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Anecdotally I found my performance to - both in the gym and in the office - increase not decrease. From athletes and academics I follow on social media, they al

Anecdotally I found my performance to - both in the gym and in the office - increase not decrease. From athletes and academics I follow on social media, they also say the same. I've read a few hypothesis as to why this may happen. In an evolutionary sense, when in a fasting state we would require more energy to go out and hunt/gather food to take us back out of that state. IIRC, metabolism increases while fasting. It wouldn't make sense for our body to reduce performance because that just makes starvation an even more likely possibility, as it suddenly becomes much harder to go out find a food source due to said >"major performance decrease". There are a few studies knocking around about regarding it, but I've only got a minute so this is the best I could do for the moment- "Findings indicated that pre-exercise feeding enhanced prolonged (P = .012), but not shorter duration aerobic exercise performance (P = .687). Fasted exercise increased post-exercise circulating FFAs (P = .023) compared to fed exercise."[1] [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29315892 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29315892

avinium 8y ago
How long are your fasts? I experimented at the start of the year and didn't experience any drop in performance - office or gym - with water fasts less than 24 hours. Fasting between 24-72 hours, though, really affected my sleep and made me feel weaker during workouts (though it didn't really affect me mentally). Curious to see if others experienced the same. Can't comment on longer fasts as I didn't exceed 72 hours (though I did read many reports of it actually getting easier after that point in time). Currently doing IF (very rough 20/4) which is working pretty well.
- Aromasin 8y ago
  Honestly it varies massively - I play it by ear, as it's normally interrupted by going out to dinner with friends or dates. I fast once every 10 days minimum (arbitrary number, but it keeps me disciplined). If I've had a few weeks of excess (lots of drinking and greasy takeaways) I might do 3-4 days. At least 2-3 times a year I like to do a 6-8 day fast. I've done this for the past 4 years and I've felt remarkably better for it, with the most noticeable thing being reduction in scar tissue (from surgery) and inflammation symptoms. In terms of how it makes me feel while fasting, it depends on the day. A one day fasts tends to make me just feel hungry around meal times, assumedly because I'm still largely running on the glycogen in my muscles. I used to find day 2 pretty rough, as I'm guessing that's how long it would take for the process of ketosis to start in me. As your body adapts to frequent fasting though it becomes plain sailing though. I'll often arrange my fast to coincide with a large stint of work, as I feel my mental clarity is much higher - akin to taking Modafinil if you've ever tried it. Hunger isn't an issue for me at all once I'm in a state of ketosis. I highly recommend doing an extended fast at some point. If anything it allows you to become much more satiated by smaller portions, and it eliminated any sugar cravings I used to have.
mowingscooter 8y ago
Very interesting. I remember reading that traffic accident rates go up significantly in Muslim majority countries during the first few days of Ramadan (daylight fasting), so there appears to be an adaptation period with decreased performance before the benefits kick in.

avinium 8y ago

How long are your fasts? I experimented at the start of the year and didn't experience any drop in performance - office or gym - with water fasts less than 24 hours. Fasting between 24-72 hours, though, really affected my sleep and made me feel weaker during workouts (though it didn't really affect me mentally). Curious to see if others experienced the same. Can't comment on longer fasts as I didn't exceed 72 hours (though I did read many reports of it actually getting easier after that point in time). Currently doing IF (very rough 20/4) which is working pretty well.

Aromasin 8y ago
Honestly it varies massively - I play it by ear, as it's normally interrupted by going out to dinner with friends or dates. I fast once every 10 days minimum (arbitrary number, but it keeps me disciplined). If I've had a few weeks of excess (lots of drinking and greasy takeaways) I might do 3-4 days. At least 2-3 times a year I like to do a 6-8 day fast. I've done this for the past 4 years and I've felt remarkably better for it, with the most noticeable thing being reduction in scar tissue (from surgery) and inflammation symptoms. In terms of how it makes me feel while fasting, it depends on the day. A one day fasts tends to make me just feel hungry around meal times, assumedly because I'm still largely running on the glycogen in my muscles. I used to find day 2 pretty rough, as I'm guessing that's how long it would take for the process of ketosis to start in me. As your body adapts to frequent fasting though it becomes plain sailing though. I'll often arrange my fast to coincide with a large stint of work, as I feel my mental clarity is much higher - akin to taking Modafinil if you've ever tried it. Hunger isn't an issue for me at all once I'm in a state of ketosis. I highly recommend doing an extended fast at some point. If anything it allows you to become much more satiated by smaller portions, and it eliminated any sugar cravings I used to have.

mowingscooter 8y ago

Very interesting. I remember reading that traffic accident rates go up significantly in Muslim majority countries during the first few days of Ramadan (daylight fasting), so there appears to be an adaptation period with decreased performance before the benefits kick in.