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Body Composition, Diets, Meal Timing, Muscle, Performance, Weight, Wellness
Time restricted feeding impact on fitness and body comp
- December 14, 2022
Time restricted feeding is a very broad topic which means different things to different people. To some it is fasting for 24 hours at a time 2-3 times per week and others it’s having an 8-hour eating window. For most individuals and especially athletes I wanting to try time restricted feeding or intermittent fasting to avoid full day fasts. Those can increase the amount of muscle that is lost due to the extended period of time and also don’t allow proper fueling for peak performance. The effects of shorter fasting periods seem to be better in general.

Time restricted feeding – Weight loss

Losing weight is one of, if not the, biggest reason people tend to consider time restricted feeding. Consider for a second that the foundation of any weight loss strategy is calorie restriction it’s a perfect fit theoretically. Less time to eat means less opportunity to overindulge. With the shorter restriction time though it can help still provide adequate nutrients to avoid muscle loss. Despite some marketing attempts though, it’s not necessarily a magical strategy. Eating less calories is the primary factor and the key to weight loss.

Time restricted feeding – Body comp

Slow and steady is the name of the game. As stated with weight loss, restricting too much can result in losing extra muscle which is never ideal from a body comp standpoint. By maintaining a decent number of calories (and protein) the weight loss will primarily be coming from fat. The less opportunity to eat again helps reinforce no added treats sneaking in there. Even without purposefully restricting calories, an 8-hour eating window tends to naturally result in lesser calories being consumed due to that. Lose fat and maintain muscle both are the driving factors for improved body comp.

Time restricted feeding – Performance

Performing optimally is where some additional planning comes into play with this. If looking to implement a time restricted feeding strategy it’s crucial to time it up appropriately around your training. Training sessions where you need peak performance, you’re absolutely going to want to eat beforehand. Having a full fuel tank ensures having the energy to do what you do best. On the other hand, in some situations it can be ok to train without eating before. This is a very specific situation to induce some specific metabolic changes to increase fat utilization. While not desirable for every session, it is a tool for the tool belt when applicable. In both situations though, eating afterwards is very important. The body is primed to take up nutrients to maximize recovery and muscle building so you don’t want to skip that window.

Consideration for athletes

When considering this, the first thing is to decide what you’re trying to achieve. If wanting to lose weight this could be a strategy to consider to help with that. Especially if night time snacking seems to be a big challenge. A hard set end-time can provide that extra barrier to help eliminate that temptation and extra calories. But by no means is that the only way to lose weight or even the best way for some people.

Everyone responds differently to different things so find the strategy best for you. Making sure all the while to fuel yourself properly around training sessions. The biggest thing to reiterate though is to make sure any potential long term fasts are avoided to maintain that muscle.

Study referenced: click here

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Diets, Macronutrients, Muscle, Performance, Protein
Is performance better with plant based or meat based diets?
- December 5, 2022
Debates between plant based or animal based diets has been going on for a long time! Touted benefits of plant based diets tend to revolve around impacts on inflammation, cardiovascular health and the environment. Flipping the script, typical negatives of plant based diets are poor quality protein options and lacking certain nutrients. Recently another study came out to offer additional insight into this. Participants spent 4-weeks eating three different diet strategies; strictly plant based, alternative meat based (think plant burgers and sausage items), and traditional animal based diets. After each 4-week period a series of fitness tests were conducted to compare the effects.

Performance test results

Tests measured for performance were distance covered in 12-minute timed run and various strength exercises (chest press, leg press, lat pull downs). While statistical significance wasn’t achieved, there was still a trend favoring animal protein diets. Both total distance covered and strength changes improved a bit more with animal protein. Amongst competitive athletes, even the slightest improvements can have big impacts on the end results. Due to that even minor improvements can’t be overlooked.

Possible reasons for favored animal results

Max performance on a plant based diet does need to ensure adequate nutrients are being supplemented that may not otherwise be consumed enough. Main nutrients of note include vitamin B12, creatine and iron. All of these aid in energy production and oxygen delivery. Improvements in those two things will certainly translate into improved performance. Also, the animal protein group was consuming a higher overall protein intake as well. Protein is very important for optimal muscle recovery/repair and muscle building. Due to many plant based protein being incomplete proteins, more protein is needed in these situations. Less total protein on top of that could result of less recovery. Coming into test days a bit more recovered could have aided better performances amongst the animal protein periods.

You can still compete on a plant based diet

Planning ahead is key for anyone considering a plant based diet. Ensure no key nutrients are being missed which means supplements can play a major role in this situation. Particularly as mentioned previously, vitamin B12, creatine and iron should be considered. Top that off with a bit extra protein and you’ll be in great shape. Regardless your overall diet strategy, some extra veggies and fruit will rarely hurt you. Make sure to keep those an integral part and your performance will continue to thrive.

Study referenced: click here

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Inflammation, Muscle, Performance, Recovery, Wellness
Is cryotherapy recovery worth the chill?
- November 19, 2022
Interest in cryotherapy recovery has been gaining in popularity for a few years now. Athletes of all levels are lining up to embrace the chill in hopes of improving recovery. At the professional level many teams are building cryo-chambers into their training rooms even. Especially at the elite level, even the slight bit of additional benefit could be all the difference. Climbing into an ice box can be unpleasant for a short time but is it worth it for the potential benefits?

What is cryotherapy recovery

Put simply, cryotherapy recovery’s main goal is to cool down the body rapidly. Cooling down the body is putting it mildly! Climbing into a cryo-chamber you will be exposed to temperatures reaching -190 degrees Celsius. As you would expect with that though you will only be in there for about 2-3 minutes. You’re going to be in for a rough time and flirting with frostbite if staying for an extended period of time! Jumping into ice tubs is the original cold therapy strategy used and is still very common. Cost is a major reason for that as some similar benefits can be achieved with only needing a tub of water and some bags of ice. Effeciency is a big benefit of cryotherapy as well as you don’t have to sit in the cold as long.

Potential benefits

Exposing oneself to such discomfort wouldn’t be so popular if there weren’t some benefits. Decreased inflammation is one of the biggest draws of cryotherapy recovery. Training and matches/games are big time causes of inflammation on the body. Some inflammation is good and needed to improve performance, but there’s a limit. Like most things, balance is key. Decreasing inflammation contributes also to the ability to help the body’s muscles recover more efficiently. Condensed training and match schedules make quick recovery times incredibly important. Adding cryotherapy recovery in those situations in particular can be incredibly beneficial. The latest study referenced supported this showing decreased markers of both inflammation and muscle damage.

Start shivering or stay under the blanket?

Timing up when to hop in a cryotherapy chamber is the important thing. Eliminating too much inflammation too often can inhibit training adaptations similar to when consuming too many antioxidants. After taking that into consideration, adding in cryotherapy recovery into your routine likely isn’t a bad thing. Your biggest challenge though may be finding a place nearby that has a chamber available to use. Popularity continues to rise for it though with more and more places popping up offering it. Grab some hand warmers and a jacket for afterwards but give it a try!

Study referenced: click here

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Body Composition, Muscle, Protein, Wellness
Can high amounts of protein impact testosterone levels?
- November 16, 2022
Testosterone is involved with a lot of functions in the body. It aids bone growth and strength, sex organ development, cognition and mood. The most popular function of testosterone is its impact on strength and muscle growth. Getting bigger and stronger muscles are naturally common goals of athletes. Trying to optimize testosterone levels is a big topic of interest as a result. Pairing this with protein’s impact on muscle and strength, the two complement each other well. Recent studies are starting to question though if focusing too much on protein could actually result in having protein impact testosterone negatively.

Current recommendations for optimal protein impact

Recommendations for protein are typically based on one’s body weight. Current sports nutrition guidelines for those looking to build muscle and maximize recovery is around 1.8-2.2g/kg. For a 170 pound person that’s ~155 grams of protein per day. Getting 2g/kg of protein is already challenging for most people. Others though go with the theory of if some is good, more has to be better! Studies looking into even higher intakes are starting to increase though to test the limits. Conducting more studies though makes the definition of “high protein” tough to quantify though as each study may have a different number for it.

Quantifying “high protein”

Reviewing many of the studies in this paper it appeared that the cut-off of “high protein” was around 3.4g/kg. Compared to 2g/kg mentioned earlier that is a huge jump! It’s unlikely that someone would achieve this level without putting in a lot of intentional effort. Most of the studies looking at that level of intake though did show it was effective at improving body composition. Score one for high protein! The same researchers also looked into how it impacted kidney and liver function as that tends to get brought up as a common concern. Findings pointed to no negative impacts on kidneys and liver either. Sore two for high protein! Not studied though was testosterone which a recent paper dove into.

Too much protein impact on testosterone

Consuming at or above that 3.4g/kg does appear to decrease testosterone levels. Cutting right to the chase on that one! We’re still early in the research on this topic so nothing definitive can be made but there are trends worth noting. Below 3.4g/kg these effects appear to be minimal or non-existent. Looking at various studies playing around with carb and fat intakes they don’t appear to have the same impact on testosterone. Minus one for high protein this time. Decreasing testosterone appears to be the body’s way to increase its ability to digest and process the added protein through different pathways. Physiologically then it would make sense for this to be occurring with very high protein intake.

So how much protein should be consumed?

Most people struggle to hit just 2.0g/kg and that is what I would recommend starting at. Consuming 2.0g/kg has been shown many times over to be sufficient to help aid muscle building and repair. This is also low enough to avoid any potential negative impacts on testosterone so it’a a good benchmark to strive for. Certain situations such as injury recovery may need more but the vast majority of athletes and the general public would do great at that 2.0g/kg mark. As an example, at this amount a 170lb. person would need around 155g per day of protein. Make sure your meals and snacks all have a good protein source with them and enjoy the gains!

Study referenced: click here

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Body Composition, Muscle, Performance, Weight
Lose Fat, Build Muscle, Have Patience
- February 2, 2022
To lose fat while preserving muscle, patience is king

“I want to lose fat and build muscle” can be worded many ways. No matter how you want to phrase it though, that is one of the most popular topics in nutrition. Many people are trying to achieve this trade of fat to muscle and are willing to try just about anything to do so. That is a recipe for a lot of potential problems.

It’s hard work to build muscle in the first place! And if looking to lose fat, we don’t want to lose that muscle along with it. For the body to lose weight it comes down to consuming less calories than our body burns. To keep the body going though it needs to still get energy from somewhere. Our goal is to get the body to focus on pulling from fat for that energy.

The faster that weight is lost though, the greater the risk that muscle will be pulled from. Faster weight loss means less calories being consumed and naturally the body is looking for energy wherever it can get it to keep going. That is the formula for when muscle becomes collateral damage. While the scale may have a lower number, what’s lost to quickly get there likely isn’t worth it.

So then how can we lose fat while building muscle?

1) Hard work in the gym

Again, it was a lot of work to build muscle in the first place. That doesn’t change during this time period where we are looking to lose fat. Keep lifting and stimulating that muscle growth.

2) Patience

A weight loss of ~0.5 pound to 1 pound per week is a good rate. This slower rate loss allows the ability to still provide enough calories to fuel our workouts and our muscles while still losing weight.

3) Extra protein

Having extra protein will provide the building blocks to help the body build and maintain muscle. Aim for around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. (Ex: 180 pound person = 180g protein per day)

4) Sleep

Turn off Fortnite and go to bed! When we sleep our body does the most recovery and muscle building/repairing. If we don’t get enough sleep our body has an increase in stress as well. This added stress can cause a hormonal shift making it tougher to lose fat as well as to build muscle. So go to sleep! Sometimes the simplest advice is the toughest to do.

Focusing on these keys and doing them consistently will set you up beautifully. Like in most situations, good things come to those who wait! Throwing in some sweat and hard work helps too 😉

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