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IF...Lean Gains for DAYS???

emileesudweek
emileesudweek Posts: 11 Member
in Debate Club
How do you guys feel about intermittent fasting? I've been doing it for a couple weeks and really like it, it certainly isn't "melting off" yet, but I've dropped a few pounds. If I work out at 6 am, go to work at 8-5 and my eating window is from 1-9, am I working out for no reason? I definitely am pretty hungry by 1 o clock. just wondering if i'm totally screwing myself by having protein that long after I work out. I also usually rock climb for a couple hours during my eating window which is supplemented w protein afterwards.

just wanna know your guys thoughts.

Replies

  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    IF is just an eating window for you, you can set it however you want, so if you feel you'll do better if you eat shortly after working out, shift the window accordingly. In the end it's not magic either way just a way of partitioning your daily calories.
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    Not sure this is a debate, there's a group here.....
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/49-intermittent-fasting
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    If the real debate is "Does nutrient timing matter for the average person," no, it doesn't. Hitting a daily protein target is much more important, and you will still see benefits even if your intake is later in the day. However, if your performance or recovery is being impacted, it could be helpful to shift your eating window up a few hours.

    My views on IF: I get too hungry and cranky for it to be something I can personally stick with. Other people swear by it. Do what works for you.
  • cprovenghi
    cprovenghi Posts: 118 Member
    I read somewhere that It's best to take your protein within an hour of weight training to effectively aid in muscle repair.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    Do you have BCAAs with your workout? I do IF lean gains style with the exact same eating window as you. I workout either mornings or lunch time. When I workout fasted I always have BCAAs. That's what is recommended.

    Also there's nothing magical about IF that will cause fat to melt off you. Ii's just a convenient way of eating that might help you to stay in a deficit.

    Copied from the lean gains website

    Early morning fasted training

    Here's a sample setup for a client that trains early in the morning and prefers the feeding phase at noon or later. Read this for details regarding this protocol.

    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.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    Nutrient timing has a tiny effect which for most people with regular fitness/strength/body composition goals makes it irrelevant. Focus on your entire diet and training performance.

    You certainly aren't "working out for no reason"!!!

    If you have lofty/extreme/advanced goals (elite or completion level) then worth bothering about to gain those last few percent. Otherwise don't stress about it.

    IF isn't a weight loss diet - it's just a different eating pattern. Your weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, the size of your deficit will have a much bigger impact than when you eat or train. If you have dropped "a few pounds" in a couple of weeks maybe you need to think if your speed of loss is appropriate to how much you have to lose?
  • Colt1835
    Colt1835 Posts: 447 Member
    cprovenghi wrote: »
    I read somewhere that It's best to take your protein within an hour of weight training to effectively aid in muscle repair.
    Must be true if you read it somewhere.
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    cprovenghi wrote: »
    I read somewhere that It's best to take your protein within an hour of weight training to effectively aid in muscle repair.

    This was conventional wisdom through the 2000s, but additional research in the past few years has found the anabolic window can last 4-6 hours around working out, and that for most people hitting their daily protein target had the biggest impact. If the goal is gaining muscle mass and you're working out in a fasted state (like the OP), then eating right after a workout can be important. But since the OP is currently trying to lose weight rather than gain mass, nutrient timing shouldn't impact her goals significantly. That said, if she finds she's not recovering well, she should shift her eating window or look into supplementing.

    If you're interested, here's a couple of studies done by Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld:

    http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-10-53
    "Perceived hypertrophic benefits seen in timing studies appear to be the result of an increased consumption of protein as opposed to temporal factors. In our reduced model, the amount of protein consumed was highly and significantly associated with hypertrophic gains. In fact, the reduced model revealed that total protein intake was by far the most important predictor of hypertrophy ES, with a ~0.2 increase in ES noted for every 0.5 g/kg increase in protein ingestion. While there is undoubtedly an upper threshold to this correlation, these findings underscore the importance of consuming higher amounts of protein when the goal is to maximize exercise-induced increases in muscle mass. Conversely, total protein intake did not have an impact on strength outcomes and ultimately was factored out during the model reduction process."

    https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-10-5
    "Despite claims that immediate post-exercise nutritional intake is essential to maximize hypertrophic gains, evidence-based support for such an “anabolic window of opportunity” is far from definitive. The hypothesis is based largely on the pre-supposition that training is carried out in a fasted state. During fasted exercise, a concomitant increase in muscle protein breakdown causes the pre-exercise net negative amino acid balance to persist in the post-exercise period despite training-induced increases in muscle protein synthesis [36]. Thus, in the case of resistance training after an overnight fast, it would make sense to provide immediate nutritional intervention--ideally in the form of a combination of protein and carbohydrate--for the purposes of promoting muscle protein synthesis and reducing proteolysis, thereby switching a net catabolic state into an anabolic one. Over a chronic period, this tactic could conceivably lead cumulatively to an increased rate of gains in muscle mass.
    ...
    Due to the transient anabolic impact of a protein-rich meal and its potential synergy with the trained state, pre- and post-exercise meals should not be separated by more than approximately 3–4 hours, given a typical resistance training bout lasting 45–90 minutes. If protein is delivered within particularly large mixed-meals (which are inherently more anticatabolic), a case can be made for lengthening the interval to 5–6 hours. This strategy covers the hypothetical timing benefits while allowing significant flexibility in the length of the feeding windows before and after training. Specific timing within this general framework would vary depending on individual preference and tolerance, as well as exercise duration."

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