I worked hard for every ounce of muscle I’ve built over the years, and I’m not keen on losing any of it. That’s why I’m not a fan of intermittent fasting (IF) — at least not for my purposes.

Sure, IF can offer great health benefits like weight loss, cellular cleanup and repair, cognitive enhancement, and more (check out this Precision Nutrition ebook). It can also be quite useful in certain cases, as I mention in Lean and Mean, but it just doesn’t work for me. I shrink in no time, and my energy and strength plummet.

I’m not the only one who experiences an “anti-anabolic” effect from IF. Check out this article series by John Kiefer on the subject:

• Intermittent Fasting: Part 1
• Intermittent Fasting: Part 2, The Fight’s Over
• Intermittent Fasting: Part 3, Go Eat Yourself

Alternate-day fasting might be a better option if you plan to do IF for a long period of time (see Don’t Leave a Presentation Before the Q&A).

Perhaps the best strategy to get the positives of IF without many of the negatives is to do it just once a week: Pick a non-training day with no social commitments and sip on bone broth throughout the day. It’s not a complete fast — you’re still getting some nutrients — but your calorie load will be down, your digestive tract will get a break, and you’ll help clean up some cellular debris without sacrificing size, strength, or performance. You should rebound just fine the next day, and you might even feel better in the process.

I may use that strategy here and there during the “lean” days of summer, but for now, I’ll only fast while I sleep — and that works just fine for me!