Back in end 2009, I was at the peak of my physical fitness; I had 10-12% body fat, BMI was 23.3, weight at 68kg. It was the first time in my life I actually saw my six pack of abs (it didn't bulge though.. It just showed). I was strong, energetic and happy. I trained almost everyday and ate right.
Over the years I tried to make a comeback.. I did almost everything the same.. Save one important thing that I never realised till now, which is why I've gain back the weight prior to that (and then some).
You see, I achieved all that I described above within one month.. A month before that I was 73kg. I couldn't run more than 3km at a time without the feeling of vomiting.
Come the Ramadhan month (fasting month) of 2009, I kept to my training regime, with the addition of fasting during the daytime and my religion required me to do. During breaking fast, I would eat a normal sized portion meal. I would then train with my then 2 sets of 20kg kettlebells for almost an hour, splitting my upper body and my lower body workouts on alternate days. I would take my protein shake after the workout, then before bed I would eat another meal to prepare me for the next day's fast. I would take 1 day off every 2 days. Then on weekends I would rest for both days. Once in a while I would run/jog on the weekends, adding to my mileage to 4~5km per session.
This was the peak of my leanness. My traps showed and my abs popped out. I no longer had a thing called double chin (or even 1 1/2 chin).
After the fasting month, I kept to the regime, but my kilo's were slowly adding back over the years. I know it wasn't muscle as I saw my abs disappear. I hit a plateau on my training as I couldn't get additional reps or weight to increase my strength.
So I changed my training. I did suspension training, and conventional weight training. While both added very well to my physical and functional strength overall, I never got back the leanness I had.
Of course the deficit of calories played a huge role that time, it wasn't without its drawbacks. Fighting hunger pangs in the late afternoon was painful for me, especially when I was also watching my calories and was recovering from workouts. And being a guy who drinks a lot of liquids on a daily basis, fasting Ramadhan style isn't fun, especially in a hot climate like Singapore or Malaysia.
Recently, I came across several lifestyle articles that emphasizes on intermittent fasting. I was intrigued and decided to give it a shot.
What is intermittent fasting (IF)?
This style of fasting is like Ramadhan fasting, only that you set the rules of when to eat and when to fast, so long it's anywhere between a 12 to 24 hour period. Also, unlike Ramadhan fasting, it encourages you to take liquid to quell hunger pangs and promote natural detox of the body, so long these drinks are carbonate and sugar free. Meaning to say Kopi-O Kosong (black coffee with no sugar), green tea and plain water are encouraged.
How does one benefit from it?
Fasting is well known to "give your stomach a break", making your digestive system better. But apart that this, the benefits are:-
a) "give your stomach a break" is a metaphor for allowing your digestive system to recover. With no food, your digestive tract can heal itself better without any distractions. Your enzymes can replenish. Your bacterias (which aid the breakdown of food) in your colon can recover and increase in numbers. This means better food absorption when it's mealtime.
b) Digestion draws energy from the body to operate and maintain the digestive system. Being the main "entry port" of the body, it has to expend a lot of cells maintain your tract free from harmful bacteria, as well as to recover from harmful food. Giving it a break will allow your body to focus it's energy to repair other parts of your body, drawing free radicals and toxins from your cells. Its like Germany during WWII vs. Germany now. It has more resources to build the country better, rather than building it's military power that draws resources from other sectors, bringing poverty to the people.
Okay, so that's the layman's term. Now to the more technical part:-
a) It is proven that muscle breakdown only occur after 36 hours of fasting.
b) Your body will start to utilise your fat reserves for energy after 12 hours of fasting, when the glycogen reserves in your cells are depleted.
c) When your glycogen reserves are depleted, your insulin sensitivity increases. Meaning to say, insulin level will drop low during this period, allowing the levels to replenish (in your liver), and will be able to increase a lot when glucose is detected in your system (via eating meals). Its a huge plus for diabetic people, as it means there is enough insulin to react to the food you eat, keeping blood sugar levels low. Also, for fat loss, low insulin in your blood during this period of time means that no extra glucose will be converted to fat (mainly due to the fact that there is none to convert).
d) Fasting for more than 8 hours allows HGH to increase. HGH and testosterone are the two hormones that body builder and strength trainers strive for. These two hormones are responsible for the amount of muscle mass and strength you gain during / after workouts. If protein is the brick, HGH is its bricklayer and testosterone is its mortar. Without it, you will not gain muscle strength or mass, no matter how much protein you take (coz without it being utilised, protein will then break down into glucose and stored as fat).
Many people actually reported that they manage to cut fat AND increase muscle mass while fasting, when not even doing any training!
So there you have it. This is why my regime back in 2009 was so effective, and that is why I am reverting back to it. I am not doing Ramadhan style fasting, though. I am fasting only 16 hours a day, from 8~9pm to 12~1pm of the next day (16 hours) with plenty of water, tea and maybe coffee. Depriving my body of glucose will allow some fat burning and more importantly, increase my HGH. I will also continue to use my magnesium spray to regulate my bodily functions that will help increase my HGH (based on Mike Mahler's own study).
It is said that people who does both IF and high intensity training (HIT) will increase HGH levels by 2000% (WTF?!?!?!)!! I'm so gonna do Spartacus and 300 style workout for the next week or two!
I encourage people to follow suit.. If not for training (body building, strength training, fat loss, etc) purposes, at least for health purposes. It'll help keep your insulin levels in check, freeing you from worry of diabetes. After dinner, don't eat anymore.. Skip breakfast the next day. Then pig out during lunch (it is actually encouraged).
Just one word of caution: Do not eat high quantities of carbohydrates when you break fast. This is counter-productive as you are trying to lower sugar levels, not increase them. This type of lifestyle does not work on a high carbohydrate diet.
No comments:
Post a Comment