16:8 Diet for Muscle Building

xavi0teddy

Hi,

I have just started the 16:8 diet and my main goal is gain lean muscle. I'm two days in and during my daily 8hr fast I'm only eating lean foods and vegetables with the calorie count of 2,600 calories.

My question is should I be doing the 16:8 diet if I wish to gain muscle mass?

TavistockToad

IF is an eating style that's all.

To gain weight you just need a calorie surplus.

sijomial

Meal timing has minimal impact beyond personal preference making adherence to your overall eating goals easier or harder.

trigden1991

Calories are king. Many bodybuilders use IF and gain muscle.

PPumpItUp

If you want to gain muscle you need to have a high protein intake 1g-1.2g/lbs and have a good resistance training program. Get a personal trainer or join a class if you need help with this aspect.

It is hard to get in many calories from healthy food in an 8 hour feeding window. If you do not care about gaining fat you can put yourself on a large calorie surplus. If you do not want to gain fat stick to around maintenance calories, but remember, keep your protein high.

Also, you are not able to fully utilize protein synthesis if you only eat 8 hours out of the day. To trigger protein synthesis you need 2.5g-3g of leucine with a minimum of .24g and up to .4g/body weight in kg of protein during the meal. During protein synthesis your ATP eventually runs out ending the protein synthesis and then the cells need to recharge. This typically take somewhere around 3 hours but the time varies. At this time your body is ready for another dose of leucine and protein.

Rammer123

I think for MAXIMUM efficiency, eating throughout the day would be best. When I have done that, I have had noticeably more success with muscle building compared to doing IF. Keeping within the same calorie surplus, I have built more strength and mass eating smaller meals throughout the day. It still always feels uncomfortable for me to eat first thing in the morning especially if I haven't been. I prefer the IF eating protocol in terms of size of meals and eating later in the day is just better for me, but I do see more success eating more meals.

If you're relatively new to weight training and ENJOY the 16:8 protocol, then do it, you'll still gain plenty of muscle and do just fine, but that's what I have found for me.

Rusty740

RAD_Fitness wrote: »

I think for MAXIMUM efficiency, eating throughout the day would be best. When I have done that, I have had noticeably more success with muscle building compared to doing IF. Keeping within the same calorie surplus, I have built more strength and mass eating smaller meals throughout the day. It still always feels uncomfortable for me to eat first thing in the morning especially if I haven't been. I prefer the IF eating protocol in terms of size of meals and eating later in the day is just better for me, but I do see more success eating more meals.

If you're relatively new to weight training and ENJOY the 16:8 protocol, then do it, you'll still gain plenty of muscle and do just fine, but that's what I have found for me.

^this,

Same for me. I've done both, gained better, and had more in me to lift heavy when I was eating throughout the day. Anecdotal I know, but still input I guess.

xavi0teddy

Cheers everyone for the advice! I going to stick with the 18:6 for a month and see if the fasting is effective in gaining mass. If not then i'll revert back to eating at normal times and compare the results.

Just to clarify I am lifting weights for 45mins - 1 hr three times a week and one day of cardio for 1hr.

rybo

Bro-scienec is strong in this thread.

mmapags

rybo wrote: »

Bro-scienec is strong in this thread.

Quite! OP, IF won't have any impact on gaining mass. None at all. As other have said, calorie surplus is the thing. You didn't seem to pay attention to them though.

ndj1979

xavi0teddy wrote: »

Cheers everyone for the advice! I going to stick with the 18:6 for a month and see if the fasting is effective in gaining mass. If not then i'll revert back to eating at normal times and compare the results.

Just to clarify I am lifting weights for 45mins - 1 hr three times a week and one day of cardio for 1hr.

one month is not effective to measure anything ..

if you want to gain mass ...then you need a calorie surplus + structured lifting program + micro/macro adherence...

JimmyRay_Phi

If you're trying to gain lean muscle mass you need to increase your calorie intake with a focus on protein and carbs (complex carbs) IF is simply an eating style.

xavi0teddy

Hi all,

I am taking into consideration my macros (carb 45%, Protein 40% and fat 15%) and having a structured lifting program. Regards to the calorie surplus i'm struggling with eating 3,850 calories per day due to the fact that I'm used to only eating under 2,000 calories. The maximum I can currently eat is 2,600 which is my TDEE maintenance amount. Is it possible to still build muscle on the maintenance amount?

On a side note, I go to a Spinning class for 45 minutes every week. Will this exercise affect my muscle gain but burning calories that wont be replaced by eating?

livingleanlivingclean

xavi0teddy wrote: »

Hi all,

I am taking into consideration my macros (carb 45%, Protein 40% and fat 15%) and having a structured lifting program. Regards to the calorie surplus i'm struggling with eating 3,850 calories per day due to the fact that I'm used to only eating under 2,000 calories. The maximum I can currently eat is 2,600 which is my TDEE maintenance amount. Is it possible to still build muscle on the maintenance amount?

On a side note, I go to a Spinning class for 45 minutes every week. Will this exercise affect my muscle gain but burning calories that wont be replaced by eating?

If you're struggling to eat enough calories, and your goal is to build muscle (which requires a calorie surplus), why would you consider IF when it's only restricting the time you allow yourself to eat? Surely eating all day would enable you to eat more calories? doing IF just seems counterintuitive to me in this situation

dhimaan

You are overcomplicating things. Go back to the thread and read what people wrote about deficits and surpluses. There is no 'maximum' amount you can eat. If you are trying to build muscle you need to be in a surplus. Doesn't matter if it is IF, 6 meals a day or whatever the feeding structure is.

psuLemon

xavi0teddy wrote: »

Hi all,

I am taking into consideration my macros (carb 45%, Protein 40% and fat 15%) and having a structured lifting program. Regards to the calorie surplus i'm struggling with eating 3,850 calories per day due to the fact that I'm used to only eating under 2,000 calories. The maximum I can currently eat is 2,600 which is my TDEE maintenance amount. Is it possible to still build muscle on the maintenance amount?

On a side note, I go to a Spinning class for 45 minutes every week. Will this exercise affect my muscle gain but burning calories that wont be replaced by eating?

If your maintenance is 2600, why are you trying to eat 3850? Are you trying to get fat? If your real maintenance is 2600, eating 2850-3000 calories. That is how you gain muscle while limiting fat.