Intermittent Fasting
I was recently asked by someone about intermittent fasting, specifically how they can get around training early in the morning but still fast intermittently.
Let me being by saying Intermittent Fasting is a great approach to dieting. I’ve used it successfully for a number of applications.
The quandary here has to do with training early, and I’m guessing you’re having difficulty with eating during the post workout window of opportunity.
Post Workout Meal
While it may not be ideal, flooding your body with EAA’s or Synthagen is a valid way of getting protein synthesis up, as well as getting a jump on recovery.
A Thriv plus heavy cream shake after this would be a great addition, given the caloric load is still very light.
As well, the micellar casein in Thriv is going to cover you for 7 hours. In other words, most of the time you’ll be fasting afterwards.
If you finish training at 6AM, dose Synthagen and Thriv then your body won’t run out of aminos until 1PM. And so what if it does?
Optimal protein synthesis rates were observed when the body experienced a refractory period of amino acid availability, followed by a bolus dose.
The Results
In this fashion then, you can train early and under eat during the day – which is certainly permissible with IF.
There are a few purists, but in practice I see no great difference between the purists and the people who consciously under-eat during the fasting period. If anything, they have more muscle.
An Alternative
Your other option is to schedule your feeding hours following workouts. Say, a 4 to 8 hour window and the rest of the day/night you fast.
Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, it’s still a 20/4, 16/8 or whatever split you’re using.
Hope that helps.
