CGB,
I would also think that it depends on where the people live. An African tribe would have a different body composition than someone living in the arctic.
yes that would be the ideal method for a being that sat around and waited for meals to just drop by. Early humans had to often hunt and kill their food in which case muscle was very benificial as it would increase their odds of getting their next meal. There is also some theories as to why your post workout meal is absorbed so well by the body. Some beleive that when Early humans went on a hunt and killed their food they expended a great deal of energy and worked many muscles then usually the women cleaned the kill and prepared it. (cutting through animal hyde with a rock is probably a good workout too!) when they ate their meal their body learned to absorb most of the nutrients for the same reason, Not sure of next meal. The body knew that it would have a good chance of getting nutrients after a hunt so it adapted to better survive. just my theories but hey they sound cool.
Neil,
I said a food and water fast. Please repeat the feat without water, and I’m sure that you’ll get the sweet gains that you’re looking for.
Not eating is the secret of the pros.
Dan
NeilG
A one day fast is useless. If you are going to fast do it like you are going to embark on a new training regimen. I started fasting twice a year about 5 years ago because I had some real health problems. Fasting has helped me regain my health. But resistance training and a good diet has helped me more then anything.
When I fast I do the Master Cleanse fast. The first time I fasted I got all those nasty symptoms that John Bernardi listed. But each fast after that the symptoms are less irritating.
Anyway if you are healthy don?t bother with a fast. Also if you have built some good muscle it will ?disappear? overnight!
The last fast I did (In February) I conducted an experiment on myself. During my fast (I did a 14 day fast) I did light treadmill work every morning. That was a task in dedication all in it?s self! Any kind of physical activity during a fast is truly taxing! When I started my fast I checked in at 220 with 18% body fat. Not very good shape. Now my fast juice consisted of organic lemons, grade B maple syrup, cayenne pepper extract, Willard water and filtered water. Not what you would call muscle building stuff. I would drink about a gallon of this shit every day along with one to two gallons of filtered water. When I finished the fast I was at 185 and around 12% body fat. I felt good and clean inside.
After I finished the 14 day fast I did a double dose of Mag10 for 30 days and followed the fat fast diet. After about a week I added three green apples a day to my fat fast diet. Then for the next 21 days I added 6 green apples a day to my fat fast. The last two days I pigged out on steaks, pie and pizza!
When I was finished I was 202lbs at 8% boy fat. I was looking good and feeling like a nimble tiger.
I can’t say I post often, but why all the attacks on Neil? I didn’t find the blurb by Berardi convincing either. How about we honestly evaluate the question instead of deferring to the nearest authority or flaming the questioner?
As a matter of interest, I believe fasting every 2 days (without calorie restriction) will add 20-30 years of healhy years to your life if we extrapolate from mice studies.
-Zulu
to vegita… from a wrestler with experience… although I am a heavyweight and never cut weight and starved myself but my brother cut weight all of his college career. With the knowledge of nutrtion from me and t-mag, he looked a lot better and was a lot stronger than those who starved themselves before competition. So I would say that the guys who did starve were mostly just muscular looking because they were mostly skinny.
Zulu might have something here
I heard about a study done on mice … one group of mice ate like really little and the other group ate rather normally. The less eating mice got to live longer( but as of the “better” part I’m not sure). The thing about fasting is “don’t even think about trowing weights around for your fast period” caus you’ll be weak , really weak!
Retard,
I did a 4 week fast of raw fruits and veggies, and while I was weak, I wasn’t very week. Energy was also much better than expected after the first couple days.
I’ve never fasted for more than 40 hours but I fast pretty often for 1-2 days and I never feel weak at all. No lack of concentration, either. It just takes some getting used too.
Getting dizzy after not eating for 3 hours seems like signs of insulin resistance…but I could be way off.
-Zulu
Ok, the Neil bashing is lame already. All you guys that keep telling him he’s an idiot and to go away just look like fools.
Grow up already. You’re acting like a bunch of babies.
If you don’t like his damn question, skip your smartass response and go to the next thread.
Hi All,
CGB: I’d have to agree with you about fasting improving digestion.
Throughout ancient medicine, fasting has been considered a mighty healer. It’s believed to help rid the body of toxic waste and dead cellular matter.
I’m not sure how many of us could start out with a 100 % water fast… but I’ve heard the cayenne pepper, maple syrup etc fast is not that bad and is quite effective.
Before you knock something, try it.
And yes, not all of us are gentically gifted like JB. As ND said, we’re all different. If it was so darn easy to be fit, lean and musclular, then places like the T-mag forum would not exist.
Last time I spoke with JB, we discussed that it would very hard for people like him and I to get really obese. We would have to eat a TON of shitty food for it to affect us negatively. And so, for the most part, we can maintain an athletic physique easier than others. ( Really though, I think this applies to him more than me, because I’ve had some fat times in my life, and I do work my ass off in the gym to stay hard…)
Anyway, fasting might or might not work. But you have to give it an honest go to see for yourself.
C
Yeah I tried fasting on the warrior diet. I really liked not worrying about eating throughout the day. I would usaully have a small salad and tuna, then workout a while after that, then have a huge feast. I got really hard, and found my mental concentration was really good. However, I found that my recovery from workouts seemed to take longer. I mean that I felt sore all the time. Perhaps I should have eaten more calories, or dropped down the workouts a bit.
Would I try it again, for sure. when times get really busy in your life, then its great. For putting on mass forget about it.
Just my two cents
Fasting probably won’t work well or better for fatloss…but do you have any info on the potential long term health benefits? Is the warrior diet considered fasting (about 20 hours at at time)?
-Zulu
The warrior diet is usually a fast for 12-18 hours depending on how you feel.
It’s not all out fasting (1 whole day). The warrior diet is usually a fast for 12-18 hours depending on how you feel.
Cass, do you think fasting can really help clear up digestive distress issues over the short term? What is your experience, if any with this? Very curious, as I’ve had 10 days of relief from two days of liquid diet and I haven’t felt better in months. Just started massive eating today, in fact and that would not be happening if I didn’t think my system was up to it.
CGB,
One thing that would be a good addition to a fast would be oral glutamine supplementation. I know there has been debating on whether or not oral glutamine will actually do anything, but it has been said that there’s a good chance you could hypertrophy the lining of the digestive system.
This is a good thing! By supplementing with high doses of oral glutamine, not only do you help stablize blood sugar during the fast, you also help build up the lining of the stomach and intestines. Leaky gut syndrome, which can cause all sorts of problems, is when the lining of the intestines is weak, and larger particles get through than should. By taking lots of glutamine, you can help heal this.
You want a hypertropied gut if you do massive eating.
The funny shit is here is that the one’s that bash Neil seem to not understand that much of what he says has merit.
Thunder, good call.
I’m tired of it.
Vain
I do a 30 day fast (nothing, not even water) from sunrise to sunset every year. I always come back refreshed and with less bodyfat. Strength comes back within 2 weeks, and is improved within 4.
This year it starts in early October.
Z, do you train during this period? I’ve seen some training during Ramadan and they seem to tough it out ok.
Neil, glutamine supplementation in people in a highly catabolic state does seem to have some merit. Not sure if 2 days of liquid diet would compare to someone immobilized in a hospital setting, which seems to be a situation where it helps. And no, my gut is hypertrophied enough. I need some anti-hypertrophy for that!