Alright, prepare yourself, this is going to be a bumpy ride.

As you know, I’ve spent some time among the Youtube Bodybuilding community (I even have a brand spanking new channel, that soon will have vids. Go ahead and subscribe now, eh?)

Making it’s way through the Youtube community is a new craze (no, not the preworkout). Called Lean Gains: Intermittent Fasting. The inventor is Martin Berkhin.

There are tons of videos on Youtube about this lastest diet.

There are those that love it (Here, Here) (these have NSFW language so be warned. Also keep in mind the twins are trying to get to 4% BodyFat)

And there are those that do not.  (Here [compared to replicating an eating disorder], Here [Thinks no Serious Bodybuilder can or should do this. At all. Ever] and Here ["IF? Hell No. I'm going to Eat when I'm hungry."]

Also a General Overview of IF. Thanks Campbell Fitness.

Intermittent Fasting: 16 hours no eating at all. 8 hours to eat. Other variations can be 19/5 or however you manipulate.

8 hours to get in all your calories. For the entire day.

Chris Jones states it best.

Burning fat is simple: Calories in vs. Calories out.

Take in more than you need, you will gain weight. Take in less than you need, lose fat. Got it?

Once you get 8% Bodyfat or lower, the harder it is to burn fat, and this is because the body is designed to store energy in the form of fat. Under 8%, it becomes harder to lose weight, as the body tries to hold on to that fat even harder than before. It’s of evolutionary benefit to us to have fat on our bodies.

This Brings us to IF.

I see a few problems with this diet. For starters, when you starve yourself for 16hrs, you are more likely to gorge yourself for those 8 hours you can eat. It’s very difficult to train your willpower to only hold to say 2000 calories, when you will most likely wind up eating 3000 calories longterm. Why? Because you’re STARVING!!!

I think you need food for energy, food for growth, food to help your many supplements work better and to keep your body functioning normally.

Your body hates to burn fat. The chance is too great that you’ll lose weight— but it’s because your body burnt Protein. That’s right, that muscle you’ve been spending all that time in the gym building.

You want to lose fat? There’s much better ways to do so!

1) Fasted Cardio. Cardio on an empty stomach. Burn Fat. Increase cardio time, too, to about 30-40 minutes.

2) Drink more water. Make it COLD. Your body will burn more calories trying to warm it up in your system. This has the additional benefit of turning your metabolism on overdrive.

3) Weights: Low weights, Hi Reps. Burns Fat.

4) Caffeine: Guess what? It burns fat. A cup of coffee is fine, though you can try a great fat burner like Fusion Bodybuilding’s Sub Q or Cellucor Super HD. These are the only 2 real fat burners I stand behind at all. (The Cellucor post is coming, soon) no doubt.

5) Practice Mindful Eating. Don’t just stuff your face. Chew slowly, notice tastes and texture as your begin and continue eating it.

That’s the end of my rant on IF. I think it’s a throw away fad diet that will cause more harm in the long term than good.

There are NO SHORTCUTS. Just hard work in the gym day in and day out.

But to do that work… you need food.