Intermittent fasting has been quickly gaining popularity as one of the more powerful tools fitness enthusiasts can wield to annihilate obstacles.
Fasting is used by many exercisers as a way to burn fat, build muscle, and age with grace. Or, in other words, achieve all-powerful levels of aesthetic greatness.
In this article, I’ll give you the secrets of how to stack supplements to maximize the results associated with intermittent fasting, as well as which five supplements can best help you reap the benefits of your healthy fasting lifestyle.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting (or IF) is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. These periods are commonly referred to as “windows.”
Unlike most “diets” Intermittent fasting doesn’t focus on which foods to eat, but rather, when you should eat said foods (this applies to drinking as well). As such, the key to making IF work for you all comes down to nutrient timing.
There are several different methods for incorporating intermittent fasting protocols into your daily/weekly life.
The most common method is fasting for 16 hours, then giving yourself an 8 hour eating window.
To some, that might sound difficult.
However, most of us already fast when we’re asleep. That is, unless you’re one of those people with SRED (sleep-related eating disorder), and therefore apparently eat when you’re asleep without any recollection of the food intake (I always thought this was just referred to as poor decisions made after too many drinks on the town?). But since SRED exists in just about no one, we’ll ignore that throughout the rest of this article (although, if you do have SRED, maybe start your fast after a substantial breakfast, knowing you’ll be hitting your macro goals when you fall asleep).
Digression aside, let’s say you’re one of those anomalous healthy humans who somehow get an entire eight hours of sleep a night, by the time you wake up you will already be halfway through your 16 hour fasting period.
For example, if you were to begin your fast at 10:00pm, you would avoid eating until 2:00pm. That would give you a 16 hour fasting window, then your 8 hour eating window would take place from 2:00pm until 10:00pm.
Of course the eating window doesn’t have to look like that. You can adjust your fasting/eating windows however you want, so long as you are getting prolonged, consistent periods of fasting (I can’t stress consistent enough, there are so many misinformed or naive who have a piece of candy or something and still believe they’re fasting…smh).
There are way too many options, methods, and variations for the scope of this article though. If you wanna download that knowledge into your neuro-CPU, then you should check this article out. It’s incredibly useful and really quite well written [pats self on the back].
Before we continue, let’s get this important piece of information out of the way:
No food is allowed during the fasting period, but you can drink water, coffee, tea and other non-caloric beverages (that bit about non-caloric beverages is an progress-damaging oversimplification, but I’ll touch on that later).
Why Exercisers Practice Intermittent Fasting
Chances are if you’re reading this article, you already know about the benefits of intermittent fasting. Here’s a brief reminder though.
- Autophagy
- Metabolic function
- Burning more fat for fuel
- Improved hormone modulation
- Muscle building maximization
If you need more information on those benefits, then you should really get caught up on your brain gainz (catch up to the rest of the class here).
Quick note: some of you might find yourself offended by the aforementioned benefits. This is because you’ve been indoctrinated into believing that science hasn’t made any new discoveries since the 90’s. Just take a second to think about that please. I’m a 90’s kid. Meaning I was excited when I got my first Gameboy. Every game from that grey brick can now be played on your phone. Oh, and we also believed the Food Pyramid was accurate back in the 90’s. So yeah, welcome to the future…or something.
Anyway, some examples of such doctrines that might be holding you back:
- You need 5-8 small meals a day because without constant protein you will lose muscle mass
- Eating small meals throughout the day is the best way to burn fat because it speeds up metabolism. Cute. Wanna know what other mammals eat small meals throughout the day? Cows.
If you’re still not convinced, check out this article.
How Supplementation Can Optimize IF Results
So, obviously supplementation comes after getting the basics of intermittent fasting down.
That being said, incorporating proper supplementation into your diet can help maximize your fasting results.
The Top Five Supplements for Maximizing Intermittent Fasting
All Bulk No Bloat
This is one of my favorite supplements of all time. All Bulk No Bloat was specially formulated to troll/disprove all those who think huge excesses of calories (found in worthless mass-gainer shakes) are required to build muscle.
The aim of this all-mighty muscle magnum opus is to maximize lean muscle growth, without causing any unwanted fat gain.* All Bulk No Bloat seeks to accomplish such benefits by fortifying the key pillars of muscle gain.
- Mitochondria function*
- Glycogen absorption*
- Protein synthesis*
- Muscle recovery*
All Bulk No Bloat works exceptionally well for those who practice Intermittent Fasting.
Especially if you workout fasted. The supplement’s benefits work synergistically with the commonly known benefits of the post-workout “anabolic window”, as well as the benefits that occur within the body when you break your fast.
After years of experimentation (both on myself and on my coaching clients) with IF and All Bulk No Bloat, I’ve found the following times of ingestion to be effective…
- Best: Train near the end of your fasting window. Take All Bulk No Bloat immediately post-workout. Thirty minutes later, have your first real meal. Most likely, and effectively, that “breakfast” would be Buck Feed Whey Protein.
- Approved: Thirty minutes before you break your fast.
- Sort of acceptable: If you train on the front end of your fasting window, then it’s acceptable (but not ideal) to drink All Bulk No Bloat directly after your workout. Then continue fasting (meaning no post-workout protein shake)
- Not approved: sipping throughout the fasting window.
Disclaimer: All Bulk No Bloat technically will break a fast. This is due to the powerhouse supplement Phosphatidic Acid that’s present in ABNB’s ingredient panel. Phosphatidic Acid has an impact on what’s called the mTor pathway, and there’s not enough space in this article to explain all the science behind that particularly esoteric knowledge.
Read more about the omnipotent zero calorie mass gainer here.
Exogenous Ketones
I won’t spend too much time on this supplement. Mainly because there’s some disagreement in the biohacking community about whether exogenous ketones enhance the fat-burning effects of IF or break a fast.
I have experimented with both, and have personally noticed benefits in fat loss combined with exercise, deepened ketosis (fat burning), cognition etc.* If you want to know more (so I can convert you to my personal opinions) then check out this article.
When to take:
I suggest taking Bucked Up Exogenous Ketones either at the beginning of your waking fast or when you’re about 12 hours into the fast (if you’re super dragging).
The timing of EK isn’t as critical as when to take some of the other supplements on this list. The most important thing is to avoid taking ketones during your eating window. Which, I mean, is probably pretty obvious.
(Exception to the rule: I learned this one through my good pal the myth and legend Mike Symkoviak, who does not practice IF. Mike noticed the exogenous ketones gave him a stellar pump.* Additionally, he theorized that, because the body will pull from exogenous ketones before it pulls from other sources of energy like glycogen or proteins, ingesting the ketones prior to his workout would have (muscle) protein sparing benefits.* I’ve tried it and am inclined to agree.)
Bucked Up Pre-Workout (any: BAMF, Bucked Up, WOKE AF)
Any pre-workout that breaks your fast is a no-go. Sadly for many would-be goal-slayers, a lot of supplement companies put sugar in their pre-workout. I doubt I really need to tell you why that’s stupid, but just in case: sugar spikes your insulin, and in doing so, will kick you out of your fast.
But good news. We at Bucked Up aren’t them (why do you think we always say, “the other guys”). We work based on the novel idea that using clinically studied ingredients, and (over)thinking about what will work most effectively for you, matters more than anything else. Quality is important. Weird, right?
As a result of our awesomeness, none of our pre-workouts will break a fast, as they’re IF, Keto, Gainz friendly. Zero sugar. And, of course, all the ingredients you know and love for:
- Energy*
- Pump*
- Endurance*
- Focus*
- Power*
When to take:
Ummm…I dunno. Like, maybe before your workout?
Anyway, find out here which of our pre-workouts is best for you.
Buck Feed Whey Protein
After a workout, especially a fasted workout, your body is extremely susceptible to anything you ingest. As a result, getting the proper nutrients for recovery and making the best use out of that “anabolic” window is essential.
Buck Feed Whey Protein is the pinnacle of awesome when it comes to whey protein powders. Keto-friendly, ideal macro-profile, packed with 25g of grass-fed whey protein, and more. Also hormone free, and all-natural.
Get yours here!
Heat Fat Burner
Although many individuals employ intermittent fasting for the benefits associated with muscle growth, anti-aging, etc, I’d say it’s safe to assume that most exercisers practice fasting for fat loss purposes.
Naturally, if you belong to the group of fat loss seekers then you’re also going to want a supplement that can aid in those goals.
Bucked Up’s fat burner, HEAT (as well as the more intense version, HEAT Hardcore) is formulated with clinically studied ingredients to powerfully complement a healthy diet and exercise for enhanced fat loss.*
- Thermogenesis*
- Metabolic function*
- Water shedding*
- Energy and focus*
- Mood and motivation*
- Amplified calorie burn*
Those benefits can be affected on an even greater level when exercisers combine HEAT with fasting. Find out how here.
Where to Begin With Supplement Stacking for Max Intermittent Fasting Results
Personally, I’m not really into making several changes all at once. Simply because I prefer to know exactly what’s working in any given fitness-related situation.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about utilizing supplements to help myself and any clients/peers reach full potential. But it’s important to be calculated when approaching changes.
So, of course, listen to my expertise and stock up on all those aforementioned, epic supplements (not that I’m biased or anything).
Just be sure that, when your package of profound goodness & gainz arrives, you add them in systematically.
Unless, of course, you’re impatient and need all the results right this second. Then by all means, go “full send”. I won’t judge. Largely because I have no room to judge anyone for such ardent adherence to seeking awesomeness.
If I’m being honest, I’m an all or nothing type of person, so as much as I preach being systematic, excitedly incorporating all the supplement goodies right off the bat is more likely the approach I’d take. I just thought I should try and act responsible before giving you the thumbs up to…
Head on over to the site and get as bucked up as humanly possible.
If any single supplement we discussed int his article particularly strike your fancy, I have provided a direct link to each individual supplement in the bulleted list below (because I care). Read about macros and flexible dieting.
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. |