If you can make progress in the gym go for it. Typically, people who train get hungry and/or struggle with workouts with this approach.
Hey Robert,
Is there any utility to eating two very large meals per day, with no food in between?
Schedule-wise, this would really be a time-saver. I heard about this strategy on a recent Joe Rogan podcast. The funny thing is that in my teens, my appetite was so meager that I would never get in enough calories on two meals. Now, at 30, I can eat much more in a given sitting - more akin to what my peers were eating when I was younger (and envious of their appetites'!).
Can you briefly detail the pros and cons of an approach like this? In case it matters, I'm an intermediate using appropriate lifting programming and trying to cleanly gain some weight and push my lifts up. Male, ~200 lbs right now at ~5'8".
Thank you,
If you can make progress in the gym go for it. Typically, people who train get hungry and/or struggle with workouts with this approach.
I've only been eating 3 days a week and I have no issues training fasted. It all seems like a big meme. We evolved to fast. This whole thing with people passing out lifting who haven't eaten carbs seems like a meme too.
Lifts?
You don't pass out lifting if you're underfed, but your weights are never what they could be. I have personally observed differences in ability to lift just by doing something as simple as eating a potato the night before while I was on a deep deficit diet. You also need an energy surplus of some kind to get the body to build muscle. Unless you have big fat deposits to work with, this will have to come from your food. Even guys who use steroids need an energy surplus to grow.
Bodybuilders in competition. I don’t know about passing out but their strength cut in half the day of meet is probably true.
It is also probably true that elite marathoners don’t fast before events, don’t eat “keto”, and, in fact, suck down sugar goop during the event.
We did not evolve to fast. We evolved to survive starvation conditions as well as eating in surplus when possible.
Dr. Santana will set you straight soon enough, but he is polite and professional. I am not.
I'm squatting in the mid 500s, deadlifting in the mid 600s, press lower 200s, bench 300.
I've been fasting for health reasons, not weight loss. I'm doing my best to maintain weight. I fully expected my lifting to go to shit, but it hasn't happened. Even though my stomach feels empty which gives me a feeling of weakness, my performance has not reflected that feeling.
Are taking any "supplements?" Not that this can't be accomplished without, but this is an important variable so let's fully disclose things here so we aren't bullshitting those who aren't.
No, I've never taken any PEDs. I'm surprised you asked, my upperbody lifts are mediocre at best for the amount of time I've been training. And I should be clear -- I've only been doing fasts for 3 weeks now. But so far, to my surprise, I've been able to do my workouts without issue, even if I haven't eaten in 48 hours and at the end of an 8 hour work day. I keep my lower body volume to a minimum (and always have), which might be relevant.