Making the Weight - An Introduction to Intermittent Fasting (Part 1)

By Idai Makaya 

This article appeared in MAI Magazine Dec 2009

This month's article will look at Intermittent Fasting, a highly effective method of weight control which is not well known in this part of the world, but has been gaining popularity in the North American continent (especially among martial artists and athletes).

Intermittent Fasting (IF, for short) now has as much research behind it is many of the more mainstream diets and weight loss philosophies and is well worth knowing about if you are a martial artist - or an athlete who wants to have control over bodyweight and body fat.

This article will form the first of a 2 part series on the topic. The series will outline all the options around IF available to martial artists and fighters. The main highlight of this particular article will be a discussion with a well known authority on intermittent fasting - Brad Pilon. Brad is the founder of the Eat Stop Eat Program, a very popular intermittent fasting option for athletes and people looking to lose weight without changing what they eat or exercising more.

Readers may ask "Why is such an investigation of value to martial artists?" and that's a reasonable question. The answer is that research into martial arts clubs has repeatedly shown that the most commonly quoted reason for adults taking up martial arts training is "to get fitter and lose some weight." There are numerous associated reasons, such as "getting fitter while doing an activity that will improve my confidence" or "doing a fitness activity which will also serve me in learning to defend myself," etc. However, with martial arts training being what it is, this trend does come as a surprise to many people when they first learn of it.

Considering that many martial artists and combat athletes need to control their weight for a variety of reasons (which I will outline shortly) I thought it would be a good idea to look more closely at a method of weight control which has been proven to be highly effective and which I have been using and researching for the last few years in order to reduce the amount of time I spend doing aerobic exercise - such as running, etc. Intermittent Fasting, simply put, involves implementing short, controlled fasting periods during your day - or your week (depending on which program suits your circumstances best). During fasting periods only water is generally consumed (or zero-calorie drinks, black tea or coffee, and in some cases a bit of low calorie fruit and vegetables - depending on the regime you choose).

You may ask "what are the main reasons why some martial artists may want to reduce, control or optimise their weight?"

• Mainly it's because competitive martial artists will often fight in weight categorised competitions and the best weight category for an individual is the one which allows for the best possible power-to-mass ratio.

This means that the stronger you are for your weight and height, the better a fighter you will be at that weight and height. Anybody who is overweight can lose the excess weight without losing much strength. This will mean that a fighter can get to a lower weight category without sacrificing strength (if initially overweight). For guidance, the best weight for any fighter is usually the weight at which overall body fat is below 10% of total bodyweight (i.e. abdominal muscles will be showing clearly because there will be no fat covering them). Fat does very little towards improving athletic performance and having excess fat means you are simply lugging around extra weight during a contest. That will make you slower and will cause you to tire quicker than if you were lighter.

• In addition, for non-competitive martial artists the logic will still apply, your power-to-weight-ratio increases if you shed excess weight and that will make you faster and allow you to tire a little slower than if you have excess "dead weight" from being overweight.

   

• The other obvious reason for being at your optimum body weight (with minimal excess fat) is that your health will be better and your quality and length of life are likely to improve dramatically over the course of your life, when compared to being overweight.

For more specific detail, the fasting periods recommended in IF are not "very long" in duration (the longest fast prescribed by any of the established methods is 24 hours - once or twice a week). To the uninitiated this may seem extremely long to go without eating. However, considering that fasting is defined in these circumstances as the time between meals, it's pertinent to remind readers that if you have dinner by 8pm in the evenings and breakfast at 8am in the morning you'll have fasted for 12 hours. IF looks at extending that common overnight fasting period by between 5 and 12 hours (depending on the regime chosen). It's usually not nearly as challenging to do this as some people may imagine.

All the popular IF regimes tend to be similarly effective and there are a number of major regimes which have become well established 2 of which will be reviewed in this 2 article series - namely Eat Stop Eat and The Warrior Diet. I will outline what those options involve and what their initiators believe are their advantages.

Brad Pilon pioneered the popular Eat Stop Eat Program, which involves choosing one or two 24 hour fasting periods each week. Brad is highly qualified in Dietetics, having worked  in food supplement manufactiuring companies for many years. He is also very active, training in martial arts, Ice Hockey and weight training. Having read a few hundred pages of his writings now I have a lot of respect for Brad's insights into the human metabolism and general dietary issues (in fact, very few doctors I know have shown a similar level of practical understanding of the biochemistry of the athlete's diet and metabolism).

Eat Stop Eat recommends fasting for 24 hours at a time - once or twice weekly. If you are overweight Brad says you should fast twice weekly and then when your weight is finally ideal you can actually reduce to a single fast - just once a week. I asked Brad a few questions around his Eat Stop Eat IF regime, to give readers a little more information.

Idai Makaya: Please say a little about your personal background.

Brad Pilon: I grew up in Burlington, Ontario, a small (but rapidly growing) suburb of Toronto. I'm now 32, married with a 2 year old daughter and 1 month old son. My family life takes most of my free time, but I still practice Krav Maga twice a week. Once my children are a little older I will get back to playing ice-hockey. I don't do any personal training or personal consultation. My back ground is in the sciences.

Idai Makaya:  What would you say are the main benefits of your diet for martial artists, athletes, or even the general public?

 

Brad Pilon: My latest project, that I just finished, is my new book called "How Much Protein?" covering the 

evidence behind how much protein you need to maintain, or build, muscle mass.

 

Idai Makaya:  Sounds like it'll be a good read Brad. Good luck on that new project.

 

To conclude, Intermittent fasting will be a new concept to many people reading this article - although it is supported by a wealth of scientific evidence. If you want to look more closely into IF, or give it a try yourself, I would recommend that you read the appropriate literature available on the subject - such as Eat Stop Eat. Choose just one method of IF and stick with it for a few months before considering an alternative. As I said, they are probably all equally effective - but different regimes will suit different personal circumstances and training routines. There is a great deal of information on the internet as well, so do your research. If you are going to do something, do it properly - and be informed.

 

My next articles will continue to delve into the deep varieties of interesting (and sometimes surprising) methods of improving your conditioning and performance. Happy training until then!

 

To find out more specific information about intermittent fasting contact Idai.