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Does exercise maximise weight loss during fasting?

I plan to do rolling 72s for the next month, purely for the weight loss, that’s all I care about.

Does exercise make any difference when water fasting for 3 days, and if so, what type of exercise? Like walking or strength training, which one is the best to maximise fat burn if it helps during a fast?

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Answer

In theory you could walk to burn up all your stored glycogen earlier than the 3 days it normally takes. When ever I try this it just thows off my electrolytes and I end up breaking early. Get a head ache after walking an hour or two. Then crazy hungry later.

I find it easier to do nothing.

Answer

Each pound of body fat contains 3,500 calories.

Most people’s total daily energy expenditure (aka TDEE) is about 2,000 calories. So if you eat nothing you will lose about 3/5 of a pound per day. Burn an extra 1,500 caloroes a day with exercise and you can lose 1 lb/day. Burn an extra 500/day you can lose 1 lb/week. Etc…

There are lots of TDEE calculators on the internet just a google search away. You can also easily determine how many calories you burn with a particular exercise.

Answer

Yes, my personal experience with fasting plus working out is optimal. I try to do circuit training, body weight exercises, and cardio. I think cardio burns more calories in the moment, but strength is also very important, and you end up burning more calories long-term because muscles are hungry and take more calories to maintain.

Answer

Exercise is good for you and your body but beware the messages about it increasing your calories burned. In the short term, it will, but our bodies adapt to the amount of exercise we do and adjust the calories expended on other activities (like immune system etc) in a way that’s beneficial (one cause of increasing autoimmune diseases is overactive immune system because of sedentary lifestyle). So if you regularly exercise, you’re doing good things to your body, but your TDEE goes back to what it normally is. There are exceptions for people who burn crazy amount of calories for exercise, but I’m presuming that’s not most of us.

Answer

While fasting, I perform body weight exercises such as pull-ups, pushups, and a little bit of cardio; this routine has helped me maintain my muscles and abs for nearly a year.

Scale shouldn’t be the only marker, measuring your waist circumference is also crucial.

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