Hi,
I’ve been lifting and following a pretty strict diet for about 2 years now but I cannot seem to get under my 15% body fat. I’ve been recently reading a lot about insulin sensitivity and I seem to fit in that category. I’m planning on beginning a 5-2 diet this week to help with that issue. My current plan is 4 days of weight lifting, two days of cardio and one day off. Can I do my fasting days on my cardio days or should I be NOT be doing any physical activity on my fasting days? Thanks
Do you track? What are your calories at?
I do track, buy why would that make a difference? I’m asking specifically if the 5/2 protocol allows cardio on fasted days.
It took me a little while to get used to the fasting days and at first the idea of cardio was not welcome. After a while I could do short jogs and feel fine and also, some bouldering. I do enjoy long walks whilst fasting.
What does this mean?
By 5/2 do you mean the standard 600 kcal approach? Or are we talking total water fast? You can definitely train on the former - low volume, of course. I sometimes train on a total fast but I don’t think it’s a good idea to do so regularly. CT has spoken about cortisol issues and this falls into that category.
Cardio seems to be recommended on any low calorie / fasting day if fat loss or limiting fat gain is the goal. Probably some form of LISS is better suited than HIIT.
Paul Carter and CT, among others, have spoken about this.
So if you ask me, the answer to your question is yes.
It matters because it sounds like you want to try 5/2 to see if it breaks your fat loss plateau. It’s not a magic bullet for fat loss. It’s simply a convenient way to create a deficit.