Fasting and Gaining Mass NOT Losing Muscle

One of the biggest panics folks have about using Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat program is that they will lose muscle mass by fasting. Brad assured me (and them) that as long as someone is doing resistance training, they won't lose muscle by fasting 1-2 times per week.

And after I read his new ebook, "How Much Protein" and his guide for gaining muscle, I decided to...

...experiment with his program. And not only am I testing to see if you'll lose muscle with fasting, but I'm taking the "muscle gain" challenge with fasting...

...and so far, so good.

It's been six weeks since I had this photo taken of me at 170 pounds. I now weigh 183 pounds, despite fasting once per week (and look like a slightly larger version of that photo, with minimal IF ANY fat gain). And I'm now on my 6th fast of the "muscle gain" challenge today. 

Brad's program was designed as a simple lifestyle solution for fat loss and weight maintenance. But there's no reason why it wouldn't work for building muscle too.

Here's the secret why it works...

=> The human body is incredibly resilient. Much more so than typical bodybuilding culture believes.

It can survive going longer than 2.83 hours without eating. You won't lose muscle mass if that happens. We also don't need 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Heck, research suggests the more we train the LESS protein we need.

Humans were designed as/have evolved into a species that can easily go long periods of time without eating and still maintain our muscle mass provided their is some type of stimulus applied to the muscles to maintain their composition (i.e. if you workout with weights, it's really, REALLY hard to lose muscle mass).

So take a deep breath and relax the next time you go more than 187.2 minutes without food. You won't shrivel up.

Heck, you can even gain muscle while incorporating a weekly fast into your lifestyle. It's not about how many calories you consume every 3 hours, it's about how many calories you consume every 7 days. Look at the big picture, not the minutiae.

And my secrets to gaining 13 pounds of lean mass in 6 weeks?

Bread, creatine, vegetarian protein sources, lots of fruits and vegetables, and a lot (and I mean a LOT!) of almond butter and peanut butter. Plus some meals with meat. A little pizza on weekends. And chocolate milk. Good old chocolate milk. The kind you buy at the convenience stores here in Canada.

No fancy schmancy, overhyped, unproven, expensive supplements (those are for 19 year old kids that don't know better).  

More details to come as the muscle gain fasting challenge progresses...

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

PS - Brad's 24 hour fasting program for fat loss "and muscle gain"...

is available here:

Eat Stop Eat