We’ve all dreamed of having the perfect, enviable physique – our bodies looking like Jennifer Lopez’s or her fiancé Alex Rodriguez’s. Fortunately, their fitness secrets aren’t exactly hidden. In fact, they share tips on their respective social media posts so there’s definitely no reason not to copy their bods. What’s difficult, however, is having the perseverance and will to follow their ways to the ultimate hard rock abs, especially when you’re eyeing on trying their latest experiment, a fasted cardio.

The recently engaged couple is having the time of their lives, oftentimes pictured during a public appearance or in their plain clothes as they stroll along the streets. They look perfect together, no doubt. Both have an established career that’s nowhere near stopping and, well, honestly, they just have the fittest bodies in show business. So perhaps, those who wish to follow their fitness tests must know everything about what their idols are doing.

What Is Fasted Cardio?

If you’re following the couple on Instagram, you would know that they’re trying out this thing called “fasted cardio,” which is not at all a new fitness discovery – it has been resurrecting every now and then. This type of workout is called as such because you need to do it before you eat anything, which was said to be greatly effective in burning fat.

Fasted cardio works by burning the stored fat in the body

In short, your body goes into a ketogenic state as your glucose and blood sugar levels lower, forcing it to use fat. That said, a lot of people do this technique early in the morning when they have not eaten their breakfast yet. Those who are on the Intermittent Fasting dietary strategy can do this with caution since most of the time breakfast falls on the window when they can’t eat.

Fasted workout generally aims to use stored fat when you exercise on an empty stomach because you don’t have carbs, or anything for that matter, to burn as fuel. It may sound promising, but a lot of people would raise their eyebrows at the mere concept of sweating but there’s no source of energy.

Opposing Findings

There are mixed studies on fasted workouts – some say it is beneficial for the body while others believe it’s not

Perhaps, it’s one of the most debated topics in fitness: whether you should or shouldn’t eat before your sweat session. In fact, previous studies have been contradicting, which gave us, until now, no definite answer on whether fasted workouts can be good for you. In 2016, a study found that this type of fitness plan could boost fat burning by up to 20 percent! However, just a year after, another research was released, saying that there was no significant result of fat-loss.

Advantage and Disadvantage

Because of the varying claims of experts and results of researches, it is better to check yourself first or with your nutritionist or trainer if your body can take the fitness experiment. To help you decide whether a fasted workout is worth trying or not, here we lay the advantage and the disadvantage.

Nutritionist Autumn Bates said this type of routine could help you feel more energized, thanks to the release of testosterone. What’s more, this hormone aids in decreasing body fat! Dietitian Sam Accardi explained that eating a full meal within a few hours before the activity can promote indigestion and can slow you down. There are a lot of trainers who believe that people who do fasted workouts burn a higher percentage of fat, especially if you had your last meal eight to 10 hours ago.

If you’re worrying about hallucinating while working out, just imagine what you’ll munch after the session, an expert advises

However, when you’re planning to do this, you definitely should be wise in choosing the exercises you’ll do. Note that you don’t have food to burn in your stomach so you won’t be able to train as hard as when you have food as fuel. Speaking of that, there are people who can’t seem to function on an empty stomach and the worst is they will hallucinate while working out. Behavioral food expert Juliet A. Boghossian said that you can always motivate yourself by thinking of the food you will eat after the sweat session.