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body composition

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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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, Diets, Meal Timing, Metabolism, Weight
Is the best time to eat earlier or later in the day?
- November 9, 2022
Nowadays most people’s schedules are insanely busy. Running from one thing to the next and back all day. Student athletes have to navigate not only their classes but training and travel schedules. Working individuals may not be any better with early meetings and frequent travel as well. Technology also allows for 24/7 access meaning meetings at all hours. Busy schedules are wrecking havoc on when people are able to eat. Thus if making the effort to prioritize your schedule around nutrition, when is the best time to eat to eat?

Latest findings on the best time to eat

Recently a new study came out looking to answer that very question. Physiologically the results were fairly one-sided in favor or eating earlier in the day. Eating later resulted in a decreased level of the body’s hormones responsible for feeling full, leptin. Still at the hormonal level, eating later increased the actual pathways encouraging storing calories as fat. So while feeling hungrier it also appeared to decrease actual metabolism rates and overall body temperatures. A decreased natural calorie burn alongside feeling more hungry with and increased fat storage sounds like a recipe for disaster. Regardless your personal goals, this increased susceptibility to increased weight and specifically increased fat is far from ideal. Performance and overall health both take a hit with that.

Support for breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! That phrase isn’t going anywhere anytime soon with a strong case for being the best time to eat. Eating earlier in the day help provide the body energy for when most of us are likely to be most active. Having a full fuel tank to get us through the day is a lot more helpful than eating and having all that energy just for us to get ready for bed later in the day. Athletes in particular will benefit a lot from having breakfast. Many training sessions are early in the day so having that extra energy ensures the ability to train at your peak level. It’s also a great time to provide some extra protein to maximize recovery and overall body composition goals.

Why do so many people tend to eat later?

Just like us, our body is a creature of habit. If we do (or don’t) do something consistently the body adapts to expect it. Prime example being the popular line “I’m just not hungry in the morning.” Following that up with the question of when the last time they had eaten breakfast, they typically either won’t know or it is years ago. Due to this the body has gotten into a routine of not expecting breakfast and doesn’t send signals encouraging it. Just because that signal isn’t coming through, doesn’t mean breakfast should be ignored. Slowly reintroducing breakfast can start to get the metabolism ramped up in the morning again and get into a new routine actually wanting breakfast!

Claiming not to have enough time for breakfast is another all too common response as well. Overcoming this involves one of two strategies for most people if honest with themselves. Setting the alarm just a few minutes earlier is the first strategy to get out of bed and make something. Strategy number two is to prepare breakfast the night before so it can just be grabbed and taken to go. Those stating to not enjoy breakfast can rest at ease as well! Just because it’s breakfast time, doesn’t mean you have to have traditional breakfast food. Eat the foods that you enjoy but make sure they are quality things and providing you the nutrients you need. If truly wanting to work on being an earlier eater there is a way to do it.

So when should you be eating?

All things considered, earlier in the day is the best time to eat. Certain situations for some specific goals may justify a different strategy such as intermittent fasting or fasted training but those are the exception. Especially for athletes with the traditional training schedules and higher overall calorie needs eating early is essential. Early eating provides needed energy for their training and to ensure adequate overall calorie needs are met. Athlete’s skipping an early meal put themselves behind the 8-ball right out of the gate having to play catch up the rest of the day. Body composition is a top priority for many athletes as well and all things combined reinforces the preference of earlier eating. After writing this I feel like I need to whip up an omelet!

Study referenced: click here

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Body Composition, Energy, Metabolism, Performance, Weight
Fasted exercise has some benefits, but not top peak performance
- October 24, 2022
Training in a fasted state is something that has been fairly popular. Many enjoy it because they don’t like the feeling of being too full during physical activity. Others are a bit more intentional with fasted exercise though and are looking for specific benefits. Typically these benefits are related to body composition or weight goals but it needs to be done in a smart manner. Specifically, not when in a situation where needing to perform at one’s peak potential.

What is fasted exercise and why do it?

Fasted exercise is when training in a fasted state, meaning not eating anything before it. Most people do this by working out first thing in the morning. Other common times are done several hours after their previous meal or by having a cardio session after an intense workout just occurred. The main goal is to be working out when the body has low glycogen and overall energy stores. What happens then is the body is forced to pull from fat stores to produce the needed energy.

Increased fat burn and body composition

By forcing the body to use fat for energy, the body is being trained to use fat more easily. In theory this should help the body to burn fat throughout the day more as well. So not only during the workout is the body using more fat, but it could potentially last even after leaving the gym as well. People seeking improvements in body composition are very interested in this strategy because of that effect right there. What’s important to keep in mind though is training with a low/empty fuel tank can make it a lot harder to train at a level you normally would.

Performance impact

Having that low fuel tank is what could negatively impact your performance in that moment. If trying to make that fat burn change in the body, don’t try that strategy when doing an intense and competitive session. You also want to be careful not to try fasted exercise if simply looking to lose weight. It’s likely you will fatigue a bit earlier in this situation which could decrease the overall work done in that session. Save this for light sessions. Peak performance requires peak energy on hand!

When to try fasted exercise

Low intensity, cardio focused sessions typically is best. Having a set amount of work that’s to be completed helps too. That makes sure you still get the total amount of work in while getting the fat burn benefits. As always, you need to make sure you’re still staying hydrated. Most importantly please do not do this on intense training days, especially not on competition days! Your performance will almost always be better with a little food. If worried about feeling full, keep the snack before hand light. Stick to foods you know and that sit well for you. Liquids are easiest to digest and would be a great option to consider as well.

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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