Background: I’ve been going down a long journey to lose 60 to 70kgs and currently 35kg from my heaviest.
I want to build the most amount of muscle possible while losing weight. This is obviously difficult since one needs a calorie surplus to gain muscle.
I currently train 3 times a week using a program from Jeff Nippard. I’m on a daily calorie deficit and do 16/8 IF.
Question:
Are there any studies that anyone knows of that would suggest eating at maintenance or just above on training days while being fully fasted on non training days is beneficial?
I know that weightlifting while fasting helps with muscle loss however what I’m looking at is different.
I also understand that 3 day or longer fasts can help with loose skin and this is another reason to do this regime since I’d get a 72+hour fast weekly.
I’ve had a look for studies online but either my Google magic is not great or there isn’t a lot of research yet.
Any help with regards to studies is appreciated.
I don’t have any particular studies that come to mind but just my general knowledge of how fasting works & having written many papers w/ tons of sources I put together + 4 years of experience doing this, it seems more practical to do it this way.
Human Growth hormone increases significantly, allowing you to preserve muscle the more that you fast. I also know that the less energy we expend, the less you’ll want to eat.
So, just to keep it super general w/o going too science-y, you should definitely fast longer or completely do a 24 hour fast during your rest days if you want to optimize muscle growth while staying as lean as possible.
Anabolism and catabolism isn’t strictly about calorie surplus/deficits. We don’t have “gas tanks” in our bodies. We have hormones, we dont burn food, we metabolize it.
That being said you can be anabolic and catabolic in the same day, under the right circumstances.
My approach to the whole fasting/work out for the past few years has been to do daily 18/6-20/4, with a few days in which I eat at the 14 hour mark to get in more proteins (usually boiled eggs).
I do sprint intervals 3 to 4 mornings and 2 hypertrophy workouts midday per week, all fasted. I usually eat an hour ish after hypertrophy work outs.
90% of what I eat is meat, eggs and cheese. The 10% left is my cheat meals and nuts as snacks.
My bench mark has been bench press, which went from 50 lbs dumbells to 70 lbs dumbells in that time frame.
There are numerous studies about it, feel free to msg me for more details.