Fasting after Strength Training - PaleoHacks.com

Fasting after Strength Training

2010-04-13T11:31:27Z

Hi guys:

Does anybody know of any ill effects of fasting after strength training? I'm doing a 24 hr fast after a P90X strength training workout; will the fast slow down muscle repair?

Thanks, Chris D.

Answer by greg for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-04-13T12:01:38Z

from a paleo perspective it seems awkward. If our paleo ancestors just completed some major work either in the hunt or some sort of heavy lifting for construction it seems they would have either eaten their kill or had some sort of food after their trial.

Answer by Tim Rangitsch for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-04-13T13:00:16Z

Aaah, but then, our paleo ancestors may have worked their butts off and missed the beast, going all out to get food and failing! Then a fast was forced upon them!

I like the randomness of paleo, so I mix up fasting pre- and post- workouts.

Answer by Pieter D for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-04-13T13:20:41Z

I think Arthur De Vany talks about this. And if I'm correct, one of the main reasons to fast after the workout has to do with insulin (protein also causing an insulin spike), and insulin causing growth hormone levels to drop.

EDIT Just an addition: Mark Sisson has a post on post-workout fasting here http://www.marksdailyapple.com/post-workout-fasting/

hope this helps

Answer by Glenn for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-04-13T17:05:42Z

I always find that trying to answer questions like based on re-enactment theories is just too speculative.
From the point of view of biochemistry, it's quite difficult for the muscles to repair and rebuild themselves if they are deprived of nutrients after your workout. If you've burned up a good part of your glycogen stores and you don't replenish available amino acids, what are the muscles supposed to use for repair? I don't practice pre-workout fasting myself, but I can sort of see the logic. But fasting afterward doesn't really make sense to me.

Answer by LiveForIt for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-04-13T19:59:25Z

Rob Wolff talks a bit about this subject in his last few pod casts. If I quote him wrong, someone correct me.

-He is a fan of fasting, no more than 14-15 hours though during sessions. -He also mentions fasting after strength training maximizes HGH, testosterone levels. And I remember him saying that the body has plenty of "unused proteins" that can be easily recycled through various pathways to help regenerate muscle tissue after workouts.

I do forget though how long he advocated to fast after workouts, I want to say 1 or 2 hours? I could be getting him and Mark Sisson's view points confused to be honest. Will have to take some more time to organize those..

Answer by MikeD for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-04-13T19:59:55Z

I believe muscle recovery would be affected and would lead to poor performance on your next PX90 work out. You could help your recovery by having a bit of readily available protein like a whey shake right after (~30 min) your PX90 workout to help get some fuel in your body that could be converted to glycogen and aid in recovery... then i guess go on your fast from there. I probably would avoid another stressful workout till i was eating again or accept that I wont be doing max effort.

Answer by pjnoir for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-04-13T20:15:45Z

Yes, Art talks about this- but I take much of what he says lately with a grain of salt. He talks about waiting a FEW hours before protein to allow this hormone to kick in...but I thought I got better results with raw milk and whey after a SERIOUS workout. Its the only time I drink any milk is after this type of workout, its what milk does best.

Answer by CastorVC for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-12-07T20:01:39Z

I was researching this exact same things a few days ago and came across a "IF 101" post that breaks down the various methoodologies from the Warrior Diet and Leangains (Daily Fasting) and the 1-3x a week fasts that Eat Stop Eats recommends. It does a great job of explaining the benefits and downsides to each option and gives you enough information to determine which is the best route to go.

http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2008/02/27/intermittent-fasting-101-how-to-start-part-i/

I got to this from a great blog - http://eatsleepfast.blogspot.com/

Hopefully this helps, I can't begin to espouse the benefits as I am just starting to toy with with this.

Answer by Bruno for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-12-07T20:25:04Z

Try it and see how you feel. I, when the schedule doesn't allow or I just plain ol' forget, don't eat after a work out. Go to crossfit, shower, get to work, BAM, all of a sudden I remember I didn't eat anything. I'll usually try to work in some protein at that point, but I never feel fatigue or ill in the few hours after a WOD. Would I say there is a definite improvement or a definite drawback to not eating after a workout? Not in my personal experience, no.

Like I said, if you're curious about it, try it. That's what I like about Paleo and Crossfit, you get to test out what works best for YOU

Answer by James for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-12-09T00:50:12Z

My question is, what exactly is your goal? You're doing strength exercises (build muscle) but are fasting after (lose weight?). If it is to build muscle, I think you'd be sabotaging your efforts.

The general rule for bodybuilders is to get protein/carbs before and after workout to provide an abundant amount of resources to lift heavy and repair the damaged muscles as fast/optimally as possible.

Will you grow fasting after hard exercise? It's possible, although the general concern is after strenuous exercise, you're in a catabolic state and your body would break down your muscles to provide the amino acids to repair (counterproductive wouldn't you think?).

However, the general rule doesn't apply to everyone. People are different, and what I've seen from Robb Wolf and others is basically, get everything working right first with the standard methods that everyone understands. THEN start playing around with fasting and the like to see if you're body reacts positively to it. You need to stick with one method and understand how it works for you before you can compare other methods.

Answer by David Leitner for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-12-09T02:04:52Z

I experimented with fasting pre and post workout. I burned off fat like nobody's business, but I also lost more muscle than I would like. Now I usually fast pre, but always take whey post-workout and I feel and look much better.

Although realistically a hunter would sometimes miss a meal after a hard but fruitless hunt, I think it better to train as if you always get the prize.

Answer by gn for Fasting after Strength Training

2010-12-09T21:02:32Z

my understanding from what i've read is following: strenuous exercise uses muscle glycogen stores as a substrate to raise blood glucose levels and thus leads to a temporary physiological insulin resistance (body kind of feeds on itself), so therefore consuming anything right after work out is counterproductive or even deleterious (bg is already high so anything else that makes it even higher screws things up); besides, i don't about others' experience but if i had a really challenging work out, eating immediately afterward is the last thing i would think of - at least for an hour or two food seems even repulsive - and if you don't feel that way perhaps you should have tried harder, though

Answer by Jenna for Fasting after Strength Training

2012-04-13T14:14:38Z

While I am uncertain as to benefits of fasting either prior to or subsequent to workouts - I think the scientific evidence is not yet substantial enough to make a firm call on this - I find the idea that paleolithic man fasted on hunts has no scientific credibility -still less that this should be accepted as having any sort of long-term benefits to modern exercisers.