My Fytness Journal

There are many arguments as to whether doing cardio on an empty stomach in the morning is beneficial (just do a Google search on it and you will see). It is hard to say what is right or wrong in this respect. If you simply look at the studies you will never come up with a valid conclusion.

I go by my experience. I have found that doing cardio in the morning helps me tighten up and gives me a great start to the day. I think that if your nutrition is good and your are healthy, morning cardio is of great benefit.

I typically start with 5 minutes of warm up and jump right into 30 minutes of intense cardio followed by a 5 minute cool down. I change my exercises every time I do it. I use the elliptical, bike, inclined walking, or whatever the gym has. For those 30 minutes, I like to get my heart rate up to between 120 and 130 (this will vary depending on your age and health). I do this on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. However, on Saturday I like to do a full hour where I increase and decrease the level of difficulty. Kind of like circuit training. It is good to mix things and keep shocking your body into new growth (this is another whole separate topic that I will get into soon).

As in my previous post dealing with muscle or fat burning, there are methods to determine what effect the morning cardio on an empty stomach is having on your body. Remember, you only want to burn fat. If you find you aren't burning fat, change your eating plan and workout routine.

One of the biggest positives I get from morning cardio, other than fat burning, is that it wakes me up and gets me going for the rest of the day. I find, for my body anyways, that some good intense exercise in the AM really gets my motor running and actually makes me more energetic for my work day. I am firm believer in getting a good sweat on at least 3 times a week.

So get up and get that AM cardio going! As with anything, plan well. If you get your gym clothes ready the night before and place them beside the bed, it will make it easier on you to do cardio. Don't take the easy way out, but make things easier on yourself. Preparation is key when comes to a lifestyle change. If you have to fumble around for your gym shoes and clothes in the morning, you will make excuses not to do it. Don't do that to yourself! If you fail to plan, you plan to fail...

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