Bulking on LeanGains IF?

Just wondering if anybody has used IF for bulking?

Seems strange to train fasted for a bulk, and to cram in ALL the calories in a small window. Also, the idea of waiting an hour to take your post workout shake/meal is also odd, particularly during a bulking phase.

I am very interested in the lean muscle gain, however. I think traditional bulking can leave you feeling very lethargic and tired for long periods. Maybe pulsing with BCAA’s would help maintain size when fasting.

What’s the consensus?

I’m pretty much in the skinny fat category, so this way of bulking does interest me quite a bit.

Thoughts and ideas from anybody who has tried this method of bulking?

[quote]JJSchmidt wrote:
I think traditional bulking can leave you feeling very lethargic and tired for long periods. /quote]

What specifically does ‘traditional bulking’ mean to you?

BlueCollar,

traditional bulking to me is 6-10 big meals a day + Workout Nutrition. I’ve tried it and hated it. Always trying to work your daily schedule around eating. As I mentioned, I do find the idea of IF bulking interesting, but I am also a little dubious of the overall end result.

The last time a tried ‘traditional bulking’ I was constantly sleepy and lacking in energy… when it’s sunny and your kids want to hit the beach and have fun with you, and all you can think about is ‘feeling full and ready for a nap’… Not Ideal.

JJ.

[quote]JJSchmidt wrote:
BlueCollar,

traditional bulking to me is 6-10 big meals a day + Workout Nutrition. I’ve tried it and hated it.
JJ. [/quote]

I have never heard of anyone eating 10 meals a day aside form guys who compete professionally and don\t have jobs.

the “six meals a day” thing is commonly heard, but again, it is more about overall caloric intake and keeping the body fed than meeting some exact number of meals.

I know I personally do not feel it is necessary to eat that often, but that mindset helped me initially to eat as much as was needed.

eating loads of tiny meals is such an unsatisfying way to eat. I like to eat til I’m stuffed, not full, stuffed. If I was going to try and eat ten meals a day they’d have to be mimsy little meals which I’d hate.

3 huge meals and a couple of snacks a day is a much more satisfying way to eat.

In my opinion, anyway…

Ok, agreed, 10 meals is crazy. It was just an example. Let’s say 3 BIG meals and 3 Medium meals.(6 in total)

My aim of this post is to see WHO has actually used IF for bulking!

It looks like very few have tried this way of bulking, or have done so but unsuccessfully.

Anyone?

[quote]JJSchmidt wrote:
Ok, agreed, 10 meals is crazy. It was just an example. Let’s say 3 BIG meals and 3 Medium meals.(6 in total)

My aim of this post is to see WHO has actually used IF for bulking!

It looks like very few have tried this way of bulking, or have done so but unsuccessfully.

Anyone?[/quote]

Me. I have. It works just fine. I actually tend to use it more for recomping, but I usually end up adding a bit of scale weight despite losing a bit of fat, although I don’t really ever let myself get too fat in the first place.

My thoughts on it are: it totally works, although sometimes it can be a pain in the arse eating everything you need to eat in such a small window. I’m not a big dude (195lbs) so it’s not so bad for me, but if you were a really big dude trying to hit your macros in 8 hours (or whatever window you use) it would probably be a lot harder.

The recomping effects are great though, and everytime I stop IFing I get a bit fatter, and don’t seem to add more muscle than I did when I was IFing. I dunno why I ever stop to be honest, I just get it in my head that I’ll gain faster eating traditionally and it’s just not the case. I think as of now I’m IF for life baby!

I will say though that the recomping/fat loss effects seem to plateau quite quickly. I could probably ramp them up again with some cardio or something, but ain’t nobody got time for that.

rds637, sounds interesting…

Did you use post workout nutrition? I am fully on board with the BCAA’s pre-workout, but there is NO recommendations for post workout nutrition, besides a full on meal, which is fine theoretically, but it goes against EVERYTHING I know about Sports Nutrition.

Any ideas on this? I like a carb+protein shake post workout, or a banana and some protein, I think I read somewhere that when doing IF, you should NOT take a post workout shake immediately after training, as it inhibits GH release or something.

Any thoughts on this?

[quote]JJSchmidt wrote:
rds637, sounds interesting…

Did you use post workout nutrition? I am fully on board with the BCAA’s pre-workout, but there is NO recommendations for post workout nutrition, besides a full on meal, which is fine theoretically, but it goes against EVERYTHING I know about Sports Nutrition.

Any ideas on this? I like a carb+protein shake post workout, or a banana and some protein, I think I read somewhere that when doing IF, you should NOT take a post workout shake immediately after training, as it inhibits GH release or something.

Any thoughts on this?
[/quote]

erm, I’m not really the person to ask about this kind of thing because I think “workout nutrition” is the biggest pile of steaming horseshit on the planet. I mean no disrespect to Biotest as a company or any of their products, it’s just not for me.

I don’t think that it’s important to have things like fast acting carbs post workout, because your glycogen stores’ll fill up over the course of the day anyway, no to mention you don’t actually use all that much of your glycogen in a workout. Also, I believe what you ate the day/night BEFORE your workout has much more bearing than some sort of intra-workout drink. I mean how fast do you expect to absorb that shit anyway? It takes hours to digest something, so who cares? I watched a Lee Priest video where someone asked him about this and he was like “What the fuck sort of stupid question is that? Eat a pussy or suck a cock for all I care.” I love Lee Priest.

All I think a big whack of fast acting carbs post workout’ll do is just fuck up your insulin sensitivity. When I finish my workout my appetite is blunted, so I don’t think there’s any point in forcing some protein or whatever down my neck. If my body really wanted it, wouldn’t it be hungry? I dunno about things like GH release, Dr Squat thought it was important but that was a while ago so he might’ve changed his stance, I dunno.

I wait an hour or so til I get hungry, then I eat some eggs. I do the BCAAs pre-workout but honestly I don’t think it makes much difference. Your body is always in a balancing act between anabolism and catabolism anyway so I think that as long as you train and eat properly things like muscle loss aren’t as big a deal as people make out.

Sorry mate, that probably wasn’t the sort of answer you wanted.

[quote]JJSchmidt wrote:
Ok, agreed, 10 meals is crazy. It was just an example. Let’s say 3 BIG meals and 3 Medium meals.(6 in total)

My aim of this post is to see WHO has actually used IF for bulking!

It looks like very few have tried this way of bulking, or have done so but unsuccessfully.

Anyone?[/quote]

I don’t see it working out.

If you have the genetics to get really big,. your body will need to go through some time of just making sure it is fed so you can grow optimally.

Yeah, that can be a hassle. That is one reason I relate this to age so much.

rds… not really, but thanks for the input none the less. I’m going to give the leangains re-comp a go for a few weeks and see how that works out.

ProfX, my genetics are to be tall and have little muscle. I just saw a few of the before/after shots of people that did leangains, and thought it might do the trick for me.(although, I really do think there maybe some chemical ‘aid’ involved with these people)

baugust, thanks for the link, saw this post also. But doesn’t really answer my questions.

I’m going to try a re-comp/clean bulk for a while, see how that pans out… much appreciated feedback guys!

Thanks.

[quote]JJSchmidt wrote:
ProfX, my genetics are to be tall and have little muscle.[/quote]

My genetics were to be shorter with little muscle.

I had a problem with that.

Its an intersting concept, eating sparse meals throughout the day.

But if your diabetic or pre-diabetic it sounds dangerous.

I think the beta cells go through an active and resting phase like most other cells in the body. If they are kept constantly active it would seem to by-pass the bi-phasic insulin release we are more accustomed to today, or the mono-phasic insulin release we developed with in low carb, pre-agraian days.

Transitioning from mono-phasic to bi-phasic could be seen as a demonstration in practice of how to develop diabetes.

Muscle cells I believe also have a cyclic nature, I read something about the migration of DAF8 from the cytoplasm into the nucleus and back out again possibly being the real reason for sleep. And its putting this off that pools DAF8 in the cytoplasm in muscle cells and brain cells that makes us sluggish and leads to heart arrhythmia and other body problems.

My point is there are time dependent chemical processes that seem like pushing might not be beneficial.

[quote]jwillis84 wrote:
Its an intersting concept, eating sparse meals throughout the day.

But if your diabetic or pre-diabetic it sounds dangerous.[/quote]

Do you not see the befit of regular training and change in body comp on a person who is “pre-diabetic”?

I would worry more about what is being eaten and the goal of the lifter than them eating 6 times a day.