Fasted Cardio vs Fasted Lifting: What's Okay After 40?

Nikkiey: All right, we're ready to dive into it. First, Kimberly: how much cardio is needed to lose weight, but not too much while building muscle?

Kimberly, this is a very individual question. Everybody is completely different. What my cardio routine is like is not what your cardio routine needs to look like, and it's not what your best friend Susie's cardio routine needs to look like. So it's very individual, and it depends on where you're starting, too. If you are just getting into the fitness world and you're just starting your journey, maybe you just need to go on some extra walks, or maybe do 30 minutes three times a week. That's a good starting point for somebody. Then as you get into your journey, that's going to change as you start seeing results and as you develop more muscle on your body. So just starting off, I can broadly speak to everybody: it's really good to get out there and do three days of 30 minutes. On the other days, make sure you're hitting at least 7K to 10K steps. That's a really good starting point.

All right, Tara. Are we going to have a cardio Q&A right now? Tara asks: if I have to do cardio and my workout separate versus back to back, what times do you recommend?

There are really no times that I recommend. We don't need to get that specific or that complicated. But here are three breakdowns I'd recommend you take into consideration. One of them is back to back. The other one, ideally, is in the morning in the fasted state, when you haven't had any food yet. Maybe you just had some coffee, and you go outside and do a 20 to 30 minute walk. Then you come back in, fuel up, have your pre-workout meal and go hit the workout. So that's your second option.

The third option is: if you're doing your workout in the morning and you can't do your cardio until later in the afternoon, then you would obviously have your pre-workout and post-workout meals around that workout. Then when it's time to go do cardio, you want to make sure it's when you're getting closer to having a meal. Sorry, piece of hair in my eye. So you're technically still in that fasted state when you're going into that cardio session in the afternoon, and after you're done with the cardio session, you have your meal right away.

Same thing with fasted in the morning: you wake up, you don't have anything to eat, and you go do that fasted cardio. Then maybe you don't get to your workout afterwards. Maybe your workout's planned in the afternoon, so you go about your normal meals throughout the day, then you have a pre-workout meal and go hit your workout in the afternoon. So those are the times I would recommend for cardio. I'm so sorry, there's something in my eye and it's really freaking annoying, but I hope that answered your question.

All right, Patty, what's up, babe? You guys are on a cardio rampage. My question is: why cardio fasted but not lifting fasted? Trying to dial in my muscle preservation.

This is a great question, you guys. In short, the reason I would never, ever recommend you do weight lifting sessions in a fasted state is because when you are strength training and putting resistance on your muscles, your muscles are active tissue. When they're active, they need fuel to fire everything that's happening internally. If you're not eating before you work out and you're working out in the fasted state, guess what your body is going to turn to for that energy to get you through that workout? Muscle. Muscle is going to get broken down, and you're going to be using that active tissue as energy to get you through it.

Not only that, you guys, but lifting in the fasted state for females can really f*** with your hormones. Excuse my language, but I'm really passionate about this stuff. I really hate intermittent fasting and fasting in general outside of health conditions. And when you go to bed at 10 o'clock and wake up at 6 a.m., that's eight hours in a fasted state. So technically you're fasting while you sleep. But anyway, your hormones get jaded big time. They can get screwy and wonky.

For example, in the morning, if you're lifting on an empty stomach and you're putting all this fitness-induced stress on your body, you're going to be elevating your cortisol levels. And guess what, you guys? Our female cortisol levels are already naturally elevated in the morning. Secondly, cortisol is a fat-storing hormone. So if you're elevating that cortisol in the morning, it's going to store body fat, and you're working against the goals you want to accomplish.

Now, when I'm talking about fasted cardio, you're not calling on your muscles to do any type of lifting. Your muscles aren't really engaged in cardio. You're just walking, or you're doing the StairMaster or cycling or something like that. So you're okay doing that in a fasted state. But when you're physically calling on muscles to be involved in the movement and the exercise, then you need to fuel your body because of everything that's happening internally. So in order to not tap into that muscle mass while you're working out, you want to make sure you're fueling your body pre and post and not going into any workout in a fasted state.

Anita says: most amazing lifestyle program, trust Nikkiey and the coaches 100%. Thank you, Anita, I appreciate you. You're absolutely killing it in your journey up in the VIP.

All right, Jenny: I am doing the home workouts and have been for a year now. I'm starting to have back aches at 46. Do I need to shorten the workouts at all? My chiropractor says I'm not 20 anymore and that I shouldn't work out so hard. Is this true?

No, it's not true. I just interviewed a woman in the WarriorBabe program who's 57 years old and is having amazing results, and there's a VIP who's in her 60s and having amazing results. So let me tell you this. One thing the VIP is putting into play is stretching. I would ask you right now, do you stretch? If the answer is no, then start incorporating stretches. Think about it like this, you guys: as you're strength training and building muscle, your muscles are growing. They need more space to grow at that point, so you need to make space by stretching. And I am really bad at this, so I'll be the first one to say that.

But you don't need to pull back on your workload. You don't need to listen to what your chiropractor is saying about "I'm not 20 anymore." Who gives a f*** if you're not 20 anymore? It's just a number. But you can start incorporating stretching, and maybe even doing some yoga or something like that, and maybe getting weekly or bi-weekly or tri-weekly massages that will help with that. So there are other things you can do instead of changing what you're doing now: incorporating new things to help support it. That's what I would recommend. First, hands down, stretching, 100%.

All right, Chanel, what's up, babe? On day two in the VIP program, let's go. Can't wait to join these calls in a few months to show off my progress. Amazing, babe. In the next 45 minutes we have our VIP call, which is going to be amazing, so chime in and tune in. Those are your face-to-face with every one of the babes inside the community, and we're going to talk about really good topics tonight. So definitely tune into that if you're able to.

All right, Janet: I am starting the retrain program and then staying in maintenance to do some body recomposition. My question: I can do the regular Build program and not the 50 Plus, since I have been lifting for a while, correct?

Correct. Yes, 100%. She says: I see this is a new module in the Blueprint since I first joined. Yes. So this is what I say to the 50 Plus babes. Really, that 50 Plus program is in play for anybody who has a thyroid problem or medical conditions that are being treated with medicine, or any type of hormone imbalance, anything like that. It's really more geared and directed to the 50 Plus community to do that kind of workout.

Now, if you don't feel as challenged with the 50 Plus, and you know yourself, you know you can handle it, and you don't have any of those things I just addressed, then you can 100% go into the Build program and/or the Burn program and just listen to how your body is recovering and responding to that type of training. If it's not recovering well and you're still sore after multiple days, then maybe pull back by a set and see how that goes. And if you're still not healing up well and not recovering well, then maybe 50 Plus isn't a bad idea to go to. But if you feel 100%, you're strong and you've been doing this for a while, which you have been, 100% you can go toward the Build.

Kathleen: WarriorBabe here, 50 Plus Burn and Tone. Let's go, Kathleen. Kimberly says thank you. You're a freaking rock star. So are you, babe. Keep up the good work.

Joy: why is it that for many who try fasting, it only takes a few days or weeks and they no longer experience daily hunger, headaches, nausea and stomach growling? What could be the reason that every time I try it, even after a few months, I still experience these side effects?

Because in that window of time, Joy, you may not be giving your body what it needs. To the first half of your question, the reason people adjust is because their body adapts. Your body's going to adapt to anything you're trying to get it to do. If you're going for endurance training, your body's going to adapt to cardio. If you're going for weight training, your body's going to adapt to weight training. If you're doing keto, your body will eventually adapt to keto. If you're doing intermittent fasting, your body will eventually adjust to intermittent fasting.

But are you doing it correctly? In that window of time, if you're intermittent fasting, are you eating enough? Are you giving your body enough protein? Are you giving your body enough fat and carbs in that window? It matters how much you eat, you guys. Honestly, without overcomplicating everything that's out there, it comes down to calories in, calories out. Are you in a caloric deficit, and are you fueling your body enough to facilitate the results you want with the right types of foods? And when I say the right types of foods, it comes down to protein, fats and carbs.

We can get into the whole calories versus macros thing, but at the end of the day, if you just want to lose weight, sure, go for calories, because you will lose weight that way. But if you want to dial in and build an aesthetically pleasing body, if you want to decrease body fat, get toned and show more muscle definition, that lean mass you work so hard to put on, well, in order to put it on you've got to eat enough of the right types of food: protein, fats and carbs. If you want to decrease body fat and get more toned to show the hard work you put in, you have to dial it down to macros. You have to figure out your protein, fats and carbohydrates and really nail it down to a T if you want an aesthetically pleasing body.

Kathleen: Hello, WarriorBabe here, 50 Plus Burn and Tone. Nice. If I switch to lower weight, higher reps, like 20 reps, how many sets are appropriate? Do I stay at four sets or lower to three sets? I was doing four sets of 10 to 12 reps. How long do I stay at the higher reps with lower weights?

Well, I would just follow exactly what the workout program has for you, Kathleen. If it's calling for three sets of X amount of repetitions, then I would do exactly that. If it's calling for X amount of repetitions and X amount of sets, I would do exactly that. Our programs work really well, especially for the 50 Plus community, so I would just encourage you to follow what that plan says. Then once you have it down for a couple of months and you're learning how to make it work for you with the resources available inside the program, we can talk about what you would do: higher reps, lower reps, different kinds of sets. And since you are inside the Blueprint program, that's also a question for one of the support Q&A calls. We have four support calls per week, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, where you're actually able to talk back and forth with our coaching team.

All right, Jana: I just wanted to say, WarriorBabes, I have been a WarriorBabe for almost three years. I decided to go through your workout how-to videos and realized there were some tweaks I relearned, especially cross-body rows. Rewatching the video helped me with my bad habits and changed my form.

Nice, you guys, that's awesome, Jana. I love that. Seriously, everybody who's inside the Blueprint program has this material for life. It's like watching a movie that you really love. You're going to go back in and rewatch the content, you're going to relearn new things, and you're going to be happy you rewatched it, because maybe the first time you watched it something didn't click, and now it's clicking the second time, or the third time, or three years later. There are tons of amazing resources and tools in there that you can always continue to use along your journey.

Lee: I fast for almost eight hours and feel great, but as soon as I eat, I get a headache.

Yeah, because at that point your body is like, I wanted this food for so long, and now you're finally giving it to me, and now I have to work extra hard to break it down and metabolize it. It depends on what window of time you're fasting, but to be honest, eight hours while you're sleeping is sufficient. Your metabolism doesn't stop. So maybe half an hour after waking up, you have your breakfast meal, and at that point you're kick-starting your metabolism even more. Plus you're fueling your muscles, your body and your brain to help you get through the day, and you're not depriving yourself with "at this window of time I can't eat." As a WarriorBabe myself, we're so against restrictive measures. If at any point you feel restricted, it's not going to work for you, because you're going to experience these types of things, you're going to want to give up, and you're going to end up on a hamster wheel, like, what do I do? I can't figure out what works for me.

Joy: is intermittent fasting necessary to reverse insulin resistance?

Again, everybody is so different and so unique that this is where I'm kind of teetering and tottering. If your ultimate goal is to gain muscle and decrease body fat to be toned, and you don't have any underlying health issues, then you don't need to intermittent fast. And like I said previously in this Q&A, if you have health conditions and you're somebody who needs to go on this specific thing to level things out, then this is where it gets a little bit different. It depends on your goals, but I can speak to what it looks like when you want to build muscle and decrease body fat. So it can and can't, because I've dealt with people who needed to reverse insulin resistance, and they have eaten in a macro way. They've had carbs. It's just a skill set to understand. That's why hiring somebody or working with somebody who understands this, so you don't have to figure it out yourself, is your best bet. You can work with them and do what they're telling you to do, and that's going to help you get to the goals you want to accomplish.

All right, Lee: I just jumped on the live, but I'd like to know, is it good to work out on an empty stomach, or should I eat before a workout?

No, and I just talked about this at the beginning of this Q&A. You never want to work out in a fasted state, you guys. When I say workout, I mean strength training. I mean lifting weights. Everything incorporated in that process is active tissue, and if you're lifting on an empty stomach, guess what your body is going to turn to for energy? Your muscle. That's counterproductive to the types of goals you want to accomplish. Plus, on top of that, like I said, it f***s with your hormones. The majority of studies on intermittent fasting have been done on males, and from a female standpoint, we have way more hormones than males do, and it can really mess with our hormones. Especially in the morning, if you're lifting and pushing weights in an empty state, you're raising your cortisol levels up and above where they already are. So no, you don't want to lift weights in a fasted state.

Julie, what's up? If I get up before work and strength train, I don't have time to eat. What's a good, quick pre-workout food to eat?

First of all, reframe the mindset of "I don't have enough time to eat." You have 30 minutes before you work out, right? You're not going to get up and within five minutes be pushing a weight. There's always a warm-up process, or at least you should be incorporating a warm-up process. But anyway, for a really good, quick go-to meal in the morning, you can go to my Instagram. I have tons of IGTVs where I pull questions from these Q&As and repurpose them, so there are tons of pre-workout and post-workout ideas.

Pre-workout, rice cakes are a really good go-to. They're fast digesting. Have them with a protein shake and some jelly on top. Bam, that's one. Or some fruit and a protein shake. Or fruit and white rice. Or protein and white rice. Or protein and cereal: you can even mix the protein with almond milk and pour it on top of the cereal. Those are some really great ideas for fast-acting energy to go right into your workout. And when you do fuel your body, you're going to notice, going from not fueling to fueling, how much more energy and strength you have, because your muscles are being fed.

Bonnie: I joined this program six months ago and I've learned so much. I just want to say a huge thank you for sharing your expertise with all of us. You're so welcome, babe. I'm glad you're not only getting the results you want, but you're more knowledgeable and learning what works best for you and your body. Good job. I appreciate you putting in the work.

Eve: pre- and post-workout, what is the most amount of grams I should be taking with my carbs and proteins?

I don't know what your carb and protein numbers are, but broadly speaking, what I recommend everybody do is this: if you eat five meals a day or six meals a day, whatever that number of meals is, take your protein and your carbs and divide them by that number. Those are the grams you want to be having pre and post. Now, if you're in maintenance or in a build and you have more food to be able to eat, then I would take more carbs and put them around your workouts, because you're going to have more fuel for your workout with more carbs.

All right, Joy: do you believe in warm-up sets or just dynamic stretching before weight training?

I believe in both. For dynamic stretching, when I'm going in to do shoulders or something like that, I'll warm up with some arm circles, maybe grab some weights and do some of these. For leg day I'll do some sideways leg kicks and some back-and-forth leg kicks, just to warm up my hip region. For a warm-up set, what I would also recommend is this: if you have four sets for a particular exercise, I probably wouldn't count the first set toward those four. For that first set, I would just use a light weight and count out 12 or 15 repetitions to warm up the muscles. It is so important, you guys, to warm up the muscles and never go into a workout cold.

Awesome, you guys. I'm going to close out this Q&A, since no more questions are coming through. I appreciate your time so much for hanging out with me. I love being here, I love providing answers to the questions you have, and I love giving you value. If you gained anything from this Q&A, please smash the like button. And if you gained tons of value, share this, because getting this video in front of other women, especially on the intermittent fasting topic I talked about, means they can gain insight and learn something they never learned before: why it is so important to fuel your body. I appreciate you so much if you smash the like button and share this with other women. I'm helping you here, and I just ask in return that you help the many, many women who need this kind of information as well.

If anybody's tuning in from my Facebook page and you're not yet a part of WarriorBabe, definitely check out warriorbabe.com, which is in the description above. You can see what our programs are like and what everybody's talking about with VIP or Blueprint, and you can see the results that the women who have been through our program, or are currently part of it, have gotten along the way in the review section.

All right, I appreciate you guys. I see those likes firing. I'm here every single Tuesday at 6 p.m. Eastern to do this live Q&A, so mark your calendars, set your alarms and tune in, because these are always so fun and you always walk away having learned something.