Adapting Training to Nutrition

Hey Coach CT,
2B Neurotype- Is there any “do and don’t” principles you would apply to ones training if-
-Nutrition was to be restricted by carbs for 6 weeks <100g/per day, but all other macronutrients were acceptable while not passing maintenance level?
-Training fasted, with the prior meal being 11 hours pre and the first meal being 5 hours post workout?

Should lactic acid type stimulus/2B favourable workouts be avoided due to lack of readily available glycogen etc?

Thank you for any tips Christian.

That makes no sense. You won’t be eating 11 hours prior to the workout and 5 hours after the workout?

So you are fasting 16 hours (typical intermittent fasting) and the training session is like 2/3rd into the fasting period?

That is one of the best ways of NOT getting muscle gain and a type 2B or 3 could likely lose muscle this way

Here’s the thing, if you are training in the middle of a fasting period, the worst thing you could do are:

  1. Heavy lifting. See, during a heavy workout the neurons fire on all cylinders. This puts you in sympathetic mode (which increases cortisol levels) and if it keeps firing on all cylinders after the workout it can cause dopamine depletion/CNS fatigue. You need serotonin and/or GABA to calm the brain down after the session. 2Bs are lower in serotonin and/or GABA which means that from the start they are less effective at calming their CNS down after a session. NOT EATING more easily puts you in sympathetic mode (that’s why a lot of people report greater mental clarity and more energy when intermittent fasting) In other words training in the middle of a fasted state will not only not help you calm your neurons down, it will likely make them fire even faster. This will jack up cortisol even more and create CNS fatigue. The heavier the lifting , the greater is the neural activation/neuron firing rate.

  2. Volume: as you mentioned your glycogen stores will be low, so doing a lot of volume is not a good idea, especially in the middle of a fast because it will lead to low blood sugar levels, which also jack up cortisol.

Honestly the situation you mentioned is about the worst possible one to gain muscle. I guess that you are in a blitz fat loss phase so you likely accepted not gaining muscle. But in your situation, losing muscle is a real possibility even on a smart program.

A lower volume approach like the best damn program or the HIT routine in the Maximum Muscle Bible by Paul and I might be the “least bad” option. You could go even more minimalist than that.

Do you have any reason for using this approach? I know that Ramadan is under way, but the time table doesn’t really fit with the timing of your question. So you must have a specific reason for using this suboptimal approach.

Yes - I have been diagnosed with Small intensine bacterial overgrowth.
The nutritional protocol along with a lot of herbal remedies that have been laid out for me by my physician must be adhered to for the 6 weeks. I train at 4.30am as I always have and it’s my only time I can with a young family. (Train while the kids are sleeping).

No blitz fat loss, just prioritising my gut health, I’ve struggled with SIBO symptoms for a long time and finally have got to the bottom of it! Afterwards I’m hoping to finally be able to consume adequate calories to support my training without the negative SIBO effects.

My physician actually has me supplementing with 5HTP serotonin.

Ok, supplementing with 5HTP is good. If you can add glycine post-workout it can actually help minimizing neuron over-activation and decrease cortisol release. You can’t switch around the training, but can you switch the fasting window. For example right now I assume that your fasting window is:

From 10pm to 11am or something like that

to…

5:30pm to 6:30am?

I will check with him about the glycine!
That fasting window is actually a good idea, I’m usually leaving the gym a tad after 6am so I could consume my first meal then. Then it would just be a fasted session with calories consumed immediately following. Would this change your training program selection?

Thank you for your advice on the training. I had literally just started the neurotype 2B program and was loving it! I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue with the above nutritional guidelines.
6 weeks of absolutely no progress coming my way!

how did you fix your sibo. methane sibo or what? My wife and I just got her a Dr, but id love to grab as much knowledge as i can. Her new Dr is a naturopath/ MD and has healed many and she should be fine, but just incase.