If you’re looking for the best workouts to do in the morning with intermittent fasting, you came to the right place. I’ll share various exercises in this article with a sample of intermittent fasting morning workout schedules. These exercises will burn more calories, boost stamina and muscular endurance and help you develop a better body shape over time.
Is it okay to work out during the fast in the morning?
Yes, it is okay to work out in the morning in the fasted state. A study suggests that working out while fasting allows your body to use stored fats as the main source of energy that leads to greater fat utilization and helps you lose weight in the long run.1 Vieira, Alexandra Ferreira et al. “Effects of aerobic exercise performed in fasted v. fed state on fat and carbohydrate metabolism in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The British journal of nutrition vol. 116,7 (2016): 1153-1164. doi:10.1017/S0007114516003160
However, you shouldn’t do high-intensity interval training (HIIT) during the fast as it may make you faint and disturb your health.
If you want to do HIIT, you can do that after an hour of breaking fast.
How to do intermittent fasting if you workout in the morning?
The timing of intermittent fasting depends on your lifestyle. It has various patterns, such as 16/8, 14/10, 18/6, and 12/12. And depending on what suits you the most, you can follow one of them.
For example, if you’re a “9 to 5” office goer, you can follow a 12/12 pattern. Meaning you’ll have to fast from 7 pm to 7 am, and you can eat in the rest time.
And if you follow this pattern, you can work out in the morning between 6 am to 7 am in the fasted state and then break your fast at 7.
But if you work out in the morning in the fed state, you can fast from 7 in the evening to 7 in the morning and then work out after breaking your fast.
These were just examples. The best person is you who can decide the timing and pattern of IF.
You can also check out: Intermittent Fasting Results In 1 Month- My Experience
Best Workouts to do in the Morning During or After Intermittent Fasting
- Jumping Jacks
- Pushups
- High Knees
- Burpees
- Mountain Climbing
- Crunch And Its Variation
- Planks
- Squats
- Lunges
- Superman Pull
1. Jumping Jacks
Jumping jack is a full-body warm-up workout that pumps your heart, increases blood flow, and burns a good number of calories in a quick time.
How to do it:
- Stand upright with your back straight.
- Jump your feet out, raise your arms overhead simultaneously, and jump again to bring your arms down and feet together.
- Repeat for the desired number of times.
2. Pushups
Push-up needs no introduction. We all know pushups are great workouts to build a stronger upper body, especially chest and triceps.
They have many types, such as standard pushups, triangles, archer pushups, pike, and handstand pushups.
Different pushups work on different muscles of the upper body, such as standard pushups that strengthen the chest, triangle triceps, and pike pushup shoulders.
Depending on what muscles you want to train, you can do a pushup for that muscle.
If you want to know how to do various pushups, you can check out this callisthenic workout guide.
3. High Knees
The high knee is a strength and endurance workout that works on the total body and quickly burns calories.
It is suitable for all fitness levels.
Whether male or female, you can incorporate it in your intermittent fasting morning workout plan.
How to do it:
- Stand upright with your back straight.
- Raise your knees alternatively toward your chest, as fast as you can.
- Do this exercise for 20 to 30 seconds at your own pace.
4. Burpees
Burpee is a full-body workout that helps you increase strength and endurance over time. It also burns many calories in a quick time.
How to do it:
The burpee includes three movements: squat, pushup, and jump. And all of them are done concurrently.
Start with going into a squat position and as you sit into squat, kick your legs behind to get into a high plank position.
Do a pushup and then reverse the movement and once you return from squat to standing position, jump in the air and repeat all the steps to do more repetitions.
5. Mountain climbing
Mountain climbing is an excellent workout for the core. It is an intense workout and burns plenty of calories quickly while forging core muscles.
You must include it in your routine to lose stomach fats and tone abdominal muscle.
How to perform:
- Get into a high-plank position with your arms straight underneath your shoulders and your legs straight behind.
- Brace your core, keep your back straight, and bring your knees alternatively toward your chest at a fast speed.
- Continue for 20 to 30 seconds at your own pace.
Other variations of mountain climber you can try are:
- Cross knee mountain climber
- Knee to outside elbow mountain climber
6. Crunch and its variation
The crunches are an excellent endurance-building workout that helps you shed plenty of calories in a quick time.
Crunches have several variations: standard crunches, reverse crunches, tuck crunches, toe touch crunches, and alternate heel touch crunches.
And different crunches strengthen different muscles of the core. For example, standard crunches work on upper abs, reverse crunches build lower abs, and alternate heel touch crunches strengthen the oblique.
Doing them all will help you build a sturdy core and reduce abdominal fats over time.
If you want to know how to do them, you can check out this 10-min core workout routine.
7. Planks
Planks are some of the best workouts for strengthening abs and oblique. You can do several planks (like standard plank, side plank, and bird dog plank) to strengthen the different muscles of the core, such as upper abs, lower abs, and oblique.
They are isometric workouts, meaning you’ve to hold in the stationary position for the suggested or desired time.
You can do as many as twenty different plank variations for your core.
8. Squats
You can do various squats to strengthen and tone your legs at home.
A study suggests that 8-week bodyweight squat training improves body composition, jumping ability, knee extensors, muscular strength and reduces body fat in adolescent boys.2 Takai Y, Fukunaga Y, Fujita E, et al. Effects of body mass-based squat training in adolescent boys. J Sports Sci Med. 2013;12(1):60-65. Published 2013 Mar 1.
Jumping squats, Lateral squat, split squat, sumo squat, frog squat, and standard squats are some of the effective variations of squats you can incorporate in your intermittent fasting workout morning routine.
How to do the standard squat:
- Stand upright with your back straight and feet shoulder-width apart.
- Push your hips back, bend your knees and squat down until your glute is parallel to the ground.
- Pause for a sec, and then get back to the standing position.
Related: Does Squatting Help You Lose Weight?
9. Lunges
Lunges are the best workouts you can do for your lower body to strengthen your quads, hamstrings, and glute.
They have different types: in-line lunges, lateral lunges, plyo lunges, curtsy lunges, and reverse lunges.
You can do whichever you like and whenever you want.
To perform a standard forward lunge:
- Stand in the split stance with your right foot one big step away from your left foot.
- Place your hands on your hips, keep your back straight and bend your knees simultaneously until they are close to the ground.
- Pressing into the floor, stand back until your knees are straight.
You can do the other type of lunges on different days.
10. Superman Pull
The superman pull is a bodyweight workout that works on the back and reduces lower back injury risk.
How to do it:
- Lie on your stomach with your arms straight and slightly out before you, making Y shape.
- Lift your chest a little bit off the floor and pull your arms inside until you feel the contraction in your back.
- Squeezing your back muscle, pause in that position for three to five seconds before you extend your arms to the start.
Other workouts you can do in your morning schedule.
- Squat Jump
- Leg Raises
- Scissors
- Split Squat
- Glute Brige
- Calf Raises
- Side Drills
- Shadow Boxing
Intermittent Fasting Workout Schedule in the Morning before Breaking Fast
You can do this 30-minute aerobic exercise in the morning before breaking your fast.
Monday
As many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 30-minute
- Jumping Jacks
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Pushups
- 20 reps, 40-sec rest
- High-knees
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Mountain Climbing
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Burpee
- 10 reps, 60-sec
- Crunches
- 20 reps, 40-sec
- Plank
- 60 sec, 30-sec rest
Tuesday
Suggested Rounds: 3-4
- Jump Squat
- 10 reps, 40-sec rest
- Floor IYT Raises
- 10 reps, 40-sec rest
- Tuck up Crunches
- 10 reps, 40-sec rest
- Lateral Lunges
- 20 reps, 40-sec
- Flutter Kicks
- 20 reps, 40-sec rest
- Side Plank
- 30-sec/side, 15-sec rest
- Mountain Climber
- 30-sec work, 30-sec rest
Wednesday
Suggested Rounds: 3-4
- Burpee
- Do AMRAP and then rest for 60-sec
- Reverse crunches
- 20 reps, 40-sec rest
- Pushups
- 20 reps, 60-sec rest
- Leg Raises
- 10 reps, 40-sec rest
- Superman Pull
- 10 reps, 40-sec rest
- Plank
- 45-60 sec, 30-sec rest
- Plyo Lunges
- 10 reps, 40-sec rest
Friday
Suggested Rounds: 3-4
- Jumping Jacks
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Mountain Climbing
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Standard Squats
- 20 reps, 60-sec rest
- Side Plank
- 20-sec/side, 20-sec rest
- Side Drills
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Alternate Heel Touch Crunches
- 10 reps, 40-sec rest
- Push ups
- 20 reps, 60-sec rest
Saturday
Suggested Rounds: 3-4
- High knees
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Mountain Climbing
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Burpees
- 10 reps, 60-sec rest
- Superman Pull
- 10 reps, 60-sec rest
- Jump Squat
- 20-sec work, 40-sec rest
- Glute Brige
- 10 reps, 40-sec rest
- Plank
- 45-60 sec, 30-sec rest
Intermittent Fasting Morning Workout Routine (after Breaking Fast)
There’s no problem if you couldn’t work out on an empty stomach. You can work out 30-60 minutes after breaking your fast in the morning.
After consuming foods, you’ll be able to exercise more efficiently and at a higher intensity.
You can follow this 5 days a week morning workout routine with intermittent fasting to speed up your weight loss.
Do as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 30 minutes on each workout day.
Day 1
- Jumping Jacks
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Pushups
- Do as many reps as you can and rest for 60-sec
- High-knees
- Do as long as you can, and take 30-sec rest
- Mountain Climbing
- Do as long as you can, and then rest for 60-sec
- Burpees
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 60-sec
- Crunches
- Do as many crunches as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Plank
- Hold as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
Day 2
- Jump Squat
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Pushups
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 60-sec
- Situps
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 30-sec
- Lateral Lunges
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 60-sec
- Leg Raises
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 30-sec
- Side Plank
- Hold as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Crunches
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 60-sec
Day 3
- High knees
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Mountain Climbing
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Burpees
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 60-sec
- Plyo Lunges
- Do as many reps as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Reverse Crunches
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 30-sec
- Glute Brige
- Do as many reps as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Plank
- Hold as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
Day 4
- Jumping Jacks
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Mountain Climbing
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Standard Squats
- Do as many reps as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Side Plank
- Hold as long as you can and then rest for 20-sec
- Run at the same place
- Run as long as you can and then rest for 60-sec
- Heel Touch Crunches
- Do as many reps as possible and then rest for 30-sec
- Push ups
- Do as many reps as you can and then rest for 60-sec
Day 5
- Jump Squat
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Burpees
- Do as many reps as you can and then rest for 60-sec
- Tuck up Crunches
- Do as many reps as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Lateral Lunges
- Do as many reps as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Flutter Kicks
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Plank
- Hold as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
- Mountain Climber
- Do as long as you can and then rest for 30-sec
The Takeaway on Intermittent Fasting and Morning Workout
Intermittent fasting and workout are inexpensive ways to treat obesity and manage weight without supplementation. You can do aerobic and anaerobic exercises with intermittent fasting to speed up weight loss.
Moreover, you can consume low-calorie foods and weight loss supplements to stay in a calorie deficit and increase the fat loss process.
So, depending on what suits you the most, you can follow the intermittent fasting pattern and do one of the above morning workout routines.
References
- 1Vieira, Alexandra Ferreira et al. “Effects of aerobic exercise performed in fasted v. fed state on fat and carbohydrate metabolism in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The British journal of nutrition vol. 116,7 (2016): 1153-1164. doi:10.1017/S0007114516003160
- 2Takai Y, Fukunaga Y, Fujita E, et al. Effects of body mass-based squat training in adolescent boys. J Sports Sci Med. 2013;12(1):60-65. Published 2013 Mar 1.
