemons, and green, leafy vegetables such as kale, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers, broccoli, and so on so that you can get enough amount of carbohydrates that will make you gain energy during the time of workouts.
- Have healthy and wholesome foods that will not make you feel dizzy or lightheaded after performing long hours of tiring exercises.
- Consume whole grains and leguminous foods
- You can go for some amount of healthy fats such as avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee or clarified butter, and so on.
- Besides these, some protein will also do, such as small portions of meat, boiled eggs, cooked fish, and dairy components such as milk, curd, and yogurt, that are fat-free.
- Apart from these, you can also add on nuts, dry fruits, seeds, and healthy sprouts in your pre-workout diet, along with cooked beans and vegetables.
But you must keep one thing in mind, whenever you are having a meal before going for your workouts and practicing exercises, you must consume your meal at least 2 to 3 hours before you are the exercises begin. While you are going out for your exercises, it is important to stay hydrated, because dehydration while working out can create a large negative impact on your overall health. So, to avoid this you can carry water bottles, fruit and yogurt smoothies, or fruit juices while you go working out to stay hydrated.
Now, when it comes to the matter of food, especially before going to work out and exercise, you should be careful about what you are having and most importantly, in which quantities. As mentioned above, you can have carbohydrates, proteins, some healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. These foods are healthy and will not cause any type of side effects in your body. But to be on the safe side, you can always seek advice from your concerned doctor.