Hey Barbell Medicine team,
I fast for one 24 hour period a week for religious reasons and I would like to know what your advice would be on how to modify diet and training to accommodate this.
When it comes to training, would you recommend any resistance training or formal cardio at all, or is it better to rest that day?
Would one day of 0 calorie intake a week have a profound effect on a cutting diet or a massing diet? Is the weekly calorie total more important when it comes to body composition?
Thanks in advance
I probably wouldn’t change anything if you’ve been doing this for a long time, as you’re likely adapted to it.
I probably wouldn’t want to train on a day where I wasn’t going to eat (and/or drink), especially if I could otherwise fit the necessary training in my schedule.
Most people will compensate by eating more on other days to compensate, which is why fasting-centric diets (of any type) don’t really produce more weight loss than other diets. I don’t think it’s great for muscle gain, but it is what it is. To answer your question, energy balance is struck over a far longer period than a week.