Can I workout on a fasting day?

Question:

Can I workout on a fasting day?

Short Answer:

While we normally recommend scheduling your fast on a rest day, you can still get away with doing lighter activity. In fact, you may even reap additional benefits if you combine the two, exercising at the very tail end of your fast.

Longer Answer:

The benefits of fasting are immense. From helping shed fat, to boosting growth hormone levels, to cell repair, fasting is a powerful tool to enhance your overall health. However, it is a bit tricker to exercise on a fasting day as we are unable to replenish our muscles with the requisite protein/amino acids necessary for repair and growth. When we perform resistance-training or weight-lifting, we create small micro-tears in our muscles that need protein/amino acids to help reinforce the lean tissue, so it can be more resilient the next time faced with this stimulus. However, if we are fasting, we cannot provide these calories, running the risk of our bodies feasting on our lean tissue to help with the repair. This is why we recommend fasting on a rest day, which can actually help aid in the recovery of our bodies as well. Now this doesn't mean to sit on the couch all day as doing very light activity, such as a daily walk or bike ride, can still be beneficial to our bodies. The rest day strategy applies more to resistance work.

However, if you have a workout scheduled for a fast day, doing a form of cardio or HIIT is recommended. And as a last resort, if the fast day is the only time to schedule your lifting routine, consider performing it at the tail end of the fast. In fact, doing cardio/HIIT/resistance work at the very end of your fast will allow you to burn the highest percentage of calories from stored fat, while also giving you a chance to replenish with protein from your post-fast (and now also your post-exercise) meal. Just know that your energy and production may be lagging a bit but the workout and recovery can still be completed. 

Yours in Health & Friendship,

- The Fit Father Project 
Customer Success Team