Follow these 3 easy steps to train fasted and maximize your fat burning and muscle gain … avoid these tips at your own peril.
Training on an empty stomach can be amazingly beneficial for accelerated fat loss and more positive training adaptations in the gym. This is because when you’re fasted, your body becomes anabolically primed to have the greatest positive hormonal response to the training itself, especially when you have the proper nutrition in your system to be able to recover from the training (which I will discuss here in this article).
However, many people do “fasted training” completely wrong! By avoiding the three essential elements of fasted training that I’m going to teach you today, these people put themselves at risk for:
👎 Muscle loss
👎 Fat gain due to excess cortisol
👎 Brain fog and mental fatigue
👎 Low energy in both the workout, and throughout the day
These are some of the absolute biggest fears of any newbie, seasoned weightlifter or athlete when it comes to fasted training.
You don’t want to spend all that time and energy in the gym, working diligently to improving your lifts and your physique — only to find that you’ve been sabotaging your success the whole time due to one or two major mistakes.
That’s why right now, I’d like to teach you my top three secrets for fasted training that will allow you to not only help you completely avoid losing muscle, but will actually help you GAIN muscle, lose more body fat and give you incredible energy throughout the workout and your day.
Let’s get to it …
Tip No. 1: Ensure That You’re Consuming Enough Carbohydrates From Quality Sources Throughout Your Non-Fasted Period Every Day
Avoiding carbohydrate consumption is all the rage these days. People typically cut carbs in the hopes that they will lose fat quickly. However, it is a well-documented fact that the body performs high-intensity exercise, like weight training, much better when glycogen stores are high. The same principle applies to recovery as well.
It’s also a scientific fact that we don’t burn more fat avoiding carbs. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that low-carb dieters did not experience greater fat loss than their high-carb counterparts.
Carbohydrates are essential for fasted-training recovery. Our bodies are primed for a massive, natural anabolic response to this type of training, and the carbohydrates serve as the metabolic and anabolic fuel to replenish drained muscles and help them to come back stronger every training session.
Do not make the mistake of avoiding carbohydrates during your “feeding window” if you are undertaking fasted training. This leads to muscle loss, fatigue and brain fog. Eventually, you will start to suffer from poor sleep and loss of libido as well, two things that no man or woman should ever want to have problems with.
Preferred carbohydrate sources are: potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, white rice, carrots and all manner of fruits. Fruits are densely packed with essential vitamins, minerals and prebiotic fibers, which feed the good bacteria in your gut and improve your digestion.
Tip No. 2: Do Everything You Can to Maximize Blood Flow During Fasted Training to Burn More Stubborn Body Fat
Scientific research has proven that blood flow increases to your abdominal region specifically during fasted training.
This is important to highlight: proper blood flow to certain areas of the body indicates increased shuttling of important nutrients, as well as an increase in the liberation of fatty acids, especially when training fasted.
The research suggests that a combination of fasted training and increased proper blood flow may result in an increase of fat burning in areas, like the abdomen, that are traditionally havens for stubborn fat.
Here at Kinobody, we love to recommend using L-Citrulline, which can be purchased on its own or found in our super popular zero calorie pre-workout Kino Octane (in its full 6 g clinical dosage) to maximize natural blood flow during fasted training.
L-citrulline has been shown in many research studies to significantly increase blood flow through improved N.O. production. One important study showed that L-citrulline not only resulted in a massive increase in natural blood flow, but also a whopping 66 percent increase in the production of natural growth hormone when used with an amino acid supplement after a workout.
This increase in natural growth hormone can lead to complete muscle preservation and significant muscle growth, as a result of fasted training while using L-citrulline and amino acids together.
Tip No. 3: Use an Amino Acid Supplement That Actually Contains Clinically Effective Dosages of the Necessary Amino Acids
Amino acid supplements can be extremely beneficial during fasted training, especially when your goal is to preserve muscle and optimize your blood flow.
However, many people worry because most amino acid supplements on the market contain calories, which would technically break a fast.
That’s specifically why Kinobody developed the absolute best amino acid supplement to take before fasted training. Kino Aminos has zero calories, a tasty flavor and the proper amount of amino acids clinically proven to help support your fasted training for better results.
Regardless of which amino acid supplement you use, you will want to make sure it contains the following ingredients in the right dosages:
Leucine: Leucine increases strength output, enhances recover and increases protein synthesis. In one study, jut 4 grams of leucine taken on a daily basis for 12 weeks was shown to dramatically increase “significantly higher gains” in strength and muscle growth. Leucine and other branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) have also been shown to activate key muscle-recovery enzymes in humans and upregulate protein synthesis.
Calcium HMB: Calcium Hydroxy Methylbutyrate Monohydrate helps to increase lean mass, increase strength, decrease fat mass and reduce muscle damage. HMB has been demonstrated to effectively and quickly increase strength and muscle gains during progressive strength training in both young and older subjects. It’s been found to lower fat mass, improve strength and muscle tissue, while also improving muscle recovery and lowering training fatigue.
In one study, HMB supplementation was proven to increase gains in muscle mass, muscle strength and anaerobic output. HMB supplementation has also been shown to improve isometric and isokinetic torque outputs.
Isoleucine: Isoleucine is able to support anabolism, support glucose uptake into the cell, and increase ATP availability within the body. Isoleucine has shown improvements in human capacity to properly metabolize glucose. This results in the improvement of the availability of ATP for the muscle, which can fuel better workouts, especially when training fasted.
Valine: Valine helps to support glycogen repletion, support anabolism, and reduces viral load of Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver). Studies have shown a similar glucose-aid ability of Valine to Isoleucine, along with improving liver function in humans.
Histidine: Histidine has been shown to act as a potent natural antioxidant with the ability to protect cell membranes, while shutting down the cytokine inflammation response.
Arginine: Arginine increases N.O production and muscular endurance. Studies reveal that L-arginine can reliably increase natural NO production, leading to the most epic training pumps of your life.
L-arginine supplementation has also been shown to help improve glucose metabolism. The improvements in NO production from L-arginine happens in a dose dependent manner. This increase in NO production has a natural antioxidant effect on the body. Arginine supplementation has also been shown to reduce oxygen needed during training, while simultaneously increasing high-intensity exercise tolerance.
Along with these important ingredients, you will want to make sure your amino acid supplement also has methionine, phenylalanine and lysine — all of which can be found in Kino Aminos.
Unlock Your Fasted-Training Potential With These Three Strategic Tips!
So there you have it! These three tips are the “secret sauce” that will help you train fasted without losing muscle. Not only will these tips build muscle and improve your physique by burning stubborn body fat.
An important element to this system is a properly dosed and formulated amino acid supplement. So if you’re interested in learning more about our Kino Aminos supplement, then you can find that information here:
