Intermittent fasting and HIIT ...

[munch]

I've read some of the threads on here about IF and the leangains website amongst others, but wanted to know if anyone was doing IF and still doing cardio such as circuit training etc.

I was thinking of doing IF since I need to lose fat (my diet seems to be okay, have been tweaking it for over a year, and it is almost clean). The problem I have is that I love cardio, and that HIIT. I do classes, and this leads to me working out at different times, which would mean that my fasting times would vary throughout the week. Would this be a problem? I have listed my routine below:

1. Monday - Cardio 8pm (1 hr)
2. Tuesday nothing
3. Wednesday - Cardio - 6.30pm (1 hr)
4. Thursday - nothing
5. Friday - Cardio - 6.30pm (1hr)
6. Saturday - Cardio - 11 am (1hr)
7. Sunday - Cardio - 1pm (1hr)

The keen observer may have noticed a lack of weights, but the cardio above is more of a circuits class, so I get lots of squats (without weights), squat jumps, press ups, lunges etc. Currently I like this, but can add weights 1-2 a week if needed, although I may collapse in the process :-)

Now since my timings vary, I am not sure how I could do IF, since fasting will change from day to day. I can eat within the 8 hrs no problems, and a couple of days do fasted training (although I prefer my oat shake + protein + fish oil 1 hr before) .

I am not looking at bulking currently, more interested in shifting stomach fat (love handles have come down alot, took 40 yrs of careful feeding, so I guess will take sometime to come down)

tks

Dan

[jp7]

The leangains approach is designed for someone doing heavy resistance training, to help preserve muscle whilst cutting and to take advantage of the hormonal responses to heavy weight training. To make the most of leangains knock the classes on the head and start lifting heavy 3 times a week.

If you still want to give leangains a go, without giving up the classes, then eat once before the evening classes (20-25% of the days calories) and do the midday classes fasted.

[REDnBLUE]

Quote

The leangains approach is designed for someone doing heavy resistance training, to help preserve muscle whilst cutting and to take advantage of the hormonal responses to heavy weight training. To make the most of leangains knock the classes on the head and start lifting heavy 3 times a week.

If you still want to give leangains a go, without giving up the classes, then eat once before the evening classes (20-25% of the days calories) and do the midday classes fasted.

Hey jp7 I do Stronglifts 5X5 3 times a week, is this routine suitable for IF ?

Best regards!

[Cfc8Starwars]

Hi RedNblue just seen your post...

Stronglifts 5x5 is perfect for IF! Jus make sure you train and then eat your main meal ( largest meal of day).

Im doing the same!

[REDnBLUE]

Quote

Hi RedNblue just seen your post...

Stronglifts 5x5 is perfect for IF! Jus make sure you train and then eat your main meal ( largest meal of day).

Im doing the same!

Hi there, thanks for the reply, could you give me an idea of you meal schedule please, I´m struggling to get a grip on this due to a physically demanding job that never starts at the same time and the workload is never the same either.

Best regards !

[Cfc8Starwars]

Hi REDnBLUE,
Yer i know it can be hard to get the balance. IF helps becos you dont have to keep having to worry about meals every 3 hours like when eating 6x a day! In the 8 hour window just get all your kcal in. i suppose it depends on your workout/ job. because a physically demanding job and workouts need calories.

The way i fuel my days is on training days eat carbs.
On non traing days dont. or very minimal.

Meal schdule below. i break my fast at around 1:30-2. So i kno i can enjoy my evenin and so when i get home i dont need to fast. ive lost fat on this diet so its useful.

TRAINING DAY:

first meal is usuall:
Porrige (40g), 1scoop whey, 1/4pint skimmed milk, 5g organic crunch peanut butter all blended up.

Tuna (can),sweetcorn, cucumber, red onion, two slices whole grain bread, low fat mayo spread for taste.

2medium sized chicken breasts with 75g cooked rice and veggies (pepper,mushroom etc). (after training)

1 scoop whey before 1 scoop after workout.with water

Finally 1 scoop whey with skimmed milk (pint before bed).

Effectively you have four scoops of whey...some people have 2x2.i prefer to split it out.

Its quite a clean diet.

On non training days. i swap porrige for all bran, increase peanut butter to 10g in morning, and add 5g to evening.

change tuna for oily fish (salmon or makerel), ditch the bread and mayo. i lik oily fish n veg

Can change chicken to another meat. Ditch the carbs n fill up on veg.

Somethin lik that... you can add a banana apple, melon etc. This diet takes me to1900-2000 kcal. which is safe for fat loss with limited muscle loss.

Whats your weight by the way?

Cheers

[REDnBLUE]

Quote

Hi REDnBLUE,
Yer i know it can be hard to get the balance. IF helps becos you dont have to keep having to worry about meals every 3 hours like when eating 6x a day! In the 8 hour window just get all your kcal in. i suppose it depends on your workout/ job. because a physically demanding job and workouts need calories.

The way i fuel my days is on training days eat carbs.
On non traing days dont. or very minimal.

Meal schdule below. i break my fast at around 1:30-2. So i kno i can enjoy my evenin and so when i get home i dont need to fast. ive lost fat on this diet so its useful.

TRAINING DAY:

first meal is usuall:
Porrige (40g), 1scoop whey, 1/4pint skimmed milk, 5g organic crunch peanut butter all blended up.

Tuna (can),sweetcorn, cucumber, red onion, two slices whole grain bread, low fat mayo spread for taste.

2medium sized chicken breasts with 75g cooked rice and veggies (pepper,mushroom etc). (after training)

1 scoop whey before 1 scoop after workout.with water

Finally 1 scoop whey with skimmed milk (pint before bed).

Effectively you have four scoops of whey...some people have 2x2.i prefer to split it out.

Its quite a clean diet.

On non training days. i swap porrige for all bran, increase peanut butter to 10g in morning, and add 5g to evening.

change tuna for oily fish (salmon or makerel), ditch the bread and mayo. i lik oily fish n veg

Can change chicken to another meat. Ditch the carbs n fill up on veg.

Somethin lik that... you can add a banana apple, melon etc. This diet takes me to1900-2000 kcal. which is safe for fat loss with limited muscle loss.

Whats your weight by the way?

Cheers

Hey again, thank you so much for taking the time to reply again.

I weigh 74kg/163lb.
I usually work anything between 3am and 7am and the work day can last anything from 1hour to 7 hours, it is very hard to know in advance, and because my gym only opens at 10am sometimes I´m waiting for hours after actually finishing my job even before I can get on with gym workouts.

Best regards!