#263: Fasted Exercise for Fat Loss and Exercise Performance w/ Thomas DeLauer

There's different ideas when it comes to enhancing fat loss via exercise in a fed VS fasted state. Some say all that matters is that you're in a calorie deficit, others feel strongly it enhances fat loss.

To give you two different perspectives, here's two different conversations: one for fasted exercise featuring fitness expert Thomas DeLauer and one not-for fasted exercise (me). Just to be clear, I'm not saying fasted exercise is bad, but I just find that I'm much stronger in the fed-state.

Key Time Stamps from Thomas's Discussion

02:47 Thomas follows a targeted ketogenic diet. He applies carbs at specific times. He has fun with the experimentation.

03:40 Ketogenic diet is a tool for improving cognitive function. He handles stress better when he is keto. He shifts to more keto when he is doing endurance workouts. He adds carbs as a backloading system to maintain a specific look or stay lean.

04:36 Protein synthesis stays elevated for 24 hours after a workout. It is not more extreme in the first 30 to 60 minutes post workout. You are more insulin sensitive after a workout and consumed carbs get shuttled into glycogen versus being burned immediately.

05:30 Thomas makes his own healthy Gatorade using a small amount of fructose (15 grams), glucose (15 – 20 grams) and a little salt. He only uses this for his most intense workouts.

06:00 When you are on a ketogenic diet, your body is efficient at storing glycogen. It requires less. There is no need to reload.

06:30 After a hypertrophy workout is a great time to back load. It allows you to build more muscle. Spiking insulin a little activates mTOR pathway, which is anabolic.

07:16 Targeted fat loss, one study revealed, can occur with different types of fasting. Thomas makes moderate increases to his cardio workout before a shoot.

08:40 He changes one variable at a time. To get lean, he goes as far as he can with diet before implementing cardio, but not cardio in a progressive state. It is easier to control your diet than to try to out work a bad diet. He finds that there are metabolic factors in a workout that enhance the positive effects of his diet.

10:49 Exercise is a catalyst for the diet to do the rest. Control your diet and let that have an effect. Add one variable at a time so you can tell what is having which effect.

12:41 Thomas trains fasted. Fasted training changed his body. He gets the most metabolic response.

13:24 About 14 to 16% more intramyocellular lipids are burned when you train fasted over non-fasted. We have fat droplets inside our muscles called intramyocellular lipids. They are recruited when we move our muscle. Adipose tissue is mobilized to restore them.

14:25 Fasted workouts increase mitochondrial density and efficiency, thus it makes the ATP synthesis and coupling process more efficient.

15:17 In a fasted state, in the presence of ketones, you have muscle sparing mechanisms in place. Adrenaline and noradrenaline can spare muscle.

17:31 The more fat adapted you are, the more you spare lean muscle mass in the fasted state.

18:17 Through the proper utilization of compound movements, Thomas gets a good deal of auxiliary muscle recruitment.

19:51 There is a great metabolic benefit to doing compound movements.

21:30 There are different levels of hypertrophy. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, from the pump, is when the protein and water in a gel-like part of the cell can grow. Muscular density growth can occur on a myofibrillar level.

28:02 Branch chain aminos are not part of Thomas’ pre or intra-workout regime. After a workout he may have BCAs, but not protein. His methodology stops the catabolic process, but allows him to be in a calorie deficit for the rest of the day. His protein is a combination hemp and pea for the full amino acid profile.

29:19 You may be able to put on decent muscle as a vegan, but it is a complex process to get adequate protein. During his 2-week vegan experience recently, Thomas felt great, but thinks he lost some muscle.

32:10 Thomas was an athlete and did not eat a lot of carbs growing up, so losing weight was easier than others might.

33:40 Thomas wishes that he had known more about mobility and with mobility comes strength. He should have gotten moving, even with body weight exercise, instead of the regimented workout. He now incorporates movement into his workouts.

35:20 Pick your one channel and be consistent with it to be an effective influencer. Not every piece of your content is going to take off.