Intermittent Fasting And Bodybuilding: How to Make It Work for You

Is it just a flash in the pan or is it here to stay? Intermittent fasting seems to have come out of nowhere in the past few months. It has been popularised by the likes of Brad Pilon, Dr. John Berardi, the Hodge Twins and Martin Berkhan but in actual fact, intermittent fasting has been around a lot longer than that. Intermittent fasting which is actually a pretty fancy (sometimes off putting) phrase for what is essentially two windows - a window when to eat and a window when not to eat.

Intermittent fasting and bodybuilding can work for you if your goal is to build muscle and to get lean and here are 3 reasons why.

1. Recent studies have shown that it is in actual fact total macros and the total amount of daily calories that account for muscle growth and not the amount of meals and the timing of them. Essentially what this is saying is that as long as you get the required amount of calories in the 24 hour period it doesn't matter when you get them. So as long as you get you required amount of calories (a surplus of your TDEE is needed in combination with a progressive training routine) in your eating window you will gain muscle.

2. One facet of intermittent fasting bodybuilding that people complain about is the amount of food and calories that need to be consumed within the eaten window. Although you most likely will need to adjust if you are currently eating 6-8 small meals a day, over a period of a couple of weeks you stomach will adjust to eating larger meals. I found it very difficult to eat large meals in the beginning but with in a week or so I adjusted and now I have no problems putting away large amounts of food in one sitting. Take your time with the adjustment period and don't expect to be able to switch over night.

3. Remember, like everything else intermittent fasting isn't an exact science and if you need to extend our eating window from say an eight hour eating window to a nine hour window to accommodate your total calories and meal requirements, that's fine go ahead and do so. Like any program it's important to find what works for you. Intermittent fasting, bodybuilding and building muscle can work together and the beauty of it is if you find that sweet spot that works for you you'll get the benefits of intermittent fasting while maintaining or building your physique to a bodybuilding level.

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