Intermittent Fasting (or feasting)

[TheFuzz1290]

I've looked for answers on this and found several contradicting posts on various message boards (here, bb.com, crossfit, etc.) and looking for a legit strength coach's opinion.

I'm 30 years old, 5'10" and 210lbs, with about 30% bodyfat (might be in the high 20s due to genetics "blessing" me with carrying most of my fat in my torso). I read the "Clarification" pdf and been trying to keep my calories around 3500 a day, not totally clean eating, but much better than it used to be. At this time, I don't care about looking pretty, nor do I care about being a competitive power lifter, however I do want to get bigger and stronger.

That being said, what are your opinions on intermittent fasting (1 fasting day after 2 feasting days) or intermittent feasting (eating all calories in a 6-8 hour window) to drop some bodyfat to around 15%, then start the recommended bulk of 5000 calories to bulk?

Thanks in advance!

[Mark Rippetoe]

I wouldn't do it, at all. Why don't you just stick with the program and let it work? How long have you been training?

[TheFuzz1290]

I'm restarting after 5 years off due to life and laziness, so 6 months or so, but prior to that I had 5 years of lifting experience (3 years dicking around with magazine workouts and 2 of which heavy lifting, but more of a bodybuilder program...though I did squat and deadlift).

I'm a police officer and I'm trying to make the workout program work with my work schedule...12 hour shifts, overnights, 5 days on 2 days off one week, and opposite the next week. My short week I have no issues with recovery, but my 2nd week to workout I'd sacrifice what little sleep I get, which would hurt my recovery and just make me irratable. The diet is my main issue, I like to eat junk. Its a work in progress, but I'm learning a ton from your website and books!

Thanks again!

[Mark E. Hurling]

TheFuzz. How retro. That was going out of style even in the 70's when I took up vows in The Blue Religion. Good to see antiquated slang kept alive for us geezers. Maynard G. Krebs is smiling at us from whatever reward he got in the afterlife.

[Carlos Daniel]

There are a lot of IF protocols out there, but I think the ones that include a 24 h fasting are the worse when it comes to lifting recovery. John Berardi did an experiment on himself, he tested pretty much all the IF diets out there on himself for various amounts of time, look it up. Having a 6-8 hour feeding window works ok, but I think a novice probably has more important things to focus on and a fat novice should learn to eat a little better first and doing more advanced stuff later.

[tertius]

Quit eating junk.

Eat quality calories, sleep as much as you can with your rotation, and lift. If you need to go slower because of your schedule, such is life. As Rip likes to say, you get strong be recovering from lifting heavy shit. Anyway, there are enough irritable cops in the world already, and you're not lifting for the short term, right?

Your body fat issue will take care of itself if you do this, and when you start to stall out after some recomp, add in the milk, and titrate to effect.

[The Emancipated Freak]

Look, if you want to shed some fat than simple carb manipulation is the way to go.

[iamgmo]

listen to Coach Rip... i've lost weight several times before, without getting strong, and what a waste of time that was... if i'd known the SS program back then, i'd gotten a lot more bang for my buck.

[LudwigVan]

When and how frequently you eat matters little compared to what you're eating and how much.

[adnscmplx]

IF is great. I have been doing 16-8 for a little over a year.

I wouldn't do the aggressive bulking and cutting and eating 5k every day will make you super fat in addition to strong. Also, IMO, 3500 calories every day is too much if you are trying to lose fat. Check out IF calculator (google it) or better yet just hire a coach to lay out all the basics of your diet and training for you.