Doing Lean Gains the Long Distance way

So one of the best models I found with regards to intermittent fasting has to be Lean Gains. Backed up by ample research, and some pretty incredible results, it’s definitely the one that has the most appeal. It doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that you can eat daily with this approach and steers clear from the 24-36 hour fasts…eghem.

The general principle of Lean Gains is focused around a 16 hour fasting period and an 8 hour eating window. Within this 8 hour eating window you eat 2-3 meals (mainly preference). The “complicated” part to this approach and the part that a lot of people struggle with is the carb cycling and calorie intake. It can be broken down quite simply by saying on a training day (short cardio and heavy weight session); you eat high carb, high protein and low fat. On a rest day (short cardio session only), you eat high protein, high fat and low carb. Your calories on a training day are higher and lower on a rest day.

Experimenting with Lean Gains and Long Distance Training

So one of the main things to point out with the Lean Gains approach is that it is used mainly for people wanting to build muscle and drop body fat to low percentages, but there isn’t much talk about how it can be used with long distance training.

There are two reasons why the Lean Gains approach appeals more than other types of intermittent fasting:

1. You can eat!!! And you can eat big. The idea of not eating for over 24 hours does not appeal whatsoever!
2. Although there has been research proving that there is no muscle breakdown with fasted training, this doesn’t take into account long distance endurance training and going for a 16 mile training run in a fasted state doesn’t sound too fun.

However, Lean Gains do look at carb cycling and manipulating hormones. With one of my goals this year being to hit a sub 4 marathon, getting body fat lower and increasing lean muscle is an added benefit, and an easy way of improving times without spending hours focused on speed training, in fact it could be seen as a bit of a cheats way to improve times, but very effective!

So what if you could take the Lean Gains principles of training and rest days, and work it around long distance training plans? Surely this is doable. A lot of research, particularly into athletes training during Ramadan shows that it is still possible to incorporate fasting with LSD training, without breaking down precious muscle.

Getting around the long distance…

One word…planning, and lots of it!!! The first thing needed is a very thorough training plan to interpret exactly what is a “training” and what is a “rest” day, and of course a cheat day (or meal).

There are a few general ideas that could possibly use this method without causing lean tissue breakdown due to the volume of training, but still burn fat:

• Lower mileage days – these could be interpreted as “rest” days. Runs of up to 10 miles could be done in a “fasted” state, with the consumption of protein of BCAA’s beforehand to preserve lean tissue. Food wise, the largest meal would be consumed straight after with a small amount of starchy carbs and then focusing upon normal protocol and opting for higher fat and protein meals.

• Mid-mileage, Cross training and resistance days – these days could be pretty heavy in training and calorie burn and could last anywhere up to 2 hours. This would focus on being a high carb, high protein and low fat. All meals would contain some form of simple or starchy carbohydrate, the largest meal breaking the fast.

• Long Distance Days – depending on the part of the training plan and the distance being trained for, these sessions could last anywhere up to 5-8 hours!!! This definitely doesn’t fit within the lean gains protocol, however could still be worked in a similar way. If training were to be done in the afternoon, consuming a large meal high in all macronutrients beforehand, then following normal refuelling strategies throughout, and then a final large meal of the day high in all macronutrients again, could this combat lean tissue breakdown but still burn fat by still incorporating the fasting techniques?

Possibly very workable…let’s do it!!! I've got my work cut out planning wise, but we could get some very interesting results!