Fasted cardio, effective or not?

[LaBellaNena415]

Fasted cardio has become very popular these days but research has shown that it's only really effective if your really lean, 6-7% for males, 15-14% for females, other than that your better off doing any other type of cardio to burn fat. Do you agree or disagree? And what type of cardio is the best? (Answer poll)

Fasted cardio

Regular cardio (jogging, bicycling, swimming)

HIIT Cardio

Dancing

[dem134]

All through my twenties I ran 5ks and 10ks, average time per mile for my 5k was around 4:45-4:50ish. I had a good diet and my body fat never got below 13%.
Now I'm in my thirties I started doing HIIT cardio with a friend, who is a personal trainer, about 3months ago. We slow jog for 30sec and sprint full speed for 30sec for a total of 10-15min depending on who wants to quit first we do this 3x a week aside from my normal routine. After the second month I dropped to 11% body fat and I'm now at 10% hoping to drop down to 9% in another month or two. All that sprinting has also helped my squat and deadlift plus I now have a six pack even when I sit down.

for me HIIT has been awesome. Highly recommend it!

[BertMacklinFBI]

fasted cardio has been around for a while and its been a controversial topic, from what I've read on the internet thus far.

in my experience, nothing beats the ole' diet and exercise routine.

you are what you eat

realize that and you will be much better off is what I would tell anyone that is the most effective way.

"best cardio" is specific to the individual, there is no one cardio fits all routine because other methods simply are better and work better for another person while it may not for the next. people just have to find what works for them.

[MyMintFrappe]

I choose not to do it because I want to exercise to feel good about myself. Not do tortuous activities. It makes working out not worth it. I think mentality actually plays a key role. It's like the high you can get while working out. People always say if you run long enough you'll get your runners high but for a lot of people that's not true. What they don't get is that many hate running and that mentality blocks their brain from releasing the proper chemicals so they don't get it. Only those that like the physical activity actually get the high. So I say do the type of workouts that you find enjoyable and you'll perform better and get better results.

[HikerDude]

Fasted cardio works great, which is why so many pros believe in it. HIIT is invaluable as well, but if you do it right, you can't really do it more than a couple of times a week. More than that will quickly lead to neurological burnout and a nosedive in possible training intensity.

What I've found in my own experience is that advanced moves like fasted cardio only become necessary when you get really close to optimal leanness. When I was 85 pounds overweight, any exercise took weight off of me. When I got down to less than 15% boyfriend, I had to get really serious about things to get the fat off of me.

So, bottom line, I agree with you.

[MyNameIsJonas]

For burning fat I feel like a complex HIIT is best. By constantly varying your movements you are using all of the muscles in your body and keeping a consistent working heart rate. I really don't think that fasted cardio is superior. Regular cardio can be very effective but I do not feel like the average gym goer maintains long enough sessions.

Best bang for you $ would be HIIT.

[rjroy3]

From personal experience, walking or HIIT are most effective. Medium pace work tends to burn everything, including muscle. Walking and HIIT burns fat more effectively.

As far as fasting, if you workout when fasted that does burn fat more so than if you had carbs in your system to burn. But your energy output is also lower. Your conditioning is what determines how much you can actually burn. But an easy 1 hour walk first thing in the morning is perfect for burning fat. Doesn't tax your system

[Dtegesd123]

agree, by fasted cardio do you mean eat nothing then do cardio? Gotta at least get a protein shake of 100 calories in. For anybody type, I think you would be burning more muscle than fat , unless you did low intensity cardio like walking for 45 minutes.