Intermittent Fasting & Cardio = Fat Loss & Muscle Preservation

Sports scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago may have stumbled on a perfect way for overweight people to lose weight. Their study suggests that a combination of intermittent fasting and cardio training results in considerable weight loss while maintaining lean body mass.

Intermittent Fasting

The publication of the scientists' study, a few months ago in Obesity, is a triumph for the intermittent fasting movement. They argue that the human body is capable of functioning perfectly well for hours without taking in food. When this happens it starts burning body fat, and holding on to muscle tissue.

Respected scientists and traditional trainers advise athletes who want to lose weight to concentrate on eating small quantities of food during the day. This is believed to keep the body's energy burning topped up and to prevent the breakdown of muscle mass. This is exactly the opposite advice from what the supporters of intermittent fasting recommend.

Study

Surabhi Bhutani's publication in Obesity backs up the intermittent fasters. Bhutani did an experiment with 64 obese but healthy people, with an average BMI of 35. Her experiment lasted 12 weeks.

Bhutani divided her subjects into four groups of 16 test subjects in each.

The first group did nothing at all during the experiment and functioned as the control group.

The second group did a kind of intermittent fasting, eating only a quarter of the amount of calories they normally would on alternate days [Alternate day fasting]. On those days the subjects consumed one meal – of 450 kcal – that consisted of 22-26 percent protein in energy terms.

The third group did cardio training on stationary bikes and cross trainers three times a week [Exercise]. At the start of the study the subjects exercised for 25 minutes at 60 percent of their maximal heart rate; by week 12 they'd increased that to 40 minutes at 75 percent of their maximal heart rate.

And the fourth group did both exercise and intermittent fasting [Combination]. The subjects trained on the days that they ate just one meal.

Results

The combined approach worked unexpectedly well. The subjects in the combination group lost twice as much weight than the subjects who only fasted, but they lost hardly any lean body mass.

What's more, the combination of intermittent fasting and cardio improved the subjects' cholesterol levels more than the other approaches.

Conclusion

"The combination of alternate day fasting plus exercise may be implemented as a viable lifestyle intervention to help obese individuals lose weight, retain lean mass, and lower their risk of coronary heart disease", the researchers conclude.

Source:
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Jul;21(7):1370-9.

Never say never, Ive seen intermittent fasting absolutely shred the shit out of someone who kept the muscle. It aint for everyone.

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Originally Posted by Dzone

Never say never, Ive seen intermittent fasting absolutely shred the shit out of someone who kept the muscle. It aint for everyone.

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yep, no perfect setup for everyone but for some it could be good. i am not a fan of the practice myself though

here is one way to do it

A Beginner's Guide to Intermittent Fasting | Nerd Fitness

I just do my cardio first thing in the morning and do not eat. I wake up hungry as hell so fasting through a day is a *****

I tried it before. I was so damn hungry I couldn't even see straight. Def not for me

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Originally Posted by guns01

yep, no perfect setup for everyone but for some it could be good. i am not a fan of the practice myself though

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Im using IF along with keto. I like it but im not sure its optimal. I have to eat low protein ( i get about 80-100g a day) and keto makes that easy for me and keeps me full. With IF i am able to have 3 decent meals, feel full and satisfied and not go over my protein limits. When the nephrologist suggested i eat .7g per kg of weight, i thought he was insane. thats like 60g a day! Fuck that. So i rounded up to what i feel is safe and hopefully effective for reaching my goals. I want to compete again and im hoping this combo of IF and keto will work. I'll be prepping totally different this time. IF/Keto Low protein and 200mg EOW of test cyp. (i may go to 125mg weekly). No other injects or orals so we shall see how i turn out.

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Originally Posted by FREAKSHOW

Im using IF along with keto. I like it but im not sure its optimal. I have to eat low protein ( i get about 80-100g a day) and keto makes that easy for me and keeps me full. With IF i am able to have 3 decent meals, feel full and satisfied and not go over my protein limits. When the nephrologist suggested i eat .7g per kg of weight, i thought he was insane. thats like 60g a day! Fuck that. So i rounded up to what i feel is safe and hopefully effective for reaching my goals. I want to compete again and im hoping this combo of IF and keto will work. I'll be prepping totally different this time. IF/Keto Low protein and 200mg EOW of test cyp. (i may go to 125mg weekly). No other injects or orals so we shall see how i turn out.

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you know what i would do? i would shoot geroge farrah an email and ask him some questions. he has serious kidney issues and does the fat and carb thing much different than anyone else does. i think the hardest part would be ironing out the optimal amount of both carbs and fat to preserve muscle with such a low amount of protein

This is also supposed to be helpful for the immune system. I have intended to do it but havent yet

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Originally Posted by guns01

you know what i would do? i would shoot geroge farrah an email and ask him some questions. he has serious kidney issues and does the fat and carb thing much different than anyone else does. i think the hardest part would be ironing out the optimal amount of both carbs and fat to preserve muscle with such a low amount of protein

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Thats why i chose keto. i couldnt balance the increase in carbs and fat, i was told to lower protein and add to carbs and fat to make up for the calories but i tried that and got fat. Do you have georges email?

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Originally Posted by FREAKSHOW

Thats why i chose keto. i couldnt balance the increase in carbs and fat, i was told to lower protein and add to carbs and fat to make up for the calories but i tried that and got fat. Do you have georges email?

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i will look in my book and pm it to you. i am pretty sure you could direct message him off of instagram also. idk what his handle is on there though

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Originally Posted by guns01

i will look in my book and pm it to you. i am pretty sure you could direct message him off of instagram also. idk what his handle is on there though

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did you find it? I have a few basic questions on keto and love to pic peoples brains. I see that BPI has a keto pre workout drink now, suppose to give energy but knock you out of ketosis. My biggest concern is taking a pre workout and bcaa intra taking me out of my fast and/or keto.

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Originally Posted by FREAKSHOW

did you find it? I have a few basic questions on keto and love to pic peoples brains. I see that BPI has a keto pre workout drink now, suppose to give energy but knock you out of ketosis. My biggest concern is taking a pre workout and bcaa intra taking me out of my fast and/or keto.

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my modem crashed om me the other day man and i am just getting back on and getting caught up. i will pm it over to you this afternoon

This is some great info here