Intermittent fasting and exercise when combined are highly effective methods used to reach fitness goals. Intermittent fasting revolves around when you eat your meals versus what you are eating. The timing of your meals matters most with intermittent fasting. When creating a fitness program around your fasting schedule timing is everything. Common questions related to intermittent fasting include:

1. What is Intermittent Fasting and what different fasting methods?
2. What are the benefits of Intermittent Fasting?
3. How do I Incorporate Exercise With Intermittent Fasting?

What is Intermittent Fasting and What Are Different Fasting Methods?

Intermittent Fasting is an eating pattern that revolves around timing your meals and fasting schedule systematically. Lets use the 16:8 eating pattern as an example. In this method someone would eat twice a day. They would space out their meals within a 16 hour time window and then a 6-8 hour time window. If they were to eat their first meal at 12 pm then their next meal would be 6 pm or 8 pm. After 8 pm they would not consume any calories until 12 pm the next day. While the 16:8 method is the most popular other methods include:

1. The 5:2 diet
2. Alternate Day Fasting
3. The Warrior Diet

 

The 5:2 Diet

For the 5:2 method you would eat normally for five days out of the week and two days out of the week your calorie intake would decrease. For the five days that you eat normally there are no restrictions. You can eat however many times a day you usually eat. On the two other days your calorie intake would be in the 500-600 range. The days you chose to be your low calorie days don’t matter however there should be a day of non-fasting or normal eating in between.

 

Alternate Day Fasting

With alternate day fasting you would eat every other day. On eating days you can eat however much you’d like and on fasting days you eat nothing. This method is more advanced and more challenging compared to 16:8 or 5:2 so it is not recommended for beginners.

 

The Warrior Diet

The Warrior Diet involves fasting daily for 20 hours and having a 4 hour window gap to eat. Only small portions of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and some dairy are acceptable during the day. Many people eat one meal all at once with a high calorie amount. The Warrior Diet is about equally as challenging as alternate day fasting.

What Are The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?

The benefits of intermittent fasting appear in many different ways including physically, mentally, spiritually, and with your health. The amount of benefit variety that comes from fasting is overwhelming.

 

Physically

The way fasting benefits you physically is by increasing your metabolism from using fat as energy instead of food. When you constantly have food in your system without giving your body a chance to use fat from energy then it becomes harder to reduce your body fat. Reducing your body fat and increasing your muscle mass is the goal to get the physique your looking for.

 

Mentally

On a cellular level new brain cells are created that give us more mental clarity and improve our happiness. This can help us with our focus, energy, and awareness. New nerve cells grow which improve brain function as well.

 

Spiritually 

On a spiritual level fasting requires discipline of our habits and desires. When we practice discipline and have a direct experience of hunger it opens us up to new perspectives. Many different spiritual tradition practices extend periods of fasting up to several weeks in a row. When we learn about and practice these fasting methods it can open up our minds and hearts.

 

Health

Your health improves on a cellular level in the same way it does for our brain. This new cellular development reduces inflammation, risk of disease, heart problems, and increases longevity, energy, and improves blood circulation.

 

How do I Incorporate Exercise With Intermittent Fasting?

Your specific exercise program would depend on when is the best time to eat before, during, or after a workout so there is no one right answer for this. However there are a few rules of thumb that generally apply to most people that incorporate exercise with intermittent fasting. Two of these include:

1. Cardio and intermittent fasting
2. Strength training and intermittent Fasting

 

Cardio and Intermittent Fasting

Doing cardio in a fasted state has demonstrated to be an effective method to burn fat cells. This lowers body fat and can help with weight loss. However when doing fasted cardio it is safer and more effective to maintain a moderate pace versus a high intensity pace. A higher intensity pace could cause dizziness and lead to fatigue. Finding the right intensity for you is the key.

Strength Training and Intermittent Fasting

Strength training has pros and cons when combined with intermittent fasting. If your goal is muscle building then fasting might be counterproductive because you wouldn’t be consuming enough calories throughout the day. However if our goal is weight loss then this could be hyper-productive and help you reach your weight loss goals faster. Full body workouts are potentially the best strength training workout programs for weight loss.

It is always most important to eat the most calories after a strength training session. This is when your body and muscles need nutrition the most so they can repair and rebuild to give you the physique your looking for. It is completely appropriate to strength train in a fasted state but it could take some easing into as it can be physically uncomfortable at first. However after a few weeks of consistency your body and stomach adapt to the fasting method and strength training program you chose. Some people prefer to eat something very light before strength training which is also acceptable and wont conflict with the fasting process.

Conclusion

Combining intermittent fasting and exercise is a powerful technique to burn body fat and improve mental clarity.

In the beginning of your fasting journey start slow with one of the easier methods such as 16:8 or 5:2. If you become more advanced try some of the more challenging methods like alternate day fasting or the warrior diet.

When choosing a workout program best suited for your individual needs there are many more variables to be accounted for. For a free one on one assessment to discuss your unique fitness and nutrition goals click here.