Before getting into the stuff that everyone wants to know, I’m proud to announce that I will be competing in my first Powerlifting meet this Saturday (6thJuly)!!

I’m hoping for a big total and videos will be recorded, so all of you can expect to see me in a suit which magnify my crotch while I’m lifting some heavy weights.

 

Now let’s get into the fun stuff.

The previous weeks I wrote a post that introduced intermittent fasting followed by another post that outlined how to use IF to lose that fat and keep it off.

You can read part I and part II HERE AND HERE

This post is about how you can prevent yourself from becoming a blob of fat while putting on muscle mass. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to become a sumo wrestle while trying to put  on muscle. It is highly possible to add lean muscle mass without the excess fat.

I bet some of you are pretty excited, so let’s get into the meat of this post, the benefits of using IF while putting on muscle:

 

 

1. Hormone optimization

We all know that a traditional bulking protocol includes consuming inhumane amount of carbs. And guess what mainly triggers the hormone insulin? Carbs.

The role of insulin is to transport glucose into cells to be used as energy. If insulin can no longer perform its job well, there will be an excess of glucose floating around in the blood stream will lead to fat gain and potential type 2 diabetes.

The constant feeding of carbohydrate will also cause our cells to become insulin resistant. Just imagine your cells adapting to the insulin being secreted and after awhile, insulin just isn’t that effective anymore.

Being diabetic as a part of your bulking program shouldn’t be part of your plan to gain muscle during a bulk. This is when Intermittent Fasting comes into play.

When you fast, you increase your bodies insulin sensitivity. Training on the other hand contributes to higher insulin sensitivity as well. So consuming crazy amount of carbohydrates when insulin sensitivity is the highest is the best way to use insulin to your advantage.

While you fast, you keep secretion of insulin low. When insulin levels are kept low, it is harder to become insulin resistant compared to when your insulin levels are high all day. So when you couple that with the added benefit from training, insulin will no longer be an enemy.

2. Fat Cell Hyperplasia

Fat cells don’t just disappear and magically appear at will. As a matter of the fact, fat cells don’t actually disintegrate, die and get pooped out from our bodies. They shrink till and go “dormant” until they are provided with the stimulus that will feed them. In this case, it’s excess calories.

The sad part is fat cells die hard, but they are created really easily. You might look lean and jacked while cutting after a mega bulk, but getting fat is now easier because the extra amount fat cells that was dormant can be awaken when you start bulking again.

Intermittent fasting help combats this by using the “clean bulk” method. However ,you might probably not see the weight of the scale increase by 5lbs every week, but even on a mega bulk season, how much of that 5lbs is actually muscle?

I’ve used IF to pack on size and I must say it might be a slower process compared to your traditional bulking protocol, but throughout the entire time minimal fat was gained. My sweetz abz could still be seen and I continue to gain strength and muscle at the same time.

Don’t just take my word for it. Authorities in the fitness industry have used this method to help pack on size while using Intermittent Fasting is highly possible as done by Jason Ferrugia’s Renegade Diet and Martin Berkhan’s Lean gains.

 

 

3. Feeding your muscles when it is hungry.

After training, your muscles are depleted of glycogen. This is the best time to have your carbohydrates. This is because the carbs you eat will be stored in your muscle  instead of leaking out as fat.

 

 

Think of your muscles as a storage tank. When you train, you are emptying the storage tank, creating room for it to be replenished. Once the tank is full, adding anything else into it will cause a spillage to happen.

So when you only feed your muscles when it is depleted of glycogen, you prime your body for muscle growth instead of fat storage caused by a spill over.

In that case, the chances of getting fat while packing on muscle will be greatly reduced.

 

Theory is now over, it’s time to get practical. So here’s how to harness the power of IF while going trying to add more muscle:

1. Pick your eating window.

This is highly up to personal preference. Some people love training fasted while others will become a zombie if they ever try to.

I’m the type that don’t really perform well training fasted. So I will have a very light pre-training meal before I train usually consisting of some fat and protein and probably a piece of fruit.

Another thing is that some find it hard to consume an insurmountable amount of calories in a small eating window. For those who have this problem, eating a some carbohydrates with protein and vegetables before you train is perfectly fine as well.

However, if you have a bottomless pit for a stomach and feel fine training fasted, you should schedule your meals post training.

2. Eat like a beast.

This is the key when it comes to gaining mass while practicing IF. I’ve mention this a million times, but gaining or losing weight comes down to calorie balance. So it’s important to put yourself in a caloric surplus.

I hate counting food and calories, so for the first time trying this, I would actually suggest you eat as much you can. To know if that amount is sufficient or not will be taught in the next step.

However, eating like a beast can only be done on training days. On non training days, reduce the number of carbs while slightly increasing fatty foods.

For now you need to consume copious amount of dead animal flesh and carbs enough to knock you into an insulin coma

3. Use the mirror to measure progress.

After eating a crazy amount on  your eating window, you will use the mirror to help dictate if what you ate was enough or not.

Upon waking, look into the mirror:

– If you look fairly lean and dry, you are eating too little. Eat more the next time n

– If you look bloated and filled, you are eating too much. Eat less the next time.

– If you look normal and somewhat in the middle you are eating just right.

4. Train hard, eat right and progress will come.

You might not be able to notice immediate jump in weight on the scale, but in the long run, you will be able to hold on pack on muscle without becoming a fat blob of adipose.

Anyone can gain muscle while getting fat, but IF allows you to gain just what you want— muscle.

 

 

That wraps up the 3 part Intermittent Fasting series. I hope all of you benefited from what I wrote and will be able to incorporate IF to help you achieve your goals.

Right now, I’m going to throw in a gift for one lucky person. If you decide to try IF but have no idea where to start, leave a comment below. When we hit 10 comments, I’ll pick one reader and provide free coaching on how to implement IF.

You read it right, free coaching to help you look awesome. So right now,  start commenting!

P/S: Sharing this post with your friends to show how IF might change their physique might increase your chances of winning.

 

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  kedric

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  Henry Wee
  

  Good post kedric.

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