Intermittent Fasting
Introduction:
Throughout history, intermittent fasting has gained immense popularity within the sports world. Although often associated with the desire to pursue weight loss, athletes also use intermittent fasting to enhance performance and exercise personal boundaries. Let’s explore the connection between intermittent fasting and exercise, diving into how this arranged eating pattern influences athletic performance and adaptations of training routines.
The Basics of Intermittent Fasting:
The field of intermittent fasting has various techniques. One of these arrangements is known as the 16/8 method, where an individual refrains from eating for 16 hours of the day and proceeds to eat for the remaining eight hours. Methods that are structured weekly also exist within this field such as the 5:2 method, where an individual maintains a healthy diet for five out of seven days and fasts for the final two days of the week. These two methods are not the only methods that exist and many other fasting schedules are utilized within the sports world.
Impact on Exercise Performance:
Research over the years has displayed that intermittent fasting has both positive and negative impacts on exercise and performance. On the positive side, studies have shown that long periods of fasting help fat utilization, improve weight management, and promote endurance performance. On the other hand, multiple studies have also proven that intermittent fasting compromises energy levels, reduces strength, and diminishes muscle mass, ultimately leading to less intense training sessions.
Training Adaptations and Muscle Growth:
Protein Synthesis and Fasting Periods: Intermittent fasting severely reduces the amount of available nutrients within the body. The reduced and restricted eating windows during fasting periods increase protein breakdown. Research over the years has suggested that although protein synthesis and intake in muscles is compromised during fasting periods, it is made up for in subsequent dietary and eating windows.
Hormonal Changes and Muscle Adaptation: Intermittent fasting has the potential to trigger specific hormonal changes and responses within the body that affect muscle adaptations. For example, it can trigger the release of growth hormones and also improve insulin sensitivity. As a result, these changes could lead to faster muscle repair and increased growth.
Exercise Timing and Feeding Windows: Adjusting workout and exercise periods in correlation to periods of fasting is the best-proven strategy to optimize protein synthesis and recovery. Studies have shown that absorbing protein-rich meals following resistance training tremendously increases muscle growth. Athletes pursuing intermittent fasting should consider this because it allows them to structure a diet that involves nutrient intake near exercise periods.
Adaptation Period and Individual Variations: The adaptations to intermittent fasting vary from individual to individual. Some people may be able to adjust flawlessly and will not compromise anything related to muscle development and athletic potential. Not being able to adjust fluidly may affect an individual psychologically, leading to mental predicaments in the future.
Considerations for Athletes:
Training demands are different for every athlete, and it is therefore important to align fasting periods with physical activity and demands. Listed below are a few crucial factors when it comes to integrating intermittent fasting into your day-to-day life.
Individual Needs and Training Goals - The sport of the athlete as well as training intensity and set goals contribute to the ultimate decision of whether or not to pursue intermittent fasting. Because of the large amounts of energy and nutrients that are compromised, athletes will need to plan their decisions out ahead of time based on their current physical activities. For example, a distance runner may suffer more than a weight lifter because running requires larger amounts of energy. Endurance athletes can potentially sustain relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S). RED-S is a syndrome that negatively affects hormone secretion, immunity, sleep, and protein synthesis. If these effects continue for long periods of time, they can lead to a large dip in athletic performance.
Synchronization With Workout & Recovery Days - Aligning your daily and weekly schedules with your intermittent fasting desires is essential in order to maintain mental and physical stability. Fasting on days when you don’t train as hard or are simply recovering can limit adaptations and adjustments within the body.
Consultation with Professionals - Seeking out advice from sports professionals and nutritionists is always a great idea to gain insights about the potential pros and cons of your decision to pursue intermittent fasting. These experts take into consideration all the factors that you provide them with and use that information to determine what is best for you moving forward. Continue reading to get words straight from professionals and their opinions on intermittent fasting.
Words From Professionals About Intermittent Fasting:
1. Dr. Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging
"Intermittent fasting does not just affect your weight but also your metabolic and brain health. It improves glucose regulation and may even enhance brain function and delay age-related cognitive decline."
2. Dr. Satchidananda Panda, a leading researcher in time-restricted eating
"Our bodies' internal clocks play a vital role in regulating metabolism. Intermittent fasting aligns our eating patterns with these circadian rhythms, potentially improving health."
3. Dr. Valter Longo, Director of the Longevity Institute at USC
"Fasting for extended periods can trigger cellular repair processes and promote autophagy, the body's way of cleaning out damaged cells, potentially reducing inflammation and supporting overall health."
Conclusion:
All in all, there are many pros and cons when it comes to intermittent fasting. The decision to pursue this dietary change is no small decision and requires long thought before taking action. Individuals who participate in endurance sports are the ones who are at the most risk because of their increased chances of contracting RED-S. When deciding whether or not to incorporate intermittent fasting into your life, consider your physical activity schedule, and dietary tendencies, and never be afraid to seek help from professionals.
Sources:
1. Bénédicte L. Tremblay. Nutritionniste et stagiaire postdoctorale, and Catherine Laprise Professeur UQAC. “How Does Intermittent Fasting Affect Athletic Performance? There’s No Simple Answer.” The Conversation, 16 Apr. 2023, theconversation.com/how-does-intermittent-fasting-affect-athletic-performance-theres-no-simple-answer-201992#:~:text=Varying%20effects%20on%20athletic%20performance&text=The%20practice%20of%20intermittent%20fasting,not%20always%20improve%20athletic%20performance.
2. Drexel Sports Medicine and Department of Family. “Intermittent Fasting and Its Effects on Athletic... : Current Sports Medicine Reports.” LWW, journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2019/07000/intermittent_fasting_and_its_effects_on_athletic.6.aspx. Accessed 7 Jan. 2024.
3. Harrington, Jennifer. “Intermittent Fasting for Athletes.” CSP Global, 21 Oct. 2021, online.csp.edu/resources/article/intermittent-fasting-for-athletes/.
4. Levy E, Chu. “Intermittent Fasting and Its Effects on Athletic Performance: A Review.” Current Sports Medicine Reports, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31283627/. Accessed 7 Jan. 2024.