Fat Loss Rule #3: If possible, attempt to exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I really love exercising first thing in the morning on an empty stomach as I always get the quickest fat loss results that way. The reason for this is that your body's glycogen reserves have been exhausted due to the overnight fast, so the body has to rely on burning fats for fuel. Besides, that way I have the rest of the day to eat, recover, and grow.

However, if you do not like to weight train first thing in the morning at least try a quick 15 minute intense aerobic activity (this could be a quick stationary bike ride or a vigorous walk) as well as 5 minutes of abdominal exercise done in superset fashion. That gives you a total short 20 minute aerobic workout that jumps starts your fat burning mechanisms early in the day. Hugo Rivera

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I ALWAYS do my cardio on an empty stomach, the point being to raise the metabolism some & force the body to use fat for energy rather than anything that has been eaten (if memory serves, the body is more likely to be in a ketonic state that early as well). After about an hour after the cardio, once the body starts to slow down again, it's feeding time. Brad

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Exercising on an empty stomach is not the best way to go. Research studies have indicated that the number of calories burned is far less than when exercising after a meal. A small meal of 300-400 calories an hour before training will allow you to train harder. You will get about a 10% increase in metabolic rate alone from eating the food, you will be able to train harder as blood glucose levels will not go to super low levels, and you will have a better anabolic hormone response.

My weight loss clients and weight gain clients eat about the same number of meals per day with similar timing strategies. What differs primarily is the calorie load.

Exercising on an empty stomach does not force the body to burn more fat. In some cases it forces it to break down more muscle to get at amino acids. They are deaminated, converted into glucose and then help supply the body with energy. Small amounts of glucose (via conversion into a Kreb's cycle intermediate) are needed to burn fat. Tom

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In simple man terms (my terms), excessively hard cardio with no energy to back it up causes the body to freak and go after muscle not fat. My experience tells me it actually mimics a starvation mode and actually retards the body's use of fat for energy and starts after hard earned muscle mass. So, here is how I go about it. IF I cardio on an empty stomach, I go at no higher than 65-70%. I will go to 85% if I have had a small meal prior to. Certainly not scientific but with tinkering, I have figured out how my systems react. Chris L. Johnson