Anybody else skeptical about fasting diets?

[punkguitarist]

There's been a lot of articles recently on Stronglifts aboutintermittent fasting and not needing to eat breakfast. But I have yet to see anyone who is very strong/big reccomend any of these techniques. Most posts I've read on other forums from people who bench 300+ Squat 400+ and Deadlift 500 + all seem to advocate heavy eating and heavy protein intake. Most also recommend a lot more protein than the 80-120g that the Brad Pilon from eat stop eat recommends.

Has anyone used intermittent fasting that has actually gotten to a respectable level of strength?

[SUseb]

If you fast (but still eat enough protein) you're trying to find a balance between gaining strength and fatloss. Shoving as much food and protein as you can down your throat will ofcourse be better for building muscle, but you'll also gain fat. That's kinda what I've understood.

[knoted]

Intermittent fasting is a fairly new thing from what I understand. At least, the studies that show it can be quite good are. Most of the guys with decent numbers advocate heavy eating because that is what they used, not because it is the best / only way.

[l1n3n01z]

It's all a matter of context, right. GOMAD is a way to put on weight. Intermittent fasting is a way to get rid of weight. 8 nutrition rules apply in most cases. Your mileage may vary.

[pvcpeterson]

But I have yet to see anyone who is very strong/big reccomend any of these techniques.

http://leangains.blogspot.com/search/la ... sformation

I don't know, would you consider that fellow big?

He seems pretty strong; deadlifting 595, squatting 385 lbs, does chin-ups with 100 lb weights + bodyweight.

Maybe not elite powerlifting levels, but very respectable.

I have nothing at stake in regard to the Intermittent Fasting controversy. Maybe it is equal to any other eating strategy, maybe it is inferior, I don't know. I just started trying it yesterday. I'm going to give it one month, and see how I like it. If my strength continues to go up, fat loss continues, and I don't have to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, then I am sold. I hate having to plan my entire day around making my meals...such a waste of time.

[pvcpeterson]

Sorry, forgot to mention, the fellow who advocates IF is Martin Berkhan, his pic is on the right hand side, not too far from the top of the page.

[Sam277]

Every single successful athlete, ever, in all physical sports, has eaten properly, ie constant even spread throughout the day. And i'm not going to fix something that's not broken. With a sponge. But that's looking at it from a performance front.

From what i've heard, it's pretty good for dieting. Whether it's the best even for this, well i'm skeptical.

[Mehdi]

There's been a lot of articles recently on Stronglifts about intermediate fasting and not needing to eat breakfast. But I have yet to see anyone who is very strong/big reccomend any of these techniques. Most posts I've read on other forums from people who bench 300+ Squat 400+ and Deadlift 500 + all seem to advocate heavy eating and heavy protein intake. Most also recommend a lot more protein than the 80-120g that the Brad Pilon from eat stop eat recommends.

Has anyone used intermediate fasting that has actually gotten to a respectable level of strength?

Martin Berkhan (from leangains.com, father of intermittent fasting) deadlifting 270kgx3. If I remember he did this in a fasted state.



Check his stats (not up to date, probably lifts more now): http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/MartinBerkhan/

[Mehdi]

Every single successful athlete, ever, in all physical sports, has eaten properly, ie constant even spread throughout the day. And i'm not going to fix something that's not broken. With a sponge. But that's looking at it from a performance front.

From what i've heard, it's pretty good for dieting. Whether it's the best even for this, well i'm skeptical.

Top athletes/bodybuilders/powerlifters/olympic lifters often use drugs. Maybe it works better for them because of their supplement use. I train natural. I'm not noticing any difference. My life is easier, less cooking, no more cravings, no more hunger, more productivity, strength keeps increasing, etc. I'd like to give you a reason not to do it, but I can't. I even think you could gain weight with it (assuming you're past the hardgainer stage).

[Psilomadman]

If you want to get "Big" as in add significant mass, you probably dont want to use IF. Even Martin at Leangains acknowledges that for mass building its probably not the best route as you simply have a hard time getting your surplus calories in in a shortened eating window. If you simply want to get stronger and are content to add weight slowly IF could easily work because no matter how you eat it still comes down to calories consumed vs. calories burned. That is the bottom line. IF is a good way to drop fat and stay lean or maintain without stressing as much over diet. Look at Michael Phelps who is shredded yet consumes 10,000 calories a day or so. If you can burn them you can eat them. It all comes down to what works for you, IF is just another aproach that works, but there is absolutely no reason to do it if your happy with what you're currently doing.

[vhalros]

I share your scepticism. To me, it sounds like a bunch of pseudo-scientific nonsense, like about 90% of all dietary advice. But hey, for some people and some goals it may work, and the allure of having to cook and eat less is certainly there.

[Mehdi]

I share your scepticism. To me, it sounds like a bunch of pseudo-scientific nonsense, like about 90% of all dietary advice. But hey, for some people and some goals it may work, and the allure of having to cook and eat less is certainly there.

Isn't most of the stuff recommended on this site (lift heavy stuff, focus on strength, progressive loading, high protein, low carb, eat fats, gomad, ... ) against 90% of what most people do out there? I don't get how you can be open-minded with that, but sceptic with this. Are you sceptic enough to question your own beliefs?

I'm highly interested in explanation of why you think it's nonsense. Any feedback is helpful. Without explanation on why you think it's nonsense, the only thing I'm reading is that you're close-minded and that isn't adding any value.

Here's one reason not to do it: because you're too lazy too cook. You learn to eat healthy in the first place vs. doing this because you're lazy. Not that you can't learn eating healthy with this approach, but I feel it's better to do regular stuff first.

[hardestgainer]

Isn't most of the stuff recommended on this site (lift heavy stuff, focus on strength, progressive loading, high protein, low carb, eat fats, gomad, ... ) against 90% of what most people do out there? I don't get how you can be open-minded with that, but sceptic with this. Are you sceptic enough to question your own beliefs?

People believe that stuff because what they were doing before wasn't working and tried new methods because they had nothing to lose. This is more counterintuitive than other things.

[Mehdi]

Isn't most of the stuff recommended on this site (lift heavy stuff, focus on strength, progressive loading, high protein, low carb, eat fats, gomad, ... ) against 90% of what most people do out there? I don't get how you can be open-minded with that, but sceptic with this. Are you sceptic enough to question your own beliefs?

People believe that stuff because what they were doing before wasn't working and tried new methods because they had nothing to lose. This is more counterintuitive than other things.

Are you saying you automatically decide something doesn't work because it's counter-intuitive?

Please explain where your thinking/decision process comes from, trying to understand.

[hardestgainer]

I'll try this then, you can find evidence (TV online etc) of people who train hard with compound movements demonstrating their strength. You even see Documentaries about their diets and training, and fasting isn't mentioned very often.

I'm not necessarily against it, I've always been skinny and I'd have to be pretty worried about my bodyfat levels to want to try fasting.

The other thing that might put people off is the sad stories of anorexics. I know this is different from going days without eating, but people could end up thinking this is a slippery slope.