Dear Strong First team!
Life is hectic, I have very limited time to work out and I wonder if is OK to do fasted strength training? The only time I really have to work out is if I wake up at 4:30 am and work out before my kids wake up. If fasted strength training is good, it would help me to maintain a stronger life. I would appreciate your guidance on the matter.
Sincerely,
A really (really) tired and not so strong father with an office job.
Short answer it depends.
Long answer: I train fasted just about every morning, and often this includes strength training, mostly for the same reasons - if I don't train before the family gets up, my training time really gets cramped, rushed, interrupted, etc. The most important thing is training consistently, and part of that is finding a time that works for you.
However, this is where it depends - not everyone seems to be able to adapt to this as well, whether by preference or due to medical issue. As an example, due to a couple reasons, my wife would experience bad low blood sugar in the mornings and would basically have to eat immediately upon waking - there was no way she could train fasted. This may not apply to you, but there are medical conditions (and preferences) that make this not quite a "yes training fasted is 100% ok!"
But barring these, if you can, it is fine; if you can't there are "ways" to eat something small and light before training. For instance, I usually wake up between 0430-0500 and train by 0530-0600, during which time I drink water and coffee. If I needed to cram food in during that period, a banana and peanut butter or a slice of peanut butter toast (or better yet - almond butter!) is quick and easy and I know it sits well, regardless if my plan is heavy deadlifts, a long run, or anything in between. (I also know for me that a whey protein shake doesn't sit as well before, although it sits fine after.)
Minor aside - if you're not used to training fasted and are used to training fed, there may be a small time of adjusting or adapting to training fasted where your performance is below where it was. My experience is that this usually washes out after getting used to it, and if you have no previous performance to compare it to it doesn't actually matter.
Hope this helps - happy training!