ali
Level 7 Valued Member
However, I find my "gym performance", if there is such a thing, is better after eating
Same. Well, to qualify better, my sport is sprinting. Whilst you can fast certainly doing anything you want there is absolutely a drop in performance. Exactly the same with sleep. If I have a bad night's kip and a sprint session is planned, I don't bother. I'll do swings or snatches, lower cns and lower demands generally or don't train at all.
I have done fasted training, from S&S, distance runs, lactate threshold, HIIT and everything in between.
Now I only do low intensity fasted, a morning dog walk sort of thing. I don't bother eating sometimes on non training days, depending on how I feel and more often than not I just forget to eat. If that happens and I sprint, my performance is way off. Fasting affects speed.
Whether or not this is true for everyone, I don't know.
So I'll eat before, not pizza and doughnuts, some fruit and an omelette, whatever.
The upshot is I don't eat for hours after, not hungry.
There is a rate of muscle glycogen depletion. And a drop in muscle glycogen triggers fatigue signals and I never train fatigued.
So 4 x 30s are doable fasted, 6 x 100 capacity sprints are distinctly different.
There are health benefits to fasting but I'm not convinced training needs to be done fasted to get more health benefits nor performance benefits either.
Thing is too, circadian rhythms. I don't do mornings.