Doing abs on fasting.

[Jordi Van Gelder]

Well i just started doing some abs training at morning before breakfast, i do it because i want to remove fat from that area. Do you think its a good idea or i'm wasting my time?

 

Thank you.

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

I don't think it is possible to naturally lose fat in a specific area; you lose fat from all over your body, and unfortulately, most males lose their belly fat last.

Knowing that, you would probably have better results with a long fasted brisk walk (40min to one hour) first thing upon getting up.

[Tyler Gibson]

Fred is right on this one. You cannot target fat loss to a specific area. Doing a long fasted walk or fasted sprinting first thing in the morning will give you far more benefit.

[Joshua Naterman]

If you are going to work out fasted, keep it low intensity OR keep the high intensity work VERY short. Like a tabata interval program, which takes 4-5 minutes.

 

I do not support this approach at all, but if you're going to do something suboptimal, at least try not to wreck yourself

[Tyler Gibson]

One more thing. Although there some literature to support the fat loss benefits of fasted cardio, cleaning up your nutrition can do you a lot more good if your interested in fat loss. Check out Joshua's post on nutrition. If you really optimize your nutrition in the time before, during and after your workout, you will find that you get leaner, bigger and stronger. Nutrition is the best thing you can improve to lose fat without having an adverse effect on your strength training.

[Klaudius Petrulis]

Proper Sleep + Proper Diet = Way better than fasting for body comp

[Marcos Mocine-McQueen]

I will needlessly post my agreement with those above. Bad news first: there is no way to target belly fat for removal. Period. Good news: you're already doing the most important thing for getting lean/strong etc..., you're learning about food.

 

The nutrition forum is probably one of the least read of all of the forums on GB because many visitors simply want to know how to get strong or lean. It's kind of ironic as this is the place they should start for those goals. You needn't worry about a fasted exercise regime because you've already started the most important step, you're reading the nutrition forum.

 

I'll post my advice for anyone reading who wants to get strong/lean/HOOGE/smarter/better at math/a perfect planche, etc....

 

1) Read the nutrition stickies. Start with page one and read all the way through them because there are some real treasures buried in the deeper pages.

 

2) Set some specific nutrition goals based on your reading, focusing first on your pre and post workout nutrition. 

 

3) Empty you cabinets of supplements (excepting the  two or three recommended in the stickies). While you're at it throw out foods in cans, boxes or heat sealed bags. Also dispose of anything with a health claim (LOW FAT! HEART HEALTHY!). 

 

4) Take your best kitchen knife to be professionally sharpened. Use it daily.

 

5) Implement the goals set in step 2.

 

If results begin to slow: lather, rinse, repeat.

[Klaudius Petrulis]

Let me expand on my opinion.

 

Until recently I used to train fasted in the mornings. I did so for over a year with decent breaks due to quite a few reasons including illness/fatigue/overtraining.

 

With my recent sickness (chickenpox) I dropped all the way down to 160. At 6'2 this is not a good weight. I started thinking about why I couldn't get back to 170+ and something clicked: I was training fasted. Of course I'm not going to gain weight.  Intermittent Fasting does work, but it really isn't worth the effort because you can get there following the protocols detailed by the folks above.

 

Good luck and if you're on the right track it won't be long until you see some progress.

[Colin Macdonald]

I do not support this approach at all, but if you're going to do something suboptimal, at least try not to wreck yourself

Would care to share what your objection is to fasted training? I find it to be incredibly effective. I can train at full intensity without any negative consequences (though they are much less intense since since I started Foundation 1). I can easily maintain a healthy body composition. I'm psychologically satisfied since I don't have to worry about what I eat at meal time (I just avoid processed food). I'm gaining strength consistently, and my post workout recovery is excellent. I was slowly getting injured on my more intense ring strength program, but that's simply because I was getting ahead of myself. On foundation 1, I'm training 5 days a week and all my previous injuries are disappearing, even though I don't have a post workout 'recovery' meal (my first meal is 4-5 hours after my workout).

 

 

With my recent sickness (chickenpox) I dropped all the way down to 160. At 6'2 this is not a good weight. I started thinking about why I couldn't get back to 170+ and something clicked: I was training fasted. Of course I'm not going to gain weight.  Intermittent Fasting does work, but it really isn't worth the effort because you can get there following the protocols detailed by the folks above.

 

What kind of fasting protocol were you following? I've been doing daily 16 hour fasts for quite a while now. My body fat levels are consistent and so are my strength gains. If I eat more during my feeding window I can gain weight, though it's not really something I'm interested in. There's also the Martin Berkhan school of IF for body builders who really want to bulk up. Once again it's not something I care to do, but you'll find tons of people who'll testify to it's effectiveness.

[Philip Chubb]

I have to agree that fasting is suboptimal. Mediocre results if you are not working out with much intensity and volume, but that's about it. Just because it works, doesn't mean it works well or is even close to optimal. Try Joshua's advice for 6 weeks instead of fasting and make a direct comparison. You won't disappointed.

[Klaudius Petrulis]

What kind of fasting protocol were you following? I've been doing daily 16 hour fasts for quite a while now. My body fat levels are consistent and so are my strength gains. If I eat more during my feeding window I can gain weight, though it's not really something I'm interested in. There's also the Martin Berkhan school of IF for body builders who really want to bulk up. Once again it's not something I care to do, but you'll find tons of people who'll testify to it's effectiveness.

What I did frequently was having my last meal around 6PM, went to bed 10ish, then trained in the mornings usually around 7AM(took BCAAs beforehand), Got home and ate my post workout meal around 9AM. It isn't considered fasting to some, but I saw it as such. Only recently I've stopped it because I was at a point where it was too stressful.  Now I'm leaner and gaining strength again by eating whenever I'm hungry to satiety. I've been eating clean for 3 years, so that wasn't a factor in body comp.

 

I mean, I tried it, it wasn't bad, but I find what I'm doing now to be much easier.

[Colin Macdonald]

I mean, I tried it, it wasn't bad, but I find what I'm doing now to be much easier.

That's interesting, I don't find fasting stressful at all. The key for me (and my wife, who does it as well) was just to keep our meals at regular times. I fast from around 8:30 at night to 12:30 the next day, only drinking water during that period (no BCAAs). Once we got adapted to the meal frequency it became really easy.

 

Aside from the body composition aspect, the positive effects it has had on my glucose levels/insulin resistance, blood cholesterol and the potential protective long term effects against diseases like cancer and metal deterioration are also big pluses for me.