Hey everyone!
Lately I’ve been reading up on fasting (IF mostly) and am thinking about going 16/8 and skipping breakfast. I am an athletic built 26yo male, 1,8m(6 ft) length and weigh 72kg(158lbs). The thing is, I’d rather not lose any weight. I am actually trying to maintain or even gain muscle mass by working out regularly, mostly by lifting weights and running. Would the fasting lifestyle even work for me? I really hope it does because I have read about some amazing benefits like increased focus and energy levels.
Also, I like to start the day off with a morning run for 15-30 minutes. Can I keep doing this while fasting? Obviously I will probably feel bad the first few days but does this get better?
And is it important I drink anything else than water during fasting? I’ve seen alot of people recommend electrolytes but do I need to implement them during my fast or is the 8-hour period enough to stack up on them and do you have any tips for this?
A lot of questions, I know, sorry! I am just really eager to get into this but have always been a little scared to take the plunge.
Many people don’t eat breakfast. If you don’t want to lose weight bump up your caloric intake.
You should be perfectly fine running, your system already has a reserve of glycogen that it can tap. If you are trying to improve on your speed or want to do hills it will have an impact as the more fuel that is readily available the better, but it would not be a show stopper. Lack of nutrients after a hard run also hinders recovery slightly.
Hey bud, check these guys out. They aren’t huge proponents of fasting but this video seems to answer your question. I’d say if you’re lifting 1 x 36/48 hour fast every week or fortnight wouldn’t do you any harm and you’d see some of the fasting health benefits touted while still being able to gain muscle with a smart resistance training program doing this as long as you’re eating slightly over your maintenance calories over the week as a whole (eat more on your eating days maybe aiming for the higher end of the spectrum of grams of protein, say 1g/lb+ of bodyweight as opposed to 1g/lb of lean body mass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HLD7SafCsk
TL;DW Both dudes are big and strong and advocate for 1 x 24 hour fast a week sometimes and advise their clients to do it (even competitive bodybuilders) to re-calibrate their relationship with eating.
edit: or just go for the 16/8 or 18/6 every day approach and get enough protein/fat in your window in which case you’d likely be fine with the usual recommendation of 1g protein per lb of lean body mass. From what I’ve read/watched recently the higher protein intake is generally advised for those cutting and trying to preserve muscle mass.
Try full on fasting to cut the fat off. No intense exercise for 2 weeks of water fasting. You will lose more fat than muscle and because you haven’t damaged any muscle with intense exercise, you will maintain similar muscle density. Then. When you acclimate back to eating, you can do your exercise and consume those proteins to repair the damaged muscles so they can grow bigger. You will be leaner than ever basically with the least amount of effort required.