Dr. Peter Attia on The Importance of Strength Training During a Fast | The Tim Ferriss Show

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Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 500 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.

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[sevendayoptions]

If your losing muscle while fasting its because your body perceives its not needed. It's what happens when you do cardio. You need to lift very heavy and force your body it needs those muscles and you will actually gain more muscle mass while fasting than not fasting.

[sophistrydebunker]

I'm 62. Was a high caliber runner for 10 years(age 25-35), a high caliber triathlete for 9 years(age 35-44), and a high caliber cyclist for 11 years(age 44-55). Very fit. Never fasted. Ate voraciously. Then I fell off the wagon. Didn't train for 5 years. Started drinking. My biometrics plummeted. BP increased. Glucose increased. A1C increased. Gained about 15 pounds (132 to 147).

Then I woke up. Stopped the drinking. Started eating fresh. Started fasting. Started training again. But my body, physically, on the outside had changed. I had moobs. No more 8 pack. Love handles. My BMI was over 30. I hated mirrors. But kept at it.

I do a 16:8 fast 5-6 days a week. My wife makes an incredible breakfast every Sunday. But fasting eliminated my weight. My BMI is 19 now. I lift(with an aggressive leg day one day a week), Box, do weapons martial arts, do body weight calestenics, do yoga and yes, I even have a Total Gym and mix it up with these activities intuitively each week. My body weight is at 132 and I'm noticably not as big as I used to be, but I'm just as strong as I was when I was cycling. I'm not building tons of muscle mass, but I'm building muscle strength, and have improved my balance, and have massively improved my biometrics, which was the goal; BP down, glucose down, A1C down...

I would say, stop worrying about how much muscle you are wanting to build, and just strengthen the muscles you have. Eliminate your fat and reduce your BMI, and keep your body's "dashboard gauges" functioning within good limits.

Again, at 62, I'm proving it can be done.

[vicecolder]

when i started fasting for the first time months never found anything that powerful....very excited to maybe do a 96 hour fast. reached 72 once and it was awesome

[DrCrimp-sgpb]

I’m 45 days in a 20-4 intermittent fasting. I’m training daily, cardio and weight training. My food is mainly proteins. My weight hasn’t changed at all! I’m though much leaner and grew muscles.

[CeetFX]

This entire podcast was fantastic. Definitely going to look into the "longevity" movement. Lots of fascinating research happening it seems.

[nelacostabianco]

By far the most fascinating study conducted on restrictive caloric intake and muscle building is the Canadian 'Nautilus North' study by John Little et al. Where 33 subjects (male and female) were trained over a 10 week period on a restricted caloric intake. THE RESULTS: Total avg fat loss 15.58lbs - Total avg strength gains 35.46% - Total lean muscle gain 132.8% 😲💪

[alecharmson]

I've come here virtually straight after watching your episode on Limitless when you and Hemsworth faster for 4 days. I'm going for a 3 day attempt previously longest was 37 hours but not fasted for some time. Definitely motivated having seen the level of explanation during that episode and this podcast. I'm 30 probably pre diabetic based on my BMI and looking to get on the longevity train for sure!

[fastingmonkey]

I’ve done many 5-10 day fasts and never lose any muscle- one set of heavy compound movements in the middle of it and I never lose muscle, just body fat like crazy- easiest way to be sub 10% body fat and have a healthy metabolic and hormonal profile

[christopherpitt]

I'd love to see a study on this...as far as I know fasting strangely increases growth hormones. I've been doing IT for a year and no muscle loss. Got stronger

[megafootyclips]

My best gains and leanest physique came from cycling between OMAD and normal eating:
One week OMAD (big evening meal with lots of protein, modest amount of carbs, a big green salad). Weight training (on 4 days of the week) 1-2 hours after the meal.
Two weeks eating 3 meals per day, lots of protein, lots of carbs, lots of nuts, lots of veggies. I packed on way more muscle than I usually do and was pretty lean. My layman's theory is that the OMAD week spiked my growth hormones.
I did no cardio other than walking around 10, 000 steps per day and occasionally playing football with my kids. I avoided sugar and ultra-processed food like the plague.
Thanks for the cook vid, TF.

[ZxRR-ux]

Form our ancestors we know that if you wanted to eat you had to hunt fasting, so muscle mass is useful during hunting. just as ancient man would eat after he had "worked out" by hunting, so eating after weight training is more beneficial to the body. energy and focus are always greater during fasting. This is our physiology .End of story.

[Lokielan]

My schedule...

Mon - Friday
16-18hr fasted, 6-8 hour eating period.


Usually stop eating at 4pm through until 10am next morning. Spend 1 hour to workout. This includes weight training and hiit depending on what day. Eat lunch with a protien shake right after workout around noon. Eat another meal by 3:30. Rinse repeat. I still eat casually on the weekends as this seems help me curb my hunger during the less eating weekdays.

I feel fucking great though, so my energy levels are higher and I'm enjoying it.

Like I said everyone's different and you find what works for you and your body.

[starzthelimit]

I am stronger and have more energy when I strength train during a fast. The other day I went to the Gym 1 hour after eating, and I felt sluggish and I couldn't lift the same amount I did the week before, I struggled with 10 less pounds and didn't get as many reps. Not to mention the mental clarity is amazing!

[Tactical]

The trainer who taught me to fast said 200 pushups, 200 situps, and 200 air squats per day (25 here, 50 there, etc...throughout the day) is the bare minimum to reduce muscle loss if you can't get to a gym. Worked pretty well for me though now I do 400 each on any day I can't make the gym on a fast

[infiniteg]

It’s not for everyone! You do what’s good for you !

[jimriley]

I’ll never get everybody’s opinions on fasting, time restricted eating and all this. Decided for completely different reasons to try carnivore for the pure simplicity and it would and has helped me reach the goal I needed. Thing is COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED benefits occurred that have turned me into some kind of carnivore crazed mad man. The most obvious, in my face, UNDOUBTABLE benefit was strength gains. Obviously you don’t get that sitting on the couch but squats? Couldn’t do a single squat unsupported. Two weeks later I was doing 100-day and could do more. Led me into wanting to try building on that so started pushups. I was able to do 13 max in my first set. A week and 1/2 later (yesterday) I did TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY PUSHUPS!!! I did this not scattered around in 10 rep sets throughout the day but in two separate 30min workouts 5hrs apart with other upper body exercises included and today?? IM NOT EVEN SORE!!! THATS INSANE!!!! I don’t have another explanation for it. ALL OF THAT said. I eat 4 eggs, 4 pieces of bacon and about a pound of some form of red meat a day. Sometimes all at once and sometimes in one meal and there’s days I do one or the other. I do also drink some whole milk. Again not every day. Do the math on the caloric intake off that with say 4 cups of whole milk and you don’t come up with anywhere NEAR what I’m told I have to have. Same for everybody??? I think probably not but pretty undeniable results in my case. Currently in the middle of a 72hr fast. MOSTLY just for autophage benefits because I’m feeling better than I have my entire adult life. Like since mid 20’s adult life and I’m 9weeks from 50!!!! UNREAL!!! I think people just need to find what works for them. If you’re serious about it, you’ll figure it out.

[Burritosarebetterthantacos]

I’m a firefighter/ medic in a city with tons of memory care facilities. I’ve seen horrors you wouldn’t believe but the shit that keeps me up at night are the people who are literally scrambled eggs in the head from dementia. Seeing finiteness and mortality so close will fuck with you. It affects all types. There’s a Vietnam era decorated Navy Seal in my district now and he has no idea who he is or where he’s at. Crushing.

[methodtraining]

As someone who does a 5 to 7 day fast every other month. 5 to 7 day fast. 2 months off..

I cannot begin to tell you how much better I’ve gotten since exercising with weights throughout the entire fast.

In the past I would just do light walking and then rest.

I will never go back to not lifting weights daily while fasting. Low to moderate intensity is all it takes.

Give it a try.

[ZeuzBluez]

I train with weights for an hour and then straight away break the fast with high protein meal (after each eighteen hours daily fast).Lost no muscle at all.

[alteSchuleRap]

I am doing 16/8 with my window from 10am to 6pm. I am doing Pavel's Simple & Sinister fasted on 5 days a week. I break my fast with a protein bar and maybe an apple. So far no problems.