Have you ever been advised to workout on an empty stomach? If yes, then you must have also heard that it might help you burn more calories. If that also calls for a “YEAH!”, then you are stuck in a trap for which your muscles will have to pay the price.
Why do we need a pre-workout meal in the first place?
Can you drive a car without fuel? No, right? Similarly, how can you drive your body without giving energy to it? In fact, you’ll be glad to know that if you provide your body with the right amount of carbs and proteins 30 minutes before your workout then it will uplift your metabolism and provide you better endurance, says a study published in a journal called Nutrients.
Ruchika Rai, Mumbai-based women’s fitness and health coach as well as the founder of Combat Yogini Program, says that: “Working out on an empty stomach is no way the right move whether you want to lose weight or gain muscles. What you eat before you exercise means a lot and that actually decides how your entire workout session is going to be like.”
Here are the three reasons why you should never workout on an empty stomach
According to Rai whether you want to lose weight or want to gain muscle, you need to pick the right pre-workout food so that you can make the process faster. And here she listed more reasons why no pre-workout meal is a bad idea:
1. You might lose muscle
The biggest drawback of exercising on an empty stomach is that you will end up losing your muscle mass which makes toning and tightening of your body a task and might make your skin look saggy and loose.
“Our body has reserves but if you are not losing weight then that means it is not using those reserves properly. That’s why you need to give some additional fuel to your body to respond,” says Rai.
2. Fatigue and nausea will also plague you
“Well, working out on an empty stomach means that your body is using whatever is there in the reserve, and due to that you might feel fatigue and won’t be able to pull off the exercise with proper strength and stamina. At times people also have gastric issues and due to that also they feel nauseous and dizzy,” she explains.
3. Your stamina drops
This is no rocket science because if you don’t eat before working out then of course your stamina will majorly drop and Ruchika Rai also agrees with it. She says: “Due to lack of stamina people also get injured because they aren’t able to focus properly on the exercise and due to lack of concentration they slip and get hurt.”
Ladies, now you know that eating before exercising is the golden rule to follow if you want your workout to be fruitful. So, hang on to that!
Keep an idea of your risk of weight-related issues.
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