If you want to lose weight to get faster on the bike, training when your body is in a low glycemic state is one of the most beneficial habits you can implement into your daily or weekly schedule. This practice is known as fasted training.
What if you could re-engineer your body to function at its peak and burn fat more efficiently by simply tweaking what you consume before a workout? That might sound like an opening line straight out of an infomercial selling a “miracle” weight loss pill, but that’s the science-backed promise of fasted training.
What Happens When You Deny Yourself of Glycogen
The big goal of fasted training is to intelligently deny your body of glycogen so that when you go into a workout your body’s fuel preference is fat. For this to happen, intervention in the way of prolonged periods of glycogen intake needs to occur. Without intervention, your body will not be forced to adapt. As a result, it will seek out sugar (the fuel source it likes best) to feed on during your workout.
When intervention does occur, your body is able to gradually replace glycogen consumption with fat consumption during your workout. This is how all that fat-burning magic happens.
If that’s not impressive enough, fasted training also teaches your body how to improve its metabolism when you’re in a rested state. So while many athletes go into fasted training with the sheer desire to lose fat, what they might not fully realize is how in the process they’re making their bodies better at metabolizing fat across the board — that’s metabolic training in a nutshell!
How quickly this transformation happens is subjective and based on the degree you’ve damaged your metabolism in the past. The metabolism of a person who’s been replacing sugary beverages with water for years, for instance, will adapt more quickly than that of someone who recently gave up heavy soda drinking.
Caffeine’s Role in Fasted Training
It’s common with athletes who use fasted training to drink coffee just before they workout. This is a good idea because, as we all know, caffeine encourages fat metabolism. The trouble is, all coffee, better yet, all coffee creamers are not created equal. In fact, most will reverse the effects of fasted training.
If you’re a coffee drinker who wants to get into fasted training, your only safe creamer option is heavy whipping cream. With heavy whipping cream, we’re talking pure fat — no sugar or lactose. That’s the key.
Even though there’s not a ton of sugar in something like half and half or low-sugar coffee creamers, there’s still some, which will disrupt the entire fasting process if you consume it. Why? Because you’ve just introduced glycogen into the mix.
Your body doesn’t care how little of an amount it may have been. It’s like a shark with blood. The second your body gets a taste of glycogen, it will go for it and leave anything else that might have been desirable to consume for fuel behind. Then comes the most unfortunate part of all: your fat metabolism shuts down. This is what you want to avoid.
If you’re not a coffee drinker and you still want to reap the boosting effects of caffeine, consider taking a caffeine pill 15-30 minutes prior to your workout.
Two Ways Cyclists Can Implement Fasted Training
There are two manageable and smart ways you can implement fasted training into your routine. The first involves doing your workouts earlier in the day after you’ve had a night of rest and before you’ve had anything to eat.
Early morning workouts are typical for those who do fasted training. After 12+ hours of not consuming any glycogen, most people’s liver stores are depleted and their muscle stores have just enough glycogen in them to get the person through a 60-90 minute workout. This is one of the reasons TrainerRoad’s workouts and structured training plans work well with fasted training —they’re all about that duration.
Warning: If you plan on doing a workout that’s more than 60-90 minutes and you’re going into it fasted, be warned. Depletion occurs naturally after a 60-90 minute workout, so I do not advocate doing high-intensity training in a depleted state. Depletion should come prior to low intensity work or post high-intensity work — but not prior to high-intensity work. High intensity work absolutely needs to be fueled if you want to reap the maximum benefit from your workout — you can’t do that in a glycogen depleted state.
Once your muscle stores are deficient of glycogen, you can expect to hit a wall in your workout, unless your intensity stays fairly low. How soon until that fatigued feeling consumes you will depend on the intensity of your workout. Because lower intensity workouts require less and sometimes very little glycogen, you’ll likely be able to last well past that 60-90 minute period without introducing fuel on the bike.
If you ever find yourself in this position, be very mindful to how you’re feeling and don’t be afraid to bail out of your workout if you need or introduce some quick-digesting carbohydrate into the mix. Something like a sports drink or even a gel washed down with plenty of water should do the trick. One way to tell you’ve crossed that line is the smell of ammonia on your breath.
The second way you can implement fasted training into your routine is by doing two-a-days, i.e. completing two workouts in a 24-hour timeframe. If you’re the type of athlete who feels like they can’t get their best high-intensity workouts done in the mornings, this is probably your best option. I know it is for me.
In the mornings, again before you’ve had anything to eat except for maybe a cup of black coffee, do a soft-pedal workout for about 30 minutes — we recommend the workout “Dans” for this — to reap the benefits of fasted training. Then, in the afternoons or evenings complete your higher intensity workouts. If two-a-days sound like something you might like, start by giving it a try three times a week right out of bed and see how you feel.
Final Words
While fasted training might not be as easy as taking a “miracle” diet pill to lose weight, it’s surely effective. When you practice fasted training not only will your body burn more fat during your workouts, it’ll also become programed to favor fat as its fuel source even when you’re off the bike. But just like any other training tool, fasted training has its place and should be used only when the time is right.
Listen to Certified Cycling Coaches Discuss Fasted Training
“How cyclists can use fasted training” is one topic we covered in episode 23 of the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast. Listen to the episode’s full recording below to hear this and other questions from cyclists get answered by our certified cycling coaches.
Additional Notes
TrainerRoad’s Ask a Cycling Coach podcast is dedicated to making you a faster cyclist. It gives you the chance to get answers to your cycling and triathlon training questions from USAC certified coaches Chad Timmerman, Jonathan Lee and special guests. Learn more about other topics we covered in the latest episode with our resources below:
- How to use a heart rate monitor for calorie burn
- What time of day is best for training?
- How to taper for a race
- Is it a good idea to get a massage before a race?
- Using base training to lose weight
- How to use fasted training for cyclists
- How to get stronger in the flats
- How to analyze your pedal stroke
- How to use heart rate for indoor training
- Why is my heart rate different when training indoors?
- Should you take an FTP test indoors or outside?
For more answers to your cycling training questions, listen to our podcast Ask a Cycling Coach — the only podcast dedicated to making you a faster cyclist. New episodes are released weekly.
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When I do my marathon training seriously, I try to do every other long-run as a fasted workout, and the others as a fast-finish. I can’t complain about the results…
Hey Richard, I’ve managed to work my fasted rides up to 4 hours in duration and saw obvious improvements in both my weight, my need for of exogenous carb sources like gels, fluids & bars, and my need for food over the course of long races which clearly declined while my performances did not.
It works for me and I’ve watched it work for so many riders who understand the proper intensity and impact their diet has on their training and consequent capabilities. Great stuff!
I drink black instant coffee with half an artificial sweetner tablet. Will I get any benefit having a cup of this before a fasted ride? Generally I wouldn’t.
The catch with caffeine intake prior to riding (and by the way, the recommended/studied dosage is 3mg/kg, of body weight, higher doses of 6mg & 9mg had no additional measurable benefit) is that it creates a higher dependency on exogenous forms of carbohydrate (e.g. gels, bars, drinks, etc) since it helps sugar more readily enter the muscles.
But it also reduces your perception of fatigue which can enable you to work at higher levels of output and/or work for longer periods of time and therefore do more work. Whether more work is fueled predominantly by fat or carbohydrate will then depend largely on the intensity.
So caffeine before a ride sounds useful as a psychological aid, but I’m not entirely clear on just how useful it is in terms of increasing fat metabolism and fully welcome any insight from those in the know.
Hi Chad, I’m training for my first Ironman this year using the new love volume triathlon plans, currently in week 8 of the base program. I’m not looking for fat loss, as I am already quite lean (143 lbs / 6 feet 2). However, if I’m not mistaken, on one of your podcasts you advised long distance triathletes to make their bodies use fat as a fuel as much as possible. Right now, I’m doing the first workout of the week in a fastened state (on Tuesday morning, before work). Because of other responsibilities, the other workouts are later in the day (so not in a fastened state). Right now, those are VO2Max workouts. Is that the way to go? Am I getting the most out of those workouts? Like I said, I’m not looking for fat loss, just for doing “the right thing” (getting stronger, getting the most out of my workout, make my body as efficient as possible).
Hi Lars,
Sounds like you’re on the right track!
Fasted rides done with enough on-board fuel (i.e. intramuscular glycogen) can still be productive even when the intensity is high, but the workouts & your body can start to suffer dearly at around the 70-minute mark. So your best be is to limit your fasted, higher-intensity workouts to 60 minutes or less.
Then, much like you’ve been doing, fuel well for those rides that come later in the day and could see diminished muscle stores were you to skip lunch or intentionally come into them in a fasted state.
And yep, the more fat-efficient you become, the more you can spare your glycogen stores at pretty high levels of output, sometimes all the way up to 90% FTP in fully fat-adapted athletes. But even without going the fully fat-adapted route, you can increase your usage of fat along with your ability to spare glycogen.
The objective here is less reliance on food during your event which helps you avoid the potential pitfalls of stomach upset, diarrhea and simpler distractions like a sloshing stomach to name just a few.
Hi Chad,
I was wondering about exactly the same, so thanks for this very useful reply.
You mention that for those not aiming to necessarily loose weight, being better at metabolising fat still has the advantage of not having to eat as much during an event (and so it avoids some associated discomforts). This may be convenient, but would not be my main goal for doing fasted training despite having the weight I want. For me the reason has always been that (as I assumed) being better at metabolising fat is beneficial, because in hard and long events, you won’t be able to digest calories as fast as you burn them, and so, unless you can rely on internal source (i.e. fat) you will run out of energy at some point. Training your ability to metabolise fat will therefore improve you endurance. Is this correct, or am I misunderstanding something?
Thanks!
Joost
About coffee… why are you assuming people drink coffee with cream? what about people (Italians like me drinking just black coffee without sugar? Is that good or bad?
Nothing wrong with that, Simone. In fact, that’s exactly what both I and my teammate Dave do – drink it black.
Thx!
Would have never supposed coffee with cream would be an option 🙂
Me too,
I just gave up added sugar about a month ago. Has made a huge difference in the energy I feel in the morning.
Now I prefer my french press coffee black. My morning group rides also have more energy.
It may take a few weeks, but take it from me, a recovering sugar addict, your coffee will never taste better. And the effects on your training will be felt immediately.
Great post. Love your work.
Hey Gerald,
Thanks for saying so, man. And I’m fully with you on the sugar thing, especially when it comes to coffee. While I’m still fond of cream (full cream, by the way, no lactose/sugar), I haven’t had a coffee drink with any form of refined sugar for probably more than a decade. It can be tough to imagine at first, but recovering sugar addicts will come to crave and love their black coffee in due time. And they’ll love ditching the mid-morning sugar crash even more.
What about Tea? Would having semi skimmed milk in before pre fastedride make a difference to fat burning?
Don’t know how much difference it would make, but strictly speaking, there is calories in milk. In fact, there is sugar in it in the form of lactose.
Hi Chad,
Love the blog, podcast and especially the TR program! I’ve spent years “winging it” for ultras, thinking volume was king, without much quality other than “spirited” unstructured weekend long rides with my frenemies. These are my favorite rides. The base training alone has made a huge difference on my long weekend rides, and my buddies are trying to figure out what’s happening. I begrudgingly told them about TR.
My question is about integration of fasted training and low(ish) glycemic fuel to improve fat burning efficiency in support of ultra endurance objectives.
I’ve done fasted rides last season – up to a bit over 3 hours. I can tell a difference in performance after about 2 hours. I am training for several events over 10 hours, including 2 – 24 hour events. I’d like to take advantage of fasted rides, but am faced with the reality that I typically need 200-300 cal/hr to supplement my fat burn on ultra distance events. I am wondering if I can begin to fuel with low(er) glycemic index foods after 2 hours without increasing my dependence on sugar and still achieve the fasted ride benefits. I’ve tried rice balls and cream of rice in the past. While these aren’t exactly low glycemic, at least they are not sugar and they work well for me.
Other info that may be useful:
60 y/o
Current FTP 257 (up from 212 just before Xmas)
Finishing week 3 of Sweet Spot Base High Vol 2 (adding depleted rides, not replacing scheduled training)
My planned progression is SSBHV, Sustained Power Build HV, Climbing Road Race HV
First “ultra” this season is 282 miles/ 18K climb on 2 April, just as I finish SSBHV2. “C” event, just want to stay with friends that are slightly faster, more of a training ride ~55-60%FTP (63% according to best bike split plan), meal breaks build in.
A race in June – National 24 hour challenge, Goal ~350 miles. Will be just after Build phase.
B race in July – Seattle to Portland (double century). Near the end of Specialize phase.
A race in Sep – LOTOJA (204 mile, long mountain pass climbs). Almost 2 months after specialize phase.
Note: Traditional base might have been a better option but it seemed a lot like what I’ve done traditionally and I feel like I need higher intensity. I love Sweet Spot because it’s interesting, challenging and is allowing me to kick all my buddies asses early in the season including some of the young dudes 🙂
Hi Mike,
Sounds like you’re on a good track and I’m happy to hear you’re getting so much out of TR! Your plan progression sounds solid and I’m not sure I’d change a thing.
And by the way, I think switching to SSB was a good call. Unless you can really heap on the volume and keep it growing each season (which gets unreasonably tough to do unless you’re a professional athlete with nothing but time), swapping intensity for some of that volume can prove hugely effective.
I don’t have much experience with lower-glycemic food, but I’ve read enough to have a couple of products sitting in my Amazon wish list that I’ll get around to purchasing at some point. I think the Generation UCAN Superstarch is the best way to for some slower burning carbohydrate, and for something perhaps a little quicker but still high in fat as well as protein, I’m going to give Justin’s Peanut Butter – Honey Squeeze Packs a shot.
Like I said though, I can only speculate at this point regarding how well they’ll fuel the longer days in the saddle, but I’m optimistic.
If you end up giving either a shot (or maybe you stumble onto something else), let us know how things go; especially if you happen to measure your blood sugar or ketone levels.
Chad,
I can’t recommend trainerroad enough to people. Easily the best bang for the buck in endurance sports. I have been following through the sweetspot base, and now half way through the high volume general build and I have also found “Dans” or “Petit” to be my fasted morning workout when doing two a days. Coming from triathlon to what will be my first year of road racing I find the two a days to be very normal.
My question for you is how do you fuel after your harder second workout, knowing that you will ride again the following morning? I have small kids so usually I don’t get on my bike until 8-8;30 PM ish ideally finishing up by 9:30 and then get up around 5:30am for my morning ride. I am trying to lose weight (currently 73kg, want to race at 70kg in May) but also have some gains in my ftp (last test was 290ish when sick, but hopefully 300+ after next weeks test).
Hey Joshua,
Thanks so much for the praise! Happy to have you aboard.
The answer to your question depends on the intensity of that morning ride, but it sounds like you’re doing low-intensity work which makes this easy. Since weight loss is a concern – and I’d make this following recommendation even if you were just looking for improved metabolic conditioning/aerobic adaptation – I recommend trying to follow your higher-intensity evening ride with little or no carbohydrate.
I do this with a salad (careful which dressing you use) and some source of protein like hard-boiled egg or salmon, sometimes some leftover BBQ, and often enough, some bits of hard cheese & olives, both of which you can omit and bring the meal’s caloric density down quite a bit.
This means that your body will have little else but on-board fat to metabolize while you sleep, and the same goes for your morning, lower-intensity fasted ride, after which you should feel free to fuel appropriately for the day (and possible workout) ahead.
Personally, I struggle with this approach because I do my harder workouts in the afternoon around 4pm but don’t go to bed until 9pm or so. This leaves me far too much time to battle my hunger whereas you can basically get off the bike, eat like I recommended and then crash (which actually makes me a bit envious and has me considering a later workout time, no kidding).
Joshua,
Since I am in a similar boat…do you eat with the family prior to your night workouts or are you skipping that meal and eating afterwards?
I do eat dinner with my family around 5:30 but I have learned to avoid ‘heavier’ or spicy foods as I have made the mistake of sausage and homemade perogies before v02 max workouts.
I have found that simpler or lighter foods like quinoa, rice, veggies, fish, chicken, pasta, eggs, and oatmeal tend to work best.
Also, I really try to watch my portions preworkout since intervals when you are ‘full’ are not good.
Hi Chad,
great article as always!
I have a question. I am in middle of third week of Sweet Spot Base – Low Volume II. I am doint training always early in the morning, ususaly betveen 5 and 6am. Untill now as fuel for my training I used only one ripe banana, and 0,5l of spring water. After training was done, then I got some food. Since in SSB – LW2, there is one low intensity workout per week (Dans or Taku) lasting only 30min, from las week I started doing it fasted.
I am interested would you recommend to do all other workouts also in fasted state since they are high intensity, or fasted state is acceptable mainly fo steady state, lower intensity workout? I will for sure benefit if I could drop some weight without secrifying performance.
Thank you in advance.
Kreso
Hi Kreso,
With fasted workouts straight out of bed in the morning, it’s more a matter of duration than intensity.
The estimated amount of glycogen stored in your liver is about 80-100g while the muscles store more along the lines of 300-900g. When you rise from an overnight fast, that liver glycogen is all used up, but the sugar in your muscles can fuel you, even at high intensity, for roughly 50-70 minutes.
And when you consider that interval workouts are only high in intensity during the work intervals and not the entire 60-90 minutes of the workout, plenty of riders can perform entire workouts on no carbohydrate intake.
So give it a shot. If you find yourself fading during the final efforts, it might be a good idea to stick with your pre-workout banana. But I’d bet you don’t need it.
Hi Chad,
you were right! I am practicing this kind of approach, and I really dont need that banan to fuel my morning treaining. But aferwards smoothie with bananas feels even better! 🙂
Thank you one more tine for your reply.
Cheers,
Kreso
Chad,
Great article and I am thinking of incorporating the fasted morning ride into my regimen. I took an extended break over the winter, so I need to shed the weight as well as get my cardio back into shape. Haven’t started a plan yet in TR for this year (I have been dreading the FTP test and the drop that the results will show).
My usual routine is to get home from work, eat with the family, put the kids to bed and hop on the bike for an hour or so at around 8:30ish. I cant do too much more than an hour in the evening since that keeps me up too late. I try to do this around 3x per week and then have an outdoor ride on the weekend.
Last year i saw good gains in my FTP and power, but not so much in the weight loss arena. I assume that was due to the fact that I would eat prior to the workout so I had plenty of glycogen in my system to burn and it never targeted the fat.
My question is if I should be skipping the meal before I ride at night and eating afterwards, which is not ideal for the family life…or should I just incorporate a 30+ min fasted routine early in the morning 3x per week (ideally the morning after my session at night)?
Hi James,
Thanks, so glad you enjoyed it.
Check out my reply to Joshua M below because his late-workout scenario (incidentally, one I’m thinking of adopting) is very similar to yours, and I suspect to many of our subscribers. Feel free to let me know if this doesn’t get you headed in the right direction.
Chad,
Thanks for the reply…your comments to Joshua was what made me think of the question. Our questions are very similar but I guess I was looking for a little clarity. It primarily revolves around the lack of flexibility of when to eat during the evening/night sessions. I cant exactly tell from Joshua’s post, but he seems to have a little more flexibility to be able to eat afterwards (or maybe he is just getting in a snack to refuel – I might just ask him). I very rarely will eat after my session at night since i already ate with the family.
So I was looking for clarity if the eat, night workout, fasted morning workout is equally beneficial as what you suggested to Joshua of night workout, eat, fasted morning workout to maximize fat burn.
Hopefully I am making sense.
James, did you ever get an answer to the “eat, night workout, fasted morning” workout or ” night workout, eat, fasted morning” workout question? I too am wondering what is an better option. If I had to guess, I would think “eat, night workout, fasted morning” Just for the fact that when you finish eating more hours will go by between your last meal and when you get on the bike in the morning.
What are your thoughts on Amino Energy (like Optimum Nutrition AmiN.O. Energy) drinks prior to an AM workout? I usually wake up and ride before eating anything, and consume one of these during the first 1/2 of the workout (doing Sustained Power Build right now). Would I be better off drinking a coffee before riding instead? Also I read in another post about adding coconut oil to coffee to keep your body from going into starvation mode and kick-starting the metabolism and fat burning mode (https://www.trainerroad.com/blog/timing-nutrition-training/) what are your thoughts on that?
Hi Corey,
As far as amino acids supplementation, they appear to have an effect similar to that of caffeine in that their primary semi-validated benefit is a mild but noticeable reduction in perceived exertion. Sadly, the reduction in muscle turnover and muscle damage are inconclusive as is any recognizable benefit to strength enhancement. I’m talking particularly about branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s) so I can’t say this holds true for other AA’s other than those 3. In this case, I’d go for the coffee but I don’t see the harm in some AA intake as well (other than the hit your wallet takes ;-).
As far as additional fat prior to a workout, this is pretty nonessential unless you’re a fat-adapted/ketogenic athlete using fuel as your primary (and I’m talking 60-70% of your diet) energy source/macronutrient. Your body has more than enough fat to burn if the intensity is low enough, and “starvation mode” is pretty misunderstood when it comes to athletes since it usually results from inactivity and/or improper nutrition intake and/or timing.
Muscle wasting is the primary concern here, and that’s mitigated or even eliminated with a reasonable amount of protein ingested at the right times or simply by keeping your workloads low in intensity.
That aside, the other half of starvation mode is metabolizing stored body fat which is highly desirable in endurance athletes for a number of reasons, and you’ll certainly metabolize less stored fat if you’re ingesting additional fat.
Personally, I don’t like the use of starvation mode when talking about endurance exercise – it really doesn’t apply here so don’t concern yourself with it. 😉
Which respect to caffeine, not a caffeine drinker at all. But I normally take espresso shots before a ride or a spin class in the morning. Take it that would do?
On average, there is more caffeine in coffee considering the size difference. That said, the caffeine from an espresso shot or two will definitely do the tricks. 🙂
Hi,
I’m new to TR.
Im currently 120kg and want to drop few kg. Which plan should I follow?
I’m under impression that Traditional Base high volume should be the right one? Can you please confirm or suggest the right one ?
Thanks in advance
Hey Sebastian,
Both Sweet Spot Base and traditional Base are great options for weight loss. In the last podcast (131), we discussed how fat burning is still reasonably high during Sweet Spot work and that it really only takes a dive when the intensity ramps extremely high. But because higher-intensity work is inherently shorter term, the overall fat expenditure during an hour of Sweet Spot compared to 3 hours of Trad Base (Endurance riding <70% FTP) is likely to be less. This is where time constraints dictate your options, or lack thereof.
But it’s not as simple as choosing Trad Base if you have a ton of time. There are two other factors at play here:
1) Diet will influence body composition far more than exercise. So if you’re doing long, slow rides but eating bars, gels and blocks the whole time, fat will be underutilized if it’s utilized at all. Our blood sugar balance is a delicate thing that has to be kept in a very narrow range, so sugar has to be utilized or stored ASAP meaning the working muscles will suck up the sugar, leaving the body fat untouched.
2) The after-effect of higher-intensity work can lift metabolic rate for hours (a study just a few years back showed a 14-hour elevation after just 45 minutes of basically Sweet Spot work). Not so with low-intensity stuff.
So both Traditional and Sweet Spot Base are effective; it really comes down to volume and dietary intake - less calories, proper calories, more work --> fat loss (in the short term, the long term is a topic for a later podcast).
Best of luck with your weight loss!
I have done some research in the past on training in a fasted state. What I found was most said your body reached for your muscle tissue before fat reserves in this equation.
Maybe keeping the intensity low is the key?
I’m in it to lose about 15 pounds but I don’t want to lose weight at the expense of the muscle I have worked so hard to gain. I know its really hard to not sacrifice some muscle in the quest to drop weight but is this the best way to keep it to a minimum?
I have found weight lifting for 30 to 45 minutes before doing cardio like cycling to work the best for weight loss but i’m doing it without for right now since i don’t have access to free weights.
I’m willing to give this a try but what the best way to mitigate muscle loss while training fasted?
Hey Jason!
You’re exactly right, the intensity has to be kept low. In the absence (relatively speaking) of glycogen, if the work intensity is too high and fat metabolism can’t match the demand, the body will metabolize protein in place of the depleted glycogen. This is a key aspect to fasted training, water rides, two-a-days (second workout only), etc.
And while weight training in close proximity to endurance training (and vice versa) blunts the adaptive genetic signals, you’ll still get some benefit from each, just not optimal in either case. One of these benefits is more muscle mass which means more mitochondria (amongst other biological activity that burns calories) which means more fat oxidation and leaner bodies.
Mitochondria are present in all muscle tissue, even fast-twitch (just to a lesser degree than in more endurance-oriented fibers), so increases in muscle include an increase in the ability to utilize more fat regardless of effort level.
Best of luck with your training!
Thanks for this great post Chad. I’ve been using TR for 2 winters now, and have had great success increasing my power output (went from FTP of around 230 to 286 currently). I’ve also recently started listening to the TR podcast, and find that it inspires me to work even harder. My main goal now is to try to get leaner. I’m at 86kg right now, and feel like I could stand to lost about 7kg of fat to get me to a good body composition. I’ve been doing what I thought was fasted training, but after reading this I fear I’ve been doing it wrong. I started doing all my workouts first thing in the morning, usually within 10-15 min of waking up, but have always grabbed a small snack to get rid of hunger pangs (usually a banana or handful of raisins). After reading this post, I will get rid of the pre-ride food altogether, and move my morning coffee to before my ride instead of after.
When you say the work has to be low-intensity, can you qualify that in terms of the TR plans? I’m on the General Build mid-volume plan right now, and there is a good mix of all types of workouts. Should I only do fasted training before endurance or tempo rides? What about sweet spot or threshold? At what point does the intensity get too high that I will start to metabolize muscle instead of fat?
A one hour Sweet Spot workout is on the upper boundary of what you would want to complete in a fasted state. Any efforts threshold or above, or greater than 60 minutes should have you fueling your body before the workout for the best results 🙂
Good luck with your weight loss and congrats on the FTP improvements thus far!
You mention heavy whipping cream for a coffee creamer. What about hazelnut milk (homemade and pure, nothing but hazelnuts and water, pressed)?
I am starting early morning fasted training. What do you recommend for post-workout nutrition? I follow my regular morning workouts with 2-1 carb-protein drink (Klean Recovery) within 30 minutes, followed by breakfast within the next hour. Is the same appropriate following fasted workouts? What about timing?
I am starting early morning fasted training. What do you recommend for post-workout nutrition? I follow my regular morning workouts with 2-1 carb-protein drink (Klean Recovery) within 30 minutes, followed by breakfast within the next hour. Is the same appropriate following fasted workouts? What about timing?
I am a 54 year old triathlete, having started competing about five years ago, 6 feet 3 inches, 193lbs, trying to get back to 180 lbs. Currently training under TR mid-volume Sprint triathlon plan.
I’m interested in trying fasted training. My goal is to lower my body fat while building strength. I’m a little unclear on which workouts to do fasted. There is some contradiction in the comments section on whether to only do low-intensity workouts fasted, or do any/all workouts fasted, as long as the intense interval time adds up to roughly an hour. (I.e., a 2 hour workout fasted is fine as long as the high intensity intervals add up to 60 minutes or less.) What’s the latest thinking on this?
Hey Susan!
We do not recommend entering high-intensity workouts depleted. Depletion should come prior to low-intensity work or post high-intensity work — but not prior to high-intensity work.
Simply put, your body needs glycogen in order to complete anaerobic efforts successfully. On the other hand, aerobic endurance level efforts can be successfully completed in a depleted state, but typically not for durations longer than 60-90 minutes.
Therefore, if your ride is under 90 minutes long and aerobic in nature, fasted training can be a valuable tool. If your ride does not fit that criterion, consider having a proper breakfast before donning your cycling shoes 🙂
Cheers!
What if I eat something that is purely high in fat and protein before a workout like home made almond butter or peanut butter? Would I still reap the benefits of fasted workout?
Hey Tariq!
I ran this one by Chad, and he said that a fat-only snack won’t have much, if any, impact on blood glucose and it won’t replenish glycogen in muscles when it’s ingested just prior to working out. It might increase plasma free fatty acids and raise fat oxidation rates, but this should not disrupt the sought after signaling riders are seeking when they train fasted, i.e., low muscle glycogen in the fibers being used to do the workout.
I hope that makes sense, let me know if you have any more questions!
Hi Chad, excellent article. I.F. is something I’ve been practicing for a few years now and find it great. I have one big question….for an FTP ramp test (due tomorrow) should I be fueled or fasted? I intend to complete all the other rides in the program fasted but I am worried the FTP test may be too intensive to complete fasted and I might end up working with an inaccurate FTP for the remainder of the program.
Any advice? Any would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ken
Hey Ken!
We only recommend completing your lower intensity rides fasted, so you will certainly want to be properly fueled for your Ramp Test if you want accurate results 🙂
Hi Chad, sorry, I have two more questions…
1. Are the Sprint and Olympic triathlon ‘Build’ and ‘Speciality’ programs too intensive for fasted training?
2. Am I correct in assuming that although I may train fasted, I should still be fueled for a sprint or Olympic event?
Thanks,
Ken
Hey again Ken!
Fasted training is only appropriate for 60-90 minute Low-Intensity training (think Sweet Spot or easier). You will certainly encounter workouts through the Sprint/Olympic Build and Specialty Phases that are either longer than 90 minutes or a High-Intensity workout. For these workouts, it is crucial that you properly fuel your before you jump on the bike.
And for your second point, YES you need to fuel for your event. Fasted training is a means of initiating adaptation but it is NOT a race day fueling tactic.
I hope this clears things up a bit!
Hi,
I have 30 minutes early in the morning on a daily basis. How would I use this time most efficiently if I wanted to lose fat primarily? Would you recommand fasted and low intensity training or would this never be effective due to the short duration?
Hey Thierry!
Any exercise is better than no exercise! Those 30 minutes daily will help you to increase your daily caloric spend, which will help you maintain a caloric deficit, which will ultimately help you lose weight 🙂
Completing these workouts in a fasted state will help your weight loss goals even further.
Good luck!