Fasting and Bodybuilding

One of the most famous bodybuilders of his generation Sergio Nubret was a strong advocate of intermittent fasting way back before it was popular. Sergio Nubret had a fantastic physique and whether or not he built that body using steroids is not the question here, what his nutritional methods were are.

Amazing Body

Sergio Nubret was famous not only for having an impeccable physique; he was also famous for his style of nutrition. He ate like a lion in the African wild. No, he didn't go around chasing zebra and antelope. He simply ate one gargantuan meal each day and the remainder of the day he fasted. Essentially hat he was practicing was intermittent fasting. He had a window where he would eat his meal and a window where he wouldn't.

Can you emulate him using intermittent fasting?

If he built such an impressive physique using a one meal a day method, surely you can tap into your genetic potential for bodybuilding using an intermittent fasting model of 2-3 or even 4 meals a day. It's quite easy to fit 3-4 meals a day into an eight hour eating period. For example, if your eating window starts at 12pm, you could have your first meal at 12pm, your second at 3pm your third at 6pm and your fourth at 8pm. It's pretty much the same as eating every 2-3 hours it just means you get to have bigger portions (always a good thing).

Calorie Surplus for muscle building

At the end of the day whether or not you can build muscle doesn't come down to how many meals you have, it comes down to whether or not you're in a calorie surplus, if you're training progressively and are in a calorie surplus you will build muscle so this suggests that intermittent fasting and bodybuilding can work for you. It worked for Sergio Nubret and he ate only one meal a day. There are a lot of other success stories available from the likes of Brad Pilon, John Berardi, Martin Berkhan and the Hodgetwins that show significant muscle growth while intermittent fasting.

What works for you?

In saying that like everything it may or may not be the best option for you, what's important is that you find out if that is the case and don't dismiss it until you have at least experiment with it. The benefits of intermittent fasting are pretty amazing and combined with a proper training program and nutrition you can build muscle to bodybuilding standards. Give it a shot and let me know how you get on.

Categories: bodybuilding, Fasting, muscle and fitness