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I know guys on TRT dosage that have been able to drop fat while making reasonable gains using IF. Not sure if it would be worth it on cycle...guess it would depend on the cycle. And it still comes down to calories/food quality.
Why would it be?
I wouldn't say its optimal approach but as long as you get in those calories that's roughly what matters the most (caloric intake/energy balance).
Especially for some people it can be a very useful and successful diet trick.
I wouldn't say its optimal approach but as long as you get in those calories that's roughly what matters the most (caloric intake/energy balance).
Especially for some people it can be a very useful and successful diet trick.
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Well I've done this protocol for years in the past, and wrote many articles on this. IF works, and works even better on cycle, which kinda goes with most things.
I've went through contest prep on IF as well, and it worked remarkably well
intermittent fasting and prolonged fasting are different things based on the length you are fasting
they are tools you can use to improve gut health, autophagy, get rid of old muscle tissue, boost immune health, etc.
human beings and most all mammals fast naturally, feast or famine. it is how our stomachs were designed. we aren't designed to eat every 2 hours or count macros and calories to hit a target. we are SUPPOSED to cycle our macros and calories on a daily basis. some days we would get nothing, some days we would get a little, some days we would get lucky and kill a large animal and get a ton of them, etc etc.
those that choose to follow the bodybuilder diet of 6 meals a day every 2 hours blah blah blah SHOULD still be fasting atleast every 2 weeks to give their gut a break. otherwise you will struggle to absorb nutrients in the first place. 80% of people reading this thread are deficient in magnesium and zinc. guess what? no zinc = low testosterone. so yes gut health controls more than what people believe.
plus a prolong fast every 3-4 months will do a great job at killing off old muscle tissue so you can grow new ones. yes if you fast you will actually gain more muscle long term!
they are tools you can use to improve gut health, autophagy, get rid of old muscle tissue, boost immune health, etc.
human beings and most all mammals fast naturally, feast or famine. it is how our stomachs were designed. we aren't designed to eat every 2 hours or count macros and calories to hit a target. we are SUPPOSED to cycle our macros and calories on a daily basis. some days we would get nothing, some days we would get a little, some days we would get lucky and kill a large animal and get a ton of them, etc etc.
those that choose to follow the bodybuilder diet of 6 meals a day every 2 hours blah blah blah SHOULD still be fasting atleast every 2 weeks to give their gut a break. otherwise you will struggle to absorb nutrients in the first place. 80% of people reading this thread are deficient in magnesium and zinc. guess what? no zinc = low testosterone. so yes gut health controls more than what people believe.
plus a prolong fast every 3-4 months will do a great job at killing off old muscle tissue so you can grow new ones. yes if you fast you will actually gain more muscle long term!
personally, i cant do it whatsoever.. with the amounts of cardio i do, over 2 hours a day, its not something that i can do personally, HOWEVER, rick and steve both have had quite a bit of success with it and i would actually defer to them considering the amount of experience they have with it... although i know the diet extremely well, when you actually do it then it gives you the ability to give a personal feel for it that someone that has not cannot give
Thanks for the great info Stevesmi. I have used IF successfully in the past prior to TRT and now I am in a situation where I need to drop 10-13% bodyfat so I think I am going to start back up. It also fits my busy lifestyle perfectly whereas the bodybuilder eating style (every 2-3 hours) is a real challenge for me.
I've found that an 18 hour fast and 6 hour feast works best for me. When I was on IF previously I worked out in the early afternoon so my feasting window started right afterwards. Now I work out first thing in the morning and I'm not sure I can wait hours to eat after hitting the gym hard, especially on days when I do HIIT after lifting. So timing could be more challenging.
I also used to fast for 24-36 hours a couple times a month.
I've found that an 18 hour fast and 6 hour feast works best for me. When I was on IF previously I worked out in the early afternoon so my feasting window started right afterwards. Now I work out first thing in the morning and I'm not sure I can wait hours to eat after hitting the gym hard, especially on days when I do HIIT after lifting. So timing could be more challenging.
I also used to fast for 24-36 hours a couple times a month.
^^I actually do a 4 hour feast per day typically 3-4X per week.. so 20 hours fasting.. once a week I eat at about 8am.. and then the other 1-2X per week it is usually a noon time feeding
once you hit 16 hours is when the autophagy kicks in so you want to hit that here and there
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i highly recommend you atleast do a 24 hour fast every 2-4 weeks to give your gut a break from digesting all day and everyday. plus you will have 8 hours of autophagy which will destroy old cells so your body can create new ones. i used to have your same attitude of 'fasting is dumb'.. until i started doing it and realized how i was able to take my shit to another level doing it. i've read your prior posts how you said you can't go 2-3 hours without food. that is a red flag that you are insulin resistant and that needs to be taken care of before you end up just like 30% of americans as a type 2 diabetic. you need to get that insulin down and glucagon up
once you hit 16 hours is when the autophagy kicks in so you want to hit that here and there
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i highly recommend you atleast do a 24 hour fast every 2-4 weeks to give your gut a break from digesting all day and everyday. plus you will have 8 hours of autophagy which will destroy old cells so your body can create new ones. i used to have your same attitude of 'fasting is dumb'.. until i started doing it and realized how i was able to take my shit to another level doing it. i've read your prior posts how you said you can't go 2-3 hours without food. that is a red flag that you are insulin resistant and that needs to be taken care of before you end up just like 30% of americans as a type 2 diabetic. you need to get that insulin down and glucagon up
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I do agree with you that I have some insulin issues attributed to Tren, Deca, and HGH. Never had these issues until I've used these compounds. The one thing that's confusing to me is when I check my BG it's always normal. I do get very sleepy after a carb meal and I crave sugar throughout the day. I get hungry again 1.5 hours after I eat when I have an insulin spike. Uncontrollable hunger with hunger pains. If I'm cruising on TRT it's not as dramatic.
I don't think fasting is dumb I just never had an interest.
more than therapeutic HGH and tren will def boost your insulin resistance unfortunately.. just the nature of how they work. i went through the same thing myself.. i would never tell anyone to fast while on tren, it would be a living hell cause the hypo symptoms would be a killer.
the thing with insulin resistance is it shows its ugly head slowly overtime. basically you are training your body to move that direction, kind of the gears of an engine turn more and more. so what happens is it will slap you in the face literally overnight. a red flag is always if you are able to go the day without food or not. remember the more often you eat, the more insulin spikes you will get so you are keeping those levels elevated too long.. so you train your body to be insulin resistant over time. this can be covered up based on the way we exercise and eating healthier foods. but in the end it still will catch up to you
i'm not telling you guys that eating the 6X a day thing is wrong or that it won't build you more mass over time, because it will.. heck rich piana used to eat 10X a day. but it isn't healthy #1 and also you guys have to factor in gut health which is something hidden. some of the biggest and muscular dudes out there have the sickest gut health you can imagine. and that is from not giving their digestive system a break. it isn't normal to eat 6 meals a day and only have 2 bowel movements. 6 meals should be 6 bowel movements, but that is what we see all the time. and constipation is becoming so common there are commercials for meds to treat it all the time. we are destroying out gut health which means you simply won't be able to absorb minerals like Zinc and magnesium. low zinc= low testosterone. that is one of the biggest reasons more and more guys need TRT so young these days. it is our eating habits
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