[quote]Stronghold wrote:
[quote]BlueCollarTr8n wrote:
IF makes the rounds every 10 years or so. It ‘kicks up some dust’ and gets a fan base of mostly fitness/recreational lifters that have been unsuccesful at getting bigger and stronger. It is ‘radical’ enough to get people to think they are doing something special or difficult. Soon after starting IF, they begin to say things like “I really do not want to be a big bodybuilder or strong powerlifter” followed by a 10K race registration. The best of this group transistion into becoming runners, the others just stop working out. The malnourished look in never pretty!!
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Far from reality. Proportionally, just as many recreational/fitness types get on board with the 6-8 meals/day and fizzle out. Your argument has zero relevance to the validity of IF.
Michael Keck and Marc Bartley, both sponsored by EFS and bigger and stronger than 99.9% of the people on this website follow the Warrior Diet. Obviously, neither of them are really into being big and strong anymore.
If you look at Martin Berkhan’s website, there are top european natural bodybuilders using the leangains approach with huge amounts of success, maintaining seriously low levels of bodyfat year round and carrying as much, if not more, muscle as this site’s resident pro natural bodybuilder, Stu.
Personally, I have been slowly dropping bodyfat and kicking untold amounts of ass in the gym using loosely applied leangains principles. I usually eat two meals per day, both in the afternoon and evening. I eat what I want for the most part and don’t worry about going over 400 calories per meal like someone carrying a cooler around with them and eating like a bird all day long. Mentally, it’s far easier and allows me to be far more flexible since I’m not tied down to eating x amount of whatever food every 3 hours. This translates to increased productivity and decreased stress in the rest of my life, without sacrificing progress in the gym.
In the end, the amount and macronutrient composition of food is infinitely more important than HOW you eat it.
Alisa, definitely check out Martin’s stuff. I think his is the best application of intermittent fasting to individuals that are seriously interested in weight training and boyd composition.[/quote]
x2. Good post.
I am also following this approach as I diet down right now, although I have made one modification: the two days per week I train in the morning, I adjust my window to allow intra- and post-WO food intake. That time is just too critial to go through without getting in some kcals for one trying to maintain as much LBM as possible, IMO. I understand Berkhan’s argument, but I feel the evidence is weak and really I simply disagree.
Hunger hasn’t been too bad an issue for me. I tend to be hungrier at night anyway, so not eating until 4 PM generally isn’t THAT bad. Drink water, as SH said, and chew calorie-free gum. Both help a lot.