Intermittent Fasting

[Ulrich]

Hello,

What's the party-line on intermittent fasting? I know calorie restriction's frowned upon if one's training for function and performance, but what about IF? You don't need to restrict calories for IF, just play with the eating schedule....

Thanks,
Ulrich

[Ulrich]

Just a little follow up to my last post, IF increases muscle and endurance:

http://ergo-log.com/build-muscle-mass-i ... sting.html

[mikhou]

This is purely personal. I toyed with it for about 3 months so granted my experience is limited. It wasn't for me simply because I could not get enough calories in. I definitely got leaner but I also struggled with my strength.

[Im6-7]

I don't think there's a strong stance for or against it, if it works for you then it's perfectly acceptable. Like you said, you're not restricting cals....or rather you shouldn't be.

I think low carb or keto is a no-no, if you're running standard TB.

[Barkadion]

There is a big misunderstanding about IF going around. All it is a simple way of counting your daily calories. It doesn't really make a difference if you skip your breakfast. Total in/out matters.

But do whatever let you progress and have fun. Fun matters

[Train_Hard_Live_Easy]

There is a big misunderstanding about IF going around. All it is a simple way of counting your daily calories. It doesn't really make a difference if you skip your breakfast. Total in/out matters.

But do whatever let you progress and have fun. Fun matters

Brilliantly stated buddy. 'bold' is down to me, because that is the thing to remember whether it is mass building / bulking or fat loss...Calories in and Calories out.

I remember reading something by Josh Hollis a fair few month back:

Scale Weight - Quantity of food eaten
Bodyfat % - Quality of food and how strong you are
Ratios equal Feeling Full [Carbs to Prot to Fats.]

Timing really has nothing to do with it.

Edit: Josh Hollis - Fat Loss Happens on a Monday - Co-written with Dan John.

[MuftiMike]

Is this really the case? Genuinely curious here gents, but if I do an Operator or HIC at 6 or 7 am, is it okay not to eat post-workout till later in the day? What about the whole post-workout window?

[mikhou]

Is this really the case? Genuinely curious here gents, but if I do an Operator or HIC at 6 or 7 am, is it okay not to eat post-workout till later in the day? What about the whole post-workout window?

Hey, MuftiMike. This is why it didn't work for me. IF isn't strictly about "not eating breakfast." It's about having a window of time in which you eat all of your calories, and then you fast for the rest of that 24-hour cycle. I think that they most popular method is 16 hours fasting / 8 hour feeding cycle. The problem with my schedule was when to fit in that 8-hour feeding cycle. It was important to me to sit down with my family for a meal in the evenings. So I typically wasn't eating again until noon the next day. And the only time that I had to workout was in the morning. So when I decided to try IF, I was working out and then eating nothing for another 4 hours.

Ideally, IF would be done so that you break your fast after your workout (is my understanding, but I'm not expert). So for these reasons it didn't work for me - that and the fact that I couldn't seem to get enough calories in during the feeding window. I agree with others above. For some it works and for others it doesn't. The only way to know is to try.

[MuftiMike]

Is this really the case? Genuinely curious here gents, but if I do an Operator or HIC at 6 or 7 am, is it okay not to eat post-workout till later in the day? What about the whole post-workout window?

Hey, MuftiMike. This is why it didn't work for me. IF isn't strictly about "not eating breakfast." It's about having a window of time in which you eat all of your calories, and then you fast for the rest of that 24-hour cycle. I think that they most popular method is 16 hours fasting / 8 hour feeding cycle. The problem with my schedule was when to fit in that 8-hour feeding cycle. It was important to me to sit down with my family for a meal in the evenings. So I typically wasn't eating again until noon the next day. And the only time that I had to workout was in the morning. So when I decided to try IF, I was working out and then eating nothing for another 4 hours.

Ideally, IF would be done so that you break your fast after your workout (is my understanding, but I'm not expert). So for these reasons it didn't work for me - that and the fact that I couldn't seem to get enough calories in during the feeding window. I agree with others above. For some it works and for others it doesn't. The only way to know is to try.

Thanks Mikhou, this is my biggest concern. I don't know what the latest science says but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing a hard workout in the morning and then not feeding for 6-7 hours. From what I understand it's important to take in nutrients closer to post-workout or catabolism sets in. I wouldn't worry about it if I could time my meal closer to my workout.

[Barkadion]

Thanks Mikhou, this is my biggest concern. I don't know what the latest science says but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing a hard workout in the morning and then not feeding for 6-7 hours. From what I understand it's important to take in nutrients closer to post-workout or catabolism sets in. I wouldn't worry about it if I could time my meal closer to my workout.

It can be done, though. That's what Martin Berkhan pointed out for LG folks. It would be bad choice of protocol for me personally. But hey.. I'm old dog anyway

http://www.leangains.com/2010/05/early- ... ining.html

"Here's a sample setup for a client that trains early in the morning and prefers the feeding phase at noon or later.

6 AM: 5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA.
6-7 AM: Training.
8 AM: 10 g BCAA.
10 AM: 10 g BCAA
12-1 PM: The "real" post-workout meal (largest meal of the day). Start of the 8 hour feeding-window.
8-9 PM: Last meal before the fast.

For the sake of convenience, I recommend getting BCAA in the form of powder and not tabs. Simply mix 30 g of BCAA powder in a shake and drink one third of it every other hour starting 5-15 minutes pre-workout. Tabs are cheaper, but much more of a hassle (you're going to have to pop a lot of tabs). Check my supplements guide for specific brand recommendations."