Intermittent fasting during PCT

[Killcure666]

Hey guys, I just finished an 8 week cycle of trest and havoc and am starting PCT today. Libido is completely shot, so let's hope for a solid and quick recovery. I have SERMs in place as well as alpha max XT. On cycle I reccomped hard AF, I came down to 8.7% BF and gained 6lbs. Now i want to keep these gains!

Has any one tried intermittent fasting during PCT? This style of dieting fits my work schedule beautifully and IF has many health benefits on top of keeping me lean. I plan on eating at maintenance or 100kcal over

 

[RANS0M]

Were you doing IF on cycle? If not don't do it during pct. if you wanna keep those gainz do what you were doing on cycle just add in some more quality calories and hit the weights.

I've had the mistake. I love IF if you did it on cycle then you'll be ok but if not don't do it. Wait seriously 6 - 8 weeks after pct to do IF and lean out a bit.

 

[lifted67]

If you're absolutely hell bent on doing IF in PCT maybe have a protein shake prior to training. I know it goes against the whole idea of fasted training but it may prevent catabolism.

 

[yates84]

Just read the title....no, hell no.

 

[Killcure666]

I was doing IF towards the last half of the cycle and really started cutting down.

Sweet, I'll keep doing what I'm doing! I mostly do it for convenience and the health and cognitive benefits, so I'm totally cool with a protein shake preworkout since I don't really care for fasted training.

Do you think BCAAs would work too?

 

[yates84]

I was doing IF towards the last half of the cycle and really started cutting down.

Sweet, I'll keep doing what I'm doing! I mostly do it for convenience and the health and cognitive benefits, so I'm totally cool with a protein shake preworkout since I don't really care for fasted training.

Do you think BCAAs would work too?

PCT is not a time to mess with calories. Find your new after cycle maintenance and at least eat at that maintenance or above unless you want to lose everything gained on cycle. Calories = kept gains

 

[Killcure666]

PCT is not a time to mess with calories. Find your new after cycle maintenance and at least eat at that maintenance or above unless you want to lose everything gained on cycle. Calories = kept gains

Thanks for the replies guys! I know what my old maintenance was and ran some calculations and am planning to eat at my new maintenance which is 2800kcal.

The body doesn't care how these calories are delivered as far as timing goes does it? 2800kcal at in one big meal is the same as 2800kcal spread out through 5-6 meals as far as muscle gain and keeping goes right?

 

[dave39]

2800kcal at in one big meal is the same as 2800kcal spread out through 5-6 meals as far as muscle gain and keeping goes right?

No. How much protein do you consume in a day? Do you think you're going to eat all that in one sitting and have your body properly deal with it?

Muscle that is starved is muscle that doesn't want to grow.

 

[dave39]

No. How much protein do you consume in a day? Do you think you're going to eat all that in one sitting and have your body properly deal with it?

Muscle that is starved is muscle that doesn't want to grow.

Bodybuilders who want to grow eat like they do for a reason.

 

[Killcure666]

No. How much protein do you consume in a day? Do you think you're going to eat all that in one sitting and have your body properly deal with it?

Muscle that is starved is muscle that doesn't want to grow.

Anywhere between 180-200g of protein per day. I have a ravenous appetite, just today I came off a 15 hour fast and consumed 2800kcal of oats, fruit, eggs, potatoes, rice, chicken and salmon in about 2 hours.

Its extremely difficult to find science on the rate at which anabolism and catabolism happen in athletes. Theres anecdotal evidence, such as body builders and frequent meals for optimum growth but there is also a lot of anecdotal evidence for intermittent fasting while bulking to promote lean gains and decrease systematic inflammation as measured through C-reactive protein.

 

[dave39]

I've only seen successful IF use when it comes to weight loss or weight maintenance. Maybe it's good for body recomp but I can't see it working for optimal mass building. It's definitely not something I would ever do during PCT. My body weight would drop like a rock and I would be waving goodbye to my gains with tears in my eyes

 

[Killcure666]

I mean my goal is maintenance during PCT so I'm hoping this works. It seems not many have tried this before, I'm willing to Guinea pig it and update this post with my results.

After all I think the hierarchical concept is calories in > calories out. An energy balance plain and simple

 

[dave39]

I mean my goal is maintenance during PCT so I'm hoping this works. It seems not many have tried this before, I'm willing to Guinea pig it and update this post with my results.

After all I think the hierarchical concept is calories in > calories out. An energy balance plain and simple

Let us know how it goes for sure

 

[Killcure666]

Day 2 of PCT still maintaining 175lbs but looking leaner. My guess is losing water/glycogen.

Strength still up and increasing. Hit a new deadlift PR of 385lbs x 3

I'll probably bump my calories up another 100kcal for good measure

 

[criticalbench]

Intermittent fasting works regardless whether your on, off, or in pct. Intermittent fasting is not a reduction of daily caloric intake. Your macros should be the same, just clustered into a shorter period of the day. As we all no, based on current research, nutrition timing is not as valuable as we once thought.

I do intermittent fasting mainly because of my GI issues, but I have sucess with it bulking, in contest prep, in pct, on recomps, etc. Your daily macros will determine if you grow, loose muscle, loose fat, etc.

 

[criticalbench]

Bodybuilders who want to grow eat like they do for a reason.

Your perception may be wrong based on looking at articles, pictures, videos, etc. What you see on the internet, is not exactly what always goes on in their daily life. You would be very surprised what really goes on if you were friends and no a lot of top national guys and ifbb pros.

 

[lifted67]

Intermittent fasting works regardless whether your on, off, or in pct. Intermittent fasting is not a reduction of daily caloric intake. Your macros should be the same, just clustered into a shorter period of the day. As we all no, based on current research, nutrition timing is not as valuable as we once thought.

I do intermittent fasting mainly because of my GI issues, but I have sucess with it bulking, in contest prep, in pct, on recomps, etc. Your daily macros will determine if you grow, loose muscle, loose fat, etc.

I think the concern is accelerated muscle loss during training due to full glycogen depletion... Which if that's an accurate hypothesis or not is why I recommended a protein shake to break fast before training.

 

[criticalbench]

You won't directly loose muscle by training fasted, muscle doesn't waste away in the moment. It is more over a period of time. Sure you may look smaller due to inadequate glycogen stores but that just comes with the game. Actual muscle as long as you are reaching adequate macros throughout the day, muscle isn't going anywhere.

If you are going to do intermittent fasting, you need to go at it 100%, I wouldn't add a shake in there. Stay fasted until the time comes to eat.

 

[lifted67]

I've done it before, just never PCT

 

[Killcure666]

Update: done with week 1 of PCT and everything is starting to comeback to normal.

Strength is still up and increasing every session and I'm staying lean.

I'm stating to think intermittent fasting during PCT at the appropriate level of maintenance calories is not detrimental in any way

 

[ryox82]

Any update on this? Diet in PTC is one thing I am paranoid about getting right myself. With the nature of my work hours I sometimes have to lift fasted and I sometimes end up eating in more of an IF style.