http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/05/nutrition/post-workout-refueling-now-later_98926
Anyone try this for an extended time? What were your results?
I occasionally skip eating (either “at all” or “mostly”) after a first workout and come back several hours later for a second. The first is usually something moderately hard/long and the second is often an easy 45-60 min of the same discipline. I’m always surprised how well everything feels when I do this and think it helps long-term, particularity with ironman training. I think something like whats described in the article is worth a shot if just to see what heppens. Obviously not for everyone, though…
What is good for dropping weight is NOT good for optimal recovery to reach peak training loads. That’s why it’s important to reach race weight during your base period where training volume may be high but training load in terms of intensity is not. FOr exampel is a base period, I might train on average 175TSS/day but total weekly hours are maybe 20-22 hours. In a build period, it’s 190/day, but only 17-18 hours, so recovery is more critical as the IF is much higher.
I’ve been trying to drop some weight during this last build period out of desperation, and it’s probably a loosing battle because any weight improvements could nearly be offset by reduced fitness gains.
I assume that by not eating your body, with it’s low blood sugar, low glycogen reserve state, will attempt to use fat and protein to restore those. That’s a slow process and ti will leave you with depleted glycogen stores and energy levels for your next training session.
For me it’s just a downward spiral. It’s not the workout 8 hours later, it’s the only 16, 24, 36 and 48 hours later where I’m just crushed. So if I “fast” a little on Monday and put in a good 700 TSS, by Thursday I’m crushed from lack of energy not so much from leg fatigue. I can see the low glycogen levels in my weight. I’ve seen swings of almost 7lbs when I’m depleted. This is because water is stored along with glycogen. VLC diets warn you about this, that initial weight loss is very rapid because of this and you’ll put it bakc on as you taper off those diets.
I suppose there’s some beneficial adaptation for IM training so it’s probably a good strategy during base periods as mentioned. Btu after that I’d rather get the adaptation from 10-15% higher training load.