Timing Fasted Low Intensity Training

Adoptable VOLV: Add 20 minutes of fasted low intensity movement to your morning routine.

As the new year rolls in, a lot of people make resolutions about losing weight or being healthier. Their methods may include things like exercising more, eating better or kicking their boozing to the curb. In reality, these methods just are not specific enough for most people to implement consistently, especially after the fire lit under their ass dies down after new year motivation extinguishes.

Since we are talking about intermittent fasting this month, which is not a diet but a time based PATTERN of eating, lets kick the conversation off about how movement interacts with food consumption timing.

Doing exercise in a fasted state has been debated back and forth for years as to whether or not it is a significant body recomposition tool (Body recomposition is the process of adding lean muscle tissue while simultaneously reducing body fat). The idea that your body is either burning fat or carbohydrate exclusively at one time has been put to rest. Our energy systems operate on a spectrum of burning different fuels (glucose, triglycerides, ketones) for different movements, primarily based on the amount of oxygen required for movement. The human body is an incredibly complex energy system, and if you think that you can beat its primordial desire to store fat for the inevitable long winter with blunt force, think again.

Im not here to say that you can’t run 10 miles in a fasted state in the morning and lose weight, plenty of people do. For the gym goer that is looking to get a bit more bang for their buck, its just not a viable option nor is it sustainable, even for the highest level athlete. Consistency beats maximal effort, EVERY TIME.

Lets talk about aerobic vs anaerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise, for simplicity’s sake is defined as movement requiring oxygen, whereas anaerobic exercise does not. Categorizing movement is a necessary evil, but just like the body’s energy metabolism, it occurs on a spectrum which adds asterisks next to each categorization. Movement like jogging, hiking or yoga can be categorized as aerobic; whereas sprinting, interval training and weight lifting can be categorized as anaerobic. I emphasize can based on circumstance. If you are out of shape, a hike or jog may send you into an anaerobic state. If you are highly conditioned, a 15 second sprint may not place you above your aerobic threshold. Movement will cycle through aerobic and anaerobic components; playing basketball combines sprinting (anaerobic) with periods of jogging (aerobic). Your oxygen consumption and heart rate are variable based on who you are and what you are doing. So now that you are likely scratching your head thinking … so WTF should I be doing … lets set some parameters.

Your fasted exercise should follow the 180 formula. What is the 180 formula? Dr. Phil Maffetone created the “‘180 Formula’ [which] enables athletes to find the ideal maximum aerobic heart rate in which to base all aerobic training. When exceeded, this number indicates a rapid transition towards anaerobic work.” Simply put, 180-(your age) = Maximum Target Heart Rate for your morning movement for 30 minutes. There are much more in depth use cases involving fat adapted metabolisms, ketogenic endurance athletes and so on, but for the case being made in this article, target your morning movement to keep you below your 180 formula heart rate. Don’t have a fancy wearable/heart rate monitor? You should be able to have a conversation and work up a bit of a sweat while doing your 30 mins of movement. Can’t speak without panting in-between words? Dial it down. This is an oversimplification, but it goes to show that you don’t need fancy tech to build a habit (it just helps in this case).

Some examples of exercise that you could do for 30 minutes in a fasted state include: a bike ride, jogging, hiking, yoga or surfing. Don’t complicate it, just get out side, break a sweat with some basic movement.

Adoptable VOLV: Add 20 minutes of fasted low intensity movement to your morning routine.

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