Intermittent fasting has gained popularity when it comes to getting healthy, and for good reason. There are a lot of benefits to this style of eating, and it’s a strategy I’ve been using personally for 10+ years and have seen the majority of our clients implement with great success.

However, it’s far from a magic bullet eating strategy and there are many mistakes you can make when trying to build muscle and burn fat while intermittent fasting. I made several of these mistakes for many of the early years on my own intermittent fasting journey, and it wasn’t until I addressed these that I saw long-term transformation in my health, fitness, and body composition. By learning what the common mistakes are listed below, you’ll be able to avoid the common reasons people fall short of their muscle building goals when intermittent fasting.

1: Not Enough Calories

It will be very difficult to build muscle mass if you are not eating enough calories. One of the things that makes intermittent fasting so great for people is how easy it is to eat fewer calories due to a smaller eating window. And while that’s great for fat loss, that’s going to make muscle building more challenging depending on how many calories you need to fit into your eating window.

If you want to build muscle, you need to be eating at or above your maintenance calories.

2: Not Enough Protein

Protein is the number one macronutrient to prioritize when trying to put on muscle while minimizing fat gain. Protein is essential for building muscle, recovery, and helps avoid easy to overconsume fats and carbohydrates.

If you want to build muscle and minimize fat gain, you need to be eating enough protein. Aim for 1g/lb of bodyweight as a general starting point.

3: Working Out Fasted

While I am a big fan of working out on an empty stomach, it’s not as beneficial to work out truly fasted if your goal is maximizing lean muscle. I found much more success at preserving/building muscle when I started to add amino acids into my pre-workout when training on an empty stomach to help preserve muscle breakdown.

While it’s okay to work out on an empty stomach, you’ll benefit from adding some BCAA or EAA’s before working out. If you're not going to eat within 30-60 minutes after working out, make sure you supplement with amino acids or a protein supplement to avoid muscle breakdown.

4: Too Much Exercise/Cardio 

This was one mistake that plagued me for a lot of years, and has prevented many others from maximizing their muscle building potential. For years I would work out four, five, and even six days a week with extra cardio sprinkled in. This led to me feeling beat up and not able to truly progress in strength and muscle. If muscle building is your goal, don’t overdo it on the exercise, especially the cardio.

For most people, 3x/week is sufficient and plenty effective at building muscle when you are following the right program and training at a high enough intensity.

Intermittent fasting is an important part of our 10/10 program that helps men lose 10 lbs of fat and build 10 lbs of lean muscle. If you have questions about intermittent fasting, and want to set up a 100% free call with one of our coaches, click here to fill out a form and schedule a free call.