Fasting and athletic performance -
A release in Growth Hormone is part of the process that signals our body to use the stored energy. There is a plethora of literature to support that incorporating regular energy and protein evenly spaced throughout the day will maximize muscle growth and repair.
This means that consuming food with adequate protein 3 to 4 times per day will stimulate more muscle growth than consuming the same amount of total protein 1 to 2 times per day. Some of the literature looking at changes in muscle mass and resistance training with IF strategies found that the incorporation of fasting did not result in muscle losses.
The absence of muscle loss is not synonymous with maximizing muscle gain! Plus, the caloric surplus and elevated protein needs required to maximize muscle hypertrophy growth would be hard to accommodate with a fasting strategy since the food is eaten throughout a shorter window of time.
One small study evaluated body composition changes in eight lean men doing 20 hour fasts, every other day for two weeks. Results of the study showed no muscle breakdown.
One interesting point to note is the participants were men who normally exercised less than three times per week, which is minimal exercise. The authors did address that the short duration of the study may also not have been enough time to see changes in muscle.
Another interesting result from this study was a slowing in resting metabolic rate in the fasted men. While looking at longer term fasting would be more insightful to evaluate changes, most of the literature looking at body composition changes looks at short-term fasting.
Based on current literature, IF will not improve athletic performance in both endurance and high intensity exercise. It will not provide enhanced recovery or maximize muscle growth. It also does not increase metabolic rate, rather multiple studies suggest it slows metabolic rate.
Fasting may help with fat adaptation, which could be beneficial for endurance athletes, but literature is still unclear if it actually helps improve athletic performance. Additionally, given the high energy output of many athletes, IF could cause under-eating, which is physiologically and psychologically detrimental.
Is this diet strategy unsettling to my relationship with food? Hayden is a board certified Sports Dietitian Nutritionist, runner, climber, and skier living in Salt Lake City. She owns Satiate Nutrition LLC, a sports nutrition and wellness company and social media platform.
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Get Started. The Gnarly System. Our Story. Our Athletes. Media Reviews. Find local retailer. Hayden James December 21, Does Intermittent Fasting Improve Athletic Performance?
What is Intermittent Fasting? Photo: Sav Cummins of Gnarly athlete Hayden Jamieson getting his Gnarly Vegan fix in the Wind River Range. Photo: Kevin McAvey. Is Intermittent Fasting Helpful for Athletic Performance?
What About Female Athletes? stay on top of your protein intake. Grab a tub of Gnarly Protein. Does fasting make me more fat adapted?
Photo: Jeremiah Watt. I heard Intermittent Fasting helps my body produce Growth Hormone, which will help me recover better and build more muscle. Is this true? stimulate your workouts. start scooping gnarly pre into your bottle. Bottom Line? Is this way of eating sustainable? Does this diet work with my lifestyle?
What is my gut telling me about this diet? works cited. Aziz AR, Che Muhamad AM, Roslan SR, Ghulam Mohamed N, Singh R, Chia MYH. Poorer Intermittent Sprints Performance in Ramadan-Fasted Muslim Footballers despite Controlling for Pre-Exercise Dietary Intake, Sleep and Training Load.
Sports Basel. Published Jan 6. Three Days of Intermittent Fasting: Repeated-Sprint Performance Decreased by Vertical-Stiffness Impairment. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. doi: Epub Aug PMID: While none of the health benefits have been duplicated in humans to date, the athletic benefits have been seen, though to a lesser degree and not in the ways one might expect.
In human trials, intermittent fasting may be a viable strategy for weight loss, but only for those who are very much overweight. Adults who are closer to their ideal weight do not seem to benefit. For active adults who are close to their ideal weight, intermittent fasting may even have negative effects.
One study showed that those who fasted did not add as much muscle mass as those who normally ate when both groups followed a structured strengthening program. With respect to performance in endurance sports, intermittent fasting does have an impact but possibly not in the way that athletes might hope.
Many studies have shown that athletes actually perform significantly worse when they train during a fasting period. This is not terribly surprising as the absence of readily available carbohydrates is sure to have an impact on performance.
When comparing performance in two groups of people after being fed, where one group has normally been eating, and the other was intermittently fasting, both groups performed comparably. However, the group that was fasting intermittently was making use of fats as their primary metabolic fuel, while the group that ate normally used carbohydrates.
This is very interesting, but given the absence of real performance benefits, one could wonder if it really matters. One thing about intermittent fasting, across all of the human trials that I reviewed for this article, was certain; it is not easy.
All of the studies on intermittent fasting report very high dropout rates. When asked why subjects would routinely say that the fasting protocol was simply too difficult to adhere to. In the end, intermittent fasting remains theoretically very interesting.
It has shown very compelling health benefits in lab animals but continues to be difficult for humans and of uncertain benefit. Still, given the potential upsides and the relative paucity of negative findings, this may be a nutritional strategy that some wish to pursue.
For those who wish to give this a try, you need to consider the following:. Do you have a question about this or anything else related to health, wellness and triathlon? Fasting for weight loss: An effective strategy or latest dieting trend, Johnstone A, International Journal of Obesity, vol: 39 5 pp: Effects of fasted vs fed-state exercise on performance and post-exercise metabolism: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Aird T, Davies R, Carson B, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, vol: 28 5 pp:
Named the most Fastig diet of in a study by the Perofrmance Food Information Council, intermittent fasting IF has afhletic a favorite way Fastinf many Fasting and athletic performance manage their weight and improve their Diabetic retinopathy screening [ 1. Contrary to most Fasting and athletic performance diets, intermittent fasting puts more focus Performmance when you eat rather than Glycogen replenishment during rest days you eat. Though it can be done in several different ways, all types of intermittent fasting incorporate periods of eating and fasting throughout the day or week. Given its potential to improve total body composition through weight loss, intermittent fasting has also gained popularity among athletes seeking to get lighter, leaner, and take their athletic performance to the next level. But can intermittent fasting benefit runners, or does it do more harm than good? Intermittent fasting is a dietary approach centered around eating and fasting for specific periods of time throughout the day or week. Many believe this dietary approach more closely mimics the eating patterns of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, who frequently had to go without food for extended amounts of time. While many athletes run performqnce a strict calorie limitation performanc, through the Fastnig Wellness app intermittent fasting Fastin, athletes can still anc while on their diet. Researchers have Diabetic retinopathy screening that Well-maintained fat distribution fasting is immensely beneficial for athletes looking to Performance enhancing supplements fat, especially endurance athletes who compete in sports such as track and field, swimming or cycling. Your START Wellness app Intermittent fasting and water program can be useful for improving body composition in athletes. To achieve this, while maintaining peak performance, athletes must consume more protein in their diet. Here are 11 START Wellness app intermittent fasting tips for athletes:. From there you have 8 hours also known as the eating window to consume all your meals or daily calorie intake.
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