Fasting for statics

[watts]

After hearing of Sam Stills improvments with fasting on his static times and hearing of the health benefits of fasting it has realy taken my interest.
What would be the ideal fasting time (hours or days) and type (juice or water) for maximum breathhold.
Are their many of you guys who practice fasting regularly?
Ive had some success with 1 days fasting only drinking juice but with work and family commitments i dont think im getting the real benifits of doing this.

Any thoughts

Thanks Nathan Watts

 

[DeepThought]

Shooting here from my rough understaing....

I would think that a short fast (1-2 days) wouldn't require any juice as you won't be getting all the benefits (talking about fruit juice).
Generally (with some limitations) your body works with glucose as fuel, any other saccharide will be broken down into glucose so it could enter the krebs cycle to produce ATP (or stored as glycogen). (I'm not sure when fatty acids come in to play though).
So if you keep the blood sugar levels normal (or high) with juices you might not drive your body to reduce metabolism. It might reduce metabolism in the digestive system though (much less work than digesting a steak).
Another issue: for me it's hard to keep blood sugar levels stable with fruits/juices if I fast for 18 or so - Insulin hyperreaction I guess. I know that 30-120 minutes later I might start feeling hypoglycemic (but I might be an exception).

On long fasts I would think that after depleating all resources the body will start breaking down stuff that weren't meant to be used for fuel, so you might be left with compounds that might add stress to the body and make apnea not so healthy. Question is, how long is long?

Something which I am pretty certain about fasts is that your body's reaction can be trained (like in freediving). So don't expect your first fasts to workout the best, try putting some consistancy in them.

Adding another thing to the discussion:
I just recalled something about the krebs cycle, I think it might accept Glycerol as well if there is no other saccharide to break down and it works much slower. So in theory if that is the only energy source you have inside your cells you might be able to cut down metabolism quite a lot... but that would work only after depleating glycogen stores, and maybe being low on a few amino acids that have carbon groups on them as well... anyone thinks a glycerol diet might work?

Ah, and I have no idea where fat/fatty acids comes into play with energy production, my "model" for all the above asumptions is a unicellular organism.

Interesting topic!

 

[Alun]

i think you need to do it for 7-10 days for a significant effect... BUT i really wouldn't advise anyone to try it. yes, it may add 25-30% to your static times but you have to ask yourself if it's really worth it. it's a good way to hit a massive PB but you won't be able to maintain your times in the long run. once you start eating again your metabolism will pick up and your times will drop back down.

 

[naiad]

Then I guess it might be useful for competitions. I would be reluctant to try it because of any adverse effects.

Lucia

 

[Alun]

it could be useful for static-only competitions (like the one Sam entered) but it may not work so well for competitions which also have physical disciplines like dynamic or constant weight (most of them). all i would say is don't do it unless you really know what you're doing.

 

[efattah]

I tried a 6-day fast while training for Monaco. My statics decreased by about 35 seconds. I didn't do physical activity, but I did computer work.

I think you need to do a fast which is recommended by some health groups; don't eat, don't move, don't see; just lie in bed ALL day every day, drinking water, with a blindfold, no intense thinking either. Just go to the bathroom occasionally. By not burning calories, there would be minimal catabolism, thus minimal acidosis, just metabolic reduction with general maintenance of alkalinity. Further, for this method to work, you can't do statics during the fast. Just at the end of it. The statics themselves would produce waste and cause catabolism.

I will try it for the March 2006 competition here in Vancouver.

 

[XyseR]

....fasting is lame! i get hungry lol and i don't think that would be a fun thing for me..but i guess if you really want to win you should? i think it's not a good habbit beacuse it is not. for you to feel proud/like you succse you would have to do that.. right now i feel even prouder that i don't fast at all :-D. just think about it...

 

[XyseR]

....fasting is lame! i get hungry lol and i don't think that would be a fun thing for me..but i guess if you really want to win you should...? i think it's not a good habbit beacuse it is not. for you to feel proud/like you succse you would have to do that.. right now i feel even prouder that i don't fast at all :-D. just think about it...

 

[XyseR]

damnit i double posted sorry!