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Ben Greenfield Life

Busting the Myth of the Pre and Post Workout Meal: Fasted Exercise and Its Benefits

Ben Greenfield Life

Ben Greenfield

Education, Fitness, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.65.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 December 2018

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Consider this...

Billions of people around the world don't know what or even when their next meal will be. Because of this uncertainty, they move as little as possible so as to conserve as much energy as they can.

Meanwhile, you and I have the luxury of actually choosing notto eat while food is in abundance. And then actually burningcalories while we are in a fasted state.

This podcast is the recording of a talk I gave on the topic of Fasted Exercise to the Live It to Lead It conference in Las Vegas, NV this past month.

In this episode, you'll learn...

-How I got introduced to the concept of pre and post-workout fasting during my years as a body builder...7:05

  • Conventional thought at the time:
    • Eat a lot right after workout, to get into the "recovery window"
    • Snack and graze
  • Explored other options when I got into endurance training
  • Discovered "ketosis" in 2013
    • Amino acids
    • Dominic D'Agostino

-Busting the myth of snacking and pre/post-workout meals...12:45

  • Importance of the post-workout meal is vastly decreased if you haven't been fasting prior to the workout.
  • Only benefit from a performance standpoint is if you workout again within 8 hours.
  • After 24 hours, the body naturally replenishes its glycogen levels.
  • If you've eaten prior to a workout, you don't need to replenish aminos, glycogen, etc.
  • I bend the rules if I'm working with someone who needs to build body mass.

-What fasted exercise actually is...18:05

  • Exercising in a state of glycogen depletion
  • A light workout in a fasted state is preferable (in the morning)
  • For evening workouts, you'll have not eaten since lunch, then you can eat after working out, but it's not essential to do so immediately.

-The 10 benefits of fasted exercise...25:10

  1. Burning more fat
  2. Anti-aging effect
  3. Better brain function
  4. Increased growth hormone levels
  5. Improved insulin sensitivity
  6. Increased testosterone
  7. Enhanced fat loss
  8. Better endurance
  9. More stable gut during exercise
  10. Hunger management

-Practical ways to do fasted workouts...41:15

  • Exercise before breakfast
    • Need to include carbs in breakfast? Only if you're going to workout again within 8 hours.
  • Don't eat dinner for an hour or two after late-afternoon or early-evening workout.
  • Use supplements
    • Amino acids
    • Ketone salts
    • Potassium
    • Electrolytes

-A few cautions...47:10

  • "Bonking"
  • Decreased intensity (depending on the scenario)
  • Post-workout hyper caloric compensation (stuffing your face)

And much more!

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Got a question about fasted workouts? Just drop a comment below and I'll reply ASAP!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I have a master's degree in physiology, biomechanics, and human nutrition.

0:11.7

I've spent the past two decades competing in some of the most massacistic events on

0:15.6

the planet, from seal-fit Kakoro, Spartan-Agoji, and the world's toughest mudder to 13 Ironman

0:20.6

triathlons, brutal bow hunts, adventure races, spearfishing, plant foraging, freediving, bodybuilding,

0:26.1

and beyond.

0:27.1

I've spent this intense time in the trenches with a blend of ancestral wisdom and modern

0:31.3

science, searched the globe for the world's top experts in performance, fat loss, recovery,

0:36.4

gut, hormones, brain, beauty, and brawn to deliver you.

0:39.9

This podcast, everything you need to know to live an adventurous, joyful, and fulfilling

0:45.5

life.

0:46.9

My name is Ben Greenfield.

0:49.6

Enjoy the ride.

0:58.1

Hey, what's up?

0:59.8

The episode that you're about to hear is actually taken from a private event that I spoke

1:06.8

at on stage in Las Vegas, Nevada recently called Live It To Lead It.

1:11.7

It was an event for chiropractic docs, physicians, physical therapists, nutritionists, etc. who

1:18.2

wanted to build their business or learn more about some cutting-edge health concepts,

1:24.9

and a big focus of this particular conference was fasting, the benefits of fasting, and

1:30.3

the practical ins and outs of fasting.

1:33.1

I spoke on something I really haven't spoken on much in the past, but that I have studied

1:39.8

up on quite a bit, and that would be how to combine fasting with an active lifestyle,

1:44.7

how to combine fasting with exercise.

...

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