Fasted training is currently a pretty polarized topic in the fitness world, with some arguing that it can provide meaningful improvements for fat loss, and others claiming it will ruin your performance potential or cause hormonal dysfunction in women. In this article, Coach Chris examines three of the most common claims we’ve seen lately: that training fasted improves fat loss, that it harms training adaptations, and that it doesn’t work for women.

“If I see one more of those articles, I’m going to lose my mind! Women don’t need to train around their cycles, that’s absurd!” I was sitting in a Strength and Conditioning class with my favorite professor. We were talking about fitness articles that discussed women adapting their training in the gym to sync with their menstrual cycles. The whole class laughed, and I chuckled along. Sure, I myself had problems getting out of bed and taking care of my kids, but maybe there was just something wrong with me?