Should I Exercise When I Fast?

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of intermittent fasting, it has become part of my life, and I love to share the benefits of it with you guys so that you can safely and effectively incorporate it into your health and fitness routine. As you know, I include intermittent fasting in the Pursue Your Spark Blueprint, and you guys, I get asked the same question over and over, so today, I’m about to clear up any doubts you might have about exercising and intermittent fasting. 

The question I hear the most about intermittent fasting is this…

“Should I exercise when I fast”?

Well…That’s a great question! It is important to ensure you are safe and healthy during fasting. And the answer is YES; you can still exercise if you apply the same consideration for your health and safety. The only time I would advise not to exercise at all alongside fasting is if you are on a water-only fast over consecutive days, which should be done under medical guidance.

But, for this instance, I’ll be referring to fasting as if you were on a brunch fast which is fasting for 14-15hours and feasting for 8-9hours a day.

So, read on for my top tips on safe and effective exercise routines during intermittent fasting.

Types of exercise to do whilst fasting

First, remember your body is getting fewer calories, and it will take time to adapt, so go easy for the first few weeks. We’re talking cardiovascular and low-intensity strength training. We are NOT going all gangbusters training for the Iron Man Triathlon whilst fasting! 

Cardio exercise should raise your heart rate a little and start to get a sweat going, but you should still be able to hold a conversation during it. If you can’t catch a breath – you’re doing too much! Choose your mode -walking, running, biking, swimming -whatever you feel like that you like to do.

Strength training with lighter weights and higher repetitions is the way to go here. You’re looking at weights, bands, pilates, anything with a little resistance that you can build up endurance.

Adjustment is essential

Your body needs to adjust to the new calorie intake and routine. Intermittent fasting really boosts your metabolism so you don’t want to throw yourself into the deep end and end up burnt out.

If you’re not familiar with best practices for intermittent fasting in general, you can check out my beginner’s guide to intermittent fasting in this podcast episode.

Less is more

Start off with smaller times and build it up over a few weeks. 15 minutes of cardio workout and 30 minutes of strength training is perfect and totally doable. Remember to have a day of rest, too. You don’t need to work out every single day.

My YouTube channel has a whole bunch of videos that only take 3-5 minutes, so you can easily follow along with them back-to-back or pick one that you like and repeat it to make up the 15 minutes.  Make sure you subscribe to keep up to date with my new uploads, just like this one below…