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Juice fasting or raw food cleanse while strength training.


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Has anyone ever done this? Is it even advisable to do so? I'm in the gym three days a week which includes a 25 minute bike ride each way. I also ride my bike fairly often(for fun and transportation). My concern with doing a cleanse while maintaining this regimen is that I won't have enough calories to properly fuel my body while continuing to work out.

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There is no such thing as a cleanse that works. I would just have a smoothie every day in inclusion to your regular meals. Juicing is fine. It's still healthy and it tastes good, but you are taking out a lot of good stuff too. Anything too extreme is going to do your body more harm than good.

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The body does a fantastic job at detoxifying itself without the need for juice fasts etc, that said, i do one or two 20-24hour fasts per week, but not so much for detoxing, rather.. for enhanced recovery. I noted better a better rate of recovery when i do short term fast's, lower blood pressure, lower resting heart rate, and improved cognitive abilities.

 

As for raw food diets, i always recommend cooking food with ever possibly, for reasons explained in the doc... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY_vd4SNC-U

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One of my clients recently did a very long-term juice fast, consuming nothing but raw fruit and vegetable juices for about 53 days. He went from almost 260 lbs down to 205 lbs. His complexion was extremely clear, his eyes were clear and he looks 10 years younger. After his fast he transitioned on to a plant-based diet in which he still has 1-2 juices and / or a green smoothie per day and is eating cooked plant-based foods now. Post fast his weight came back up an additional 5 lbs. and he is slowly trimming down now. For him the fast was great because he struggled with weight loss and this really jump started things for him and allowed him to transition into a much healthier nutrition plan than he was doing before.

 

The first three to five days of his juice fast he was a little groggy (that's usually the caffeine withdrawl phase and a bit of an adjustment period) by the end of the first week his energy was noticeably different. In addition to 2-3 strength training sessions per week he has a pretty physical job - loading, driving, and unloading a delivery truck - all we did was cut the volume and intensity back a bit in his training for the first week or two, after that we slowly started increasing his weights again, but the movements remained - lots of squats, bench press, deadlifts, accessory work and kettlebell training.

 

Personally I either juice fast or do a raw vegan cleanse each year for 2-4 weeks, I usually just cut back on the intensity of my training a bit - lighter weights, a little less volume, and just use it as a time to beef up my internal martial arts practice and stretching and mobility work.

 

I have a good friend who juice fasted for 60 days the first time he did it, and usually does a 2-week "spring cleaning" fast every year. He's progressed from 5k running to marathons and now ultras. He told me he had read about an ER doctor who did a long term juice fast and in addition to the work in the ER trained for a marathon with no problems.

 

If you decide to juice fast, I would just ease into the training slowly particularly the first 3-5 days, cut back on volume and intensity and listen to your body. Most people I know of who continue to train and juice fast are typically consuming around a gallon of veggie / fruit juice per day - that is a LOT of fruits and veggies and a LOT of juice prep, but everyone I know who's done it, whether long term or short term, has had a positive experience.

 

Personally I feel lighter, healthier, and much greater energy after a juice fast or raw food cleanse - so whether that is placebo or not, as long as I feel great after I don't care too much!

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