One type of exercise you have likely heard about is fasted cardio training. The idea behind this training is you wake up and before eating anything (in the fasted state), you go on to perform some cardio training.
In theory, this is supposed to help amplify your total rate of fat burning because you won’t need to worry about having to burn off the calories from the food you just ate for breakfast. So your body can go right into burning the body fat stores it has. But, is this training best for people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes? Or would you be better off passing on it entirely?
Here are a few quick points for Type 2 diabetics to keep in mind…
1. The Intensity Level. The first thing to note is the level of your blood sugar. You will more than likely have to use a lower overall intensity level when doing fasted cardio as your blood sugar level will be below the best level for carrying out high-intensity training.
Now will not be the time to do those high-intensity interval sprints you normally do. Instead, you’ll be stuck doing steady state cardio training. If you don’t mind steady state exercise, this might be fine but for those who get bored quickly, it simply isn’t ideal.
2. The Question Of Blood Sugar. You know as a Type 2 diabetic taking medications to lower your blood sugar, it’s not wise for you to go hours without eating. In fact, you may already find on waking from your overnight fast your blood sugar levels are much lower than you would like them to be.
Now if you exercise, this will only amplify the effect. For many Type 2 diabetics, doing fasted state cardio training could potentially give them dangerously low blood sugar levels, rendering this type of training entirely impossible.
If you are going to attempt fasted cardio exercise, make sure you speak with your doctor before doing so. You will also need to monitor your blood sugar very carefully as you go about the exercise session.
So there you have the two main points to consider about fasted state cardio. All in all, the fat loss benefits of it aren’t even all that pronounced because the intensity of the cardio does come down. It will be just as beneficial to your body if you do an HIIT session later on in the day after you’ve taken in some food and have the energy to perform the most intense exercise.
