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The Best Fasted Cardio Workout (And How NOT To Lose Your Gains)

Christian Pinedo

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Why I Chose To Write This Fasted Cardio Workout Article

I’m writing this quick article during the month of April.

It’s getting hot here in Sacramento and I’m about 6 weeks into my cut.

I’ve lost about 9 lbs and it’s been going great. 

However, these last two weeks, the calories I’ve been using (here’s how to calculate yours) have been producing weight loss a bit slower than I would like.

Here’s how my current cut is “looking”:

  • START – Week 1 Weekly AVG: 203.04 lbs
  • Week 2 Weekly AVG: 199.60 lbs (really good first week lol.)
  • Week 3 Weekly AVG: 197.67 lbs
  • Week 4 Weekly AVG: 198 lbs (bad…)
  • Week 5 Weekly AVG: 197.43 (better…)
  • Week 6 Weekly AVG: 197.07 (slow but still better)

I’m eating about 2300 calories per day.

When weight loss starts to stall for me, my first thought is to drop calories or add fasted cardio into the mix. It’s what works for me.

So, while I’m starting to add fasted cardio into my cutting routine, I wanted to create this quick article about the pros and cons of fasted cardio and the best fasted cardio workouts.

Let me show you what I mean…

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Fasted Cardio – The Good

Fasted cardio has been show to:

  1. Use fat as fuel for energy (fat oxidation) [1]
  2. Help get rid of stubborn belly fat faster (fasted training allows for more blood flow to belly region = more stubborn belly fat burned) [2]

This sounds all good, however, the cons can mess things up quite a bit.

Fasted Cardio – The Bad

A caloric deficit (what is necessary to start losing weight) already increases your chance to lose muscle. 

This is because you are not providing your body with sufficient “energy” for your muscles. 

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A simplified statement, but true.

If you add fasted cardio to your fat loss regime that already includes a big caloric deficit, then your chance to burn muscle increases dramatically. [3]

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The last bad thing that fasted cardio does is that it makes you feel like shit…

You will NOT have energy.

The weights will feel heavy, the cardio will feel long.

If you’ve ever done fasted cardio, or fasted weight lifting, you know what I’m talking about. 

Here are some solutions that you can chose from.

How To Counter The Cons Of Fasted Cardio

1. BCAAs – Prevents Muscle Loss

This is the most popular option by far.

BCAAs are used mostly for the ingredient Leucine (the one most responsible for preventing muscle loss).

You can also take Leucine by itself but it tastes horrible 😀

2. Yohimbine – Prevents Muscle Loss & Gives You Energy

Yohimbine also does not taste great on it’s own. 

You also cannot have any food for it to work. Like at all. 

Completely fasted or it won’t help you preserve muscle.

Another thing that Yohimbine does that BCAAs do NOT do is give you energy.

3. Forge – The Best Option

Forge has the same benefits as BCAAs, plus more.

This is FORGE.

More info on Forge:

  1. Okay, so the first ingredient is Yohimbine and there’s a lot of studies that show that it helps you get lean faster and burns through stubborn body fat
    •  there’s 10 milligrams per serving of Yohimbine, and that’s a clinically effective dose, and that’s in Forge in each serving, so that backs up the claim that Legion Forge helps you lose fat faster while fasted training.
  2. The second ingredient, which is the most important one in my opinion, is HMB, and studies show that it helps you preserve muscle. That’s the the main selling point, at least for me anyways.
    • So specifically HMB prevents muscle breakdown and helps you recover faster so that’s a great thing that that Forge does for you helps you recover faster as well from fasted training. There’s there’s also 2.5 milligrams per serving which is a clinically effective dose which is really important.
  3. So the last ingredient is Citocoline which helps you increase or maintain focus and intensity during your fasted training workouts.  
    • There’s 250 milligrams of that per serving 
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What BCAAs Do For You

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What FORGE Do For You

All three solutions work, however, FORGE is the best option. You can get it here.

The 3 Best Fasted Cardio Workouts

I recommend doing HIIT as your form of cardio.

You can use any cardio machine or circuit style workout for fasted cardio, however, there are 3 options that are better than the rest.

Here they are:

1. Cycling

2. Sprinting 

3. Rowing

Why these 3 specifically? 

Well, because they mimic compound movements (i.e., squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, etc.).

The more a cardio workout mimics a compound movement, the less potential there is to lose muscle. [4]

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The Best Fasted Cardio Workouts Are Those That Mimic Compound Lifts

Popular Fat Loss Programs To Help You Lose Fat Faster

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Visual Impact Cardio

“This is a pretty aggressive approach to getting lean in a hurry

You will experience a large drop in body fat during the 8 week cycle… but this isn’t easy. 

Get your fat loss out of the way, so you can enjoy a sleek and lean physique as soon as possible…”

– Rusty Moore, Former fitness coach to fashion models

Kinobody Warrior Shredding Program

One of the best 3-day per week Fat Loss programs. Check out my Warrior Shredding Program Review here.

Here are some sample hiit workouts that you can follow(leads to videos on my youtube channel)

Let me know if you have any questions about fasted cardio and its many benefits and cons in the comments below.

Have a good one!

Christian

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Christian Pinedo

Hey there, Christian here. I'm a former fat guy who just wants to help you succeed in your fitness journey. I share my own experiences and experiments right here on this site. Let me know how I can be of help by leaving a comment below. If you want to learn more about my 50 lb weight loss journey, click here.

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