Day #2

Fasted Workout and BCAAs

Today is my first day with a fasted workout. I usually get up in the morning, take some BCAAs, and drink a Gatorade before a workout. The Gatorade gives me some fast absorbing carbs which provides fuel for my workout...but during the fasting window this would be counterproductive. I want to force my body to use more fat reserves for energy. This probably will result in a performance decrease depending upon how long my workout is because the process your body uses to convert fat to fuel is not as efficient as carbohydrate conversion.

You may be asking yourself what in the world are BCAAs? BCAA stands for Branched-Chain Amino Acid. If you remember anything from biology or physiology, you may remember that amino acids are the building blocks of protein. When your body synthesizes protein, it breaks it down into amino acids which the body uses, among other things, to repair and build muscle. I'll spare you the atomic breakdown of the BCAAs...but feel free to look it up if you are a nerd :) Yes...I am a nerd...I looked it up. The 3 amino acids that make up the BCAAs are leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These 3 amino acids are the most important of the 9 essential amino acids to repair and build muscle. Another really interesting thing is the BCAAs are metabolized in the muscle versus the liver, where other amino acids are metabolized. If you want to read more about BCAA supplementation here is a pretty good link: http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Supplements/BCAA.html

Why am I taking them? On workout days I'll take 10g of BCAAs before I workout, about 2 hours later, and then once again 2 hours after that. This is done to ensure that protein synthesis continues even though I'm fasting so that my muscles have what they need to rebuild and grow. If I don't have a supply of amino acids and lift weights during a fasted state, protein synthesis won't take place and I may not be able to repair and grow muscle efficiently. This could also result in catabolization of muscle, which is bad! As for why I'm lifting weights during the fasted period of the day...training causes more energy expenditure (calorie burn) and doing so during the fasted state means that more fat is burned for energy.

Why not just take protein? The reason I'm taking BCAAs instead of protein is to avoid all of the calories and carbs. The BCAA supplement I'm taking right now actually has 4g carbs and 20 calories. I don't think this small amount will jeopardize my results, but I have ordered another BCAA supplement that actually has no carbs and no calories. Once that comes in I'll probably use a mixture of the two.

10:00am Update:

Day #2 is underway! I got up this morning at 4:15am and met two of my boot campers at the gym to show them some strength training exercises. At about 5:30am I took 10g of BCAA's and got in a back workout. I had to cut things a little short for time, but still feel like I got in a decent workout. Here is what I did:

Wide grip pull-ups (4 sets)
Body Weight - 11 reps
Body Weight - 9 reps
Body Weight - 8 reps
Body Weight - 7 reps


Seated bent-over dumbbell row (4 sets)
50lb - 12 reps
50lb - 12 reps
50lb - 12 reps
50lb - 10 reps


Single arm dumbbell bench row (3 sets)
100lb - 12 reps
100lb - 12 reps
100lb - 12 reps


Hanging Chin Ups (full range of motion) (4 sets)

Body Weight - 10 reps
Body Weight - 8 reps
Body Weight - 6 reps
Body Weight - 6 reps


Dead-lifts (3 sets)
205lb - 8 reps
225lb - 8 reps
225lb - 8 reps

I definitely felt "glycogen-depleted" as the workout went on, and after the workout. I kind of had that weak feeling like I hadn't eaten anything...imagine that! At 7:00am I took a second dose 10g of BCAAs, and at 9:00am took a third dose. I am feeling pretty good about the fast this morning. I am definitely hungrier today than I was yesterday, but I think my state of mind is a little better after making it to 11:45am yesterday. I don't see it as a problem making it to 12pm today.

1:45pm Update:

Success! No crash after lunch today! I purposefully avoided the high Glycemic Index (GI) foods for lunch today and that made a huge difference! Surprisingly, the fast was pretty easy today...made it to 12pm with no problems. Sure I was hungry, and my stomach definitely talked to me a little bit, but I never felt uncomfortable. I don't want to take anything for granted and think that it will get easier and easier, but as of right now I'm pretty comfortable with the eating and fasting window. Here is what was for lunch today: Banana + protein shake (24g) + Subway, foot-long roasted chicken on wheat w/ cheese, lettuce, tomato, spinach, and light mayo + strawberry yogurt + a few multigrain wheat thin crackers. Martin Berkhan (LeanGains.com) recommends calorie cycling (eating more on training days, less on rest days) for better results. I don't know if I'm fully convinced on the science behind that because of how I've always understood the muscle recovery time-frame, but I'm at the very least trying to eat as much as I can on training days to keep my calories up. I actually brought even more food for lunch, but feel stuffed right now. Maybe I'll be able to fit that in with my next meal at 3:30pm.

8:30pm Update:

Had a pretty good sized meal at 3:45pm, and again tonight at 7pm. Finished it off with a casein protein shake w/ skim milk at 8pm. I am stuffed! I tried to eat a lot of calories today...but I'm definitely not counting. I hope when I weigh in this Sunday, I'll still be around  192. I don't mind going up or down a pound or two, but my goal is to remain neutral. Tomorrow morning is a leg workout. Fun times.