IF and Strength Training

Kevin Anderson · 05-24-2007, 12:25 PM

Has anyone tried IF with a strength training program. All I do is olympic lift 5 days out of the week. I'm thinking about fasting a couple days a week on the days that I train. I tried it the other day and I felt good during the workout but the next day, which was also a workout day wasn't so good. I figure I will try fasting on the days I workout before a rest day which is twice a week. I'm concerned about not getting enough protein, losing strength and recovery but I figure I will experiment for a while and see what happens. The program, while the exercises have variety, is just too regular IMO. Training wise, I'm thinking about getting out and doing a little sprinting once a week as well as an extra easy workout in the early morning on training days followed by some foam roller work. If the backsquat starts to go down then I may have to abort. It will also be nice to lose the extra fat off my belly as well. I was eating just about as much as I could for a while and got up to about 195 but would cut down before meets (85KG). For the past several months though I've been at about 187 with a bit of extra fat on my belly. At peak Crossfit my weight was as low as 165 but settled at about 170, being pretty lean. I used to throw in a fast every week or so back then and I could remember my body feeling like it was kicking into overdrive. I'm thinking adding IF might help with recovery in general and those nagging aches and pains. If this is nonsense please let me know. I'm just trying to bust out of a rut.

Greg Battaglia · 05-24-2007, 03:43 PM

Hey Kevin! I think IF and weight training are a pretty awesome combo. I used to mess around with the Warrior/Paleo diet combined with O-lifting and some powerlifting and had great results. The cool part was that I increased my strength a lot, gained some solid dense muscle mass, and in the process managed to strip off some body fat. I looked lean and tough, and probably was too, lol. My met-cons weren't exactly the most impressive stuff at the time, but I was definitely lean and healthy. My advice would be to black box it, if it works keep it, if not, toss it. You should try to lift during your fast, you'll benefit from the adrenal cortical response and probably be able to hit higher loads. One last thing I want to add is that you should definitely aim to rake in the calories when you do eat if you want to gain strength. Standard Paleo+IF+Strength work= Lean and Strong! Good luck, let me know how it goes.

Robb Wolf · 05-24-2007, 04:48 PM

Kevin-
Once you adapt it should go fine. I'm not sure one can achieve elite totals doign this...it might be advisable to down a bit of protein prior to training if you ar enot firing all cylynders. Just have to feel that out.

Steve Shafley · 05-24-2007, 04:50 PM

Yeah, what Robb says. You might want to chow on something like an apple and some meat an half hour to an hour before training. Some people just don't feel up to snuff training on empty.

Steve Liberati · 05-24-2007, 06:04 PM

Try taking 5g of of creatine pre and post-workout to boost your strength. Up your protein and glutamine as suggested. Not so sure about IF helping with recovery. In fact, I'd say the opposite is true. Food will assist with recovery, not lack of it. Looking at the BIG picture, IF adds a nice piece to the pie but let's not make it more than what it is. IF helping with pains and aches? I doubt it, but then again you don't know until you run through that mobile lab we all have at our disposal.

In short, experiment!

Mike ODonnell · 05-24-2007, 07:13 PM

L-Glutamine and amino acids should help reduce aches and pains....esp Leucine....

Quote:

People given 5.5 grams of BCAA either before or after performing 7 sets of 20 rep body weight squats had decreased levels of muscle soreness upon sitting and upon palpation for 5 days compared to those who did not receive any BCAAs.

Quote:

He found that even though blood amino acid levels were elevated 3 hours after a meal, protein synthesis had stopped. He hypothesizes that perhaps a spike in blood Leucine levels (via pure Leucine or BCAAs) could be used to kick start protein synthesis again.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do...dra?id=1581181

Kevin Anderson · 05-25-2007, 07:54 AM

I'm going to experiment. I just finished going through two years worth of olifting workouts. I also looked to see when I first posted on the WOD, which is what got me started down this road, which was Jan 2004. Interesting looking back. Only 33 comments that day.

I'm going to up my intake on the BCAA+Glutamine. I've been conservative with it since it is expensive. I may also try creatine again. I haven't taken it in a while. I will test out some fast and try to throw in a non-barbell workout a week. Looking back, there seems to be a pattern of PR's following weeks were I threw in an extra playful workout.

BTW, regarding IF...my mother is 58 and has been doing IF for the past several weeks at has seen great results. This is combined with her curves workouts. Pretty good combo I think for folks in that demographic looking to lose weight.

Thanks for the input.

-Ross Hunt · 05-25-2007, 10:44 AM

Kevin,

Please keep us updated. It sounds like I'm in precisely the same boat as you (XF------> Oly, ~5x/week), and I'd be very interested to know how well this works for a pure strength/ power athlete.

kevin mckay · 05-25-2007, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike ODonnell

L-Glutamine and amino acids should help reduce aches and pains....esp Leucine....

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do...dra?id=1581181

Although I seem to have more tendon issues I will try amino acids anybody have a product they recommend?

Jason Ackerman · 12-30-2007, 09:17 AM

I am new to IF'ing, have been doing it almost a week now.

How do you take your creatine/bcaas during a fast?