Exercise Fasting Increases Muscular Fat-Burning Capacity
Exercise fasting--or working out without consuming carbohydrate before or during the training session--has lately become a hot research topic and a popular practice among cyclists and triathletes. The results of a new study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology promises to increase the popularity of workout fasting even more. Twenty non-athletes participated in the study, which required them to train on bikes 60 to 90 minutes at a time, fout times per week. Half of the subjects performed the workouts with ample carbohydrate intake before and during, while the other half performed workouts in a fasted state. The overall diets of both groups were identical. The researchers found that fasted exercise increased the exercise intensity associated with the maximal rate of fat burning significantly more than normal training did: 21 percent versus 6 percent. However, changes in VO2max and 60-minute time trial performance were equal in the two groups.