It’s demonstrated that doing exercise fasted is beneficial, however is not clear to me how to combine muscle building with prolonged fasting.
Suppose I fast 72h and then do gym, the problem is that from one side is suggested not to break fast with heavy and big meals the first hours/day but from the other side is suggested that to take advantage of the anabolic window you should eat surplus calories and carbs after working out in the first hours/day, that’s in contradiction.
Any advice? Thanks
I definitely wouldn’t fast 72 hours and go to the gym - anything longer than a 15-20 hour fast will have your body very low on glycogen (muscle and liver stored glucose that you use to move) and with low blood pressure, it’d be pointless/dangerous to get a good, heavy lifting session at this point.
If you want to fast for 72 hours, do so and break your fast before going to the gym. Break your fast with something easy to digest, like a banana and oats or some eggs.
If you want to work out fasted, start with a shorter fast of 16-20 hours
My experience on a 5 day fast where I went to the gym twice and went rock climbing twice was that there was no big issue. I ate what I felt comfortable with afterwards, aiming for high protein and lowish carbs. Take it slow, you’ll be fine.
Isn’t it protein after you lift to help rebuild the muscle, so have a protein shake, which will help ease you back into solids? Not sure if you are aware but there is also “Protein2O,” which is 60 calories, 1 g of carbs and 15 g of protein. I guess it really depends what your end goal is as to it being body recomposition or Autophagy as to how strict a fast you do.