Fasting: Why?

September 2nd, 2008 · No Comments · Intermittent Fasting

Those who've followed my path from the beginning know that things really accelerated for me when I incorporated intermittent fasting back around the beginning of the year. To my surprise, it not only accelerated the fat loss, but also the muscle and strength gains.

I still read so much stuff out there that talks about many small meals per day, never skip, eat a hearty breakfast, make sure to eat before and after a workout, and on and on. Many of these sources of info get it largely right otherwise, i.e., they are into the brief and intense workout, limiting aerobics (in favor of intervals or sprints), getting off the processed junk (non-food), and so on.

So, I think the area of fasting for fat loss (and even muscle gain) is the area of the whole fitness picture that really needs serious attention.

But what if you're already lean, or, maybe skinny fat, which is someone who appears skinny and trim, but is still fat, which I personally consider to be anyone over 10-13% BF for a male or 15-17% for a female. Admission: I'm still too fat, but I'm getting there.

If you're lean, you can actually use fasting to help build muscle. Fasting promotes the realease of growth hormone (as does intense resistance training, sprinting, and sleep). Combine fasting with your workouts and great sleep and you stack the deck. But there are lots of other health benefits as well, which only makes perfect sense if you consider the millions of years of evolution where we usually didn't eat three squares per day.

Over at Modern Forager, Scott Kustes has done a fabulous job in a six-part series on what happens to your body when you fast. All the links to the previous five parts are there. I highly recommend you take the time to really dig in.