#171 Targeted Intermittent Fasting and Metabolic Flexibility with Siim Land and Sean McCormick

Siim Land (0:00)

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Sean McCormick (0:46)

And we're here with Siim Land, author, speaker, content creator, and returning guest to the Optimal Performance Podcast. Siim, welcome back.

Siim Land (0:56)

Hey Sean, I'm glad to be back here, and excited to talk with you again.

Sean McCormick (1:00)

Yeah.

So I want to start the way that I like to start with people who are involved in nutrition and performance especially. So maybe you knew this was coming. What time is it where you are, and what have you put into your body?

Siim Land (1:19)

Yeah, well, last time we talked, I said, I think I said like nothing besides coffee or something.

But this time, it's also like in the evening, it's 7 p.m. here. And so far, I've consumed, like I still had some coffee at noon. But in the coffee, I mixed some glycine and trimethylglycine as well, which is a really good kind of natural sweetener as well as a good metal donor and generate a very kind of anti-inflammatory amino acid that doesn't actually have like an insulinogenic spike. It actually lowers your blood sugar. So I mixed that with some coffee a little bit.

And then I also had like a protein shake during my workout like an hour ago. And the main kind of idea is that I'll be working out fast.

But just because I'm having this small protein shake, I'm also able to mitigate the catabolic or the muscle catabolism that occurs during the workout, especially if you're doing it fasted. So I'm still able to maintain a semi-fasted state while being able to perform at the workout and also promote muscle growth with it. So like this is sort of a hack that I call, it's called like targeted intermittent fasting. So basically fasting all throughout the day and leveraging the benefits of a soft object and whatnot. And when you are working out, you're getting this protein shake that essentially helps you to prevent the muscle catabolism and to promote additional muscle growth while still being able to be like in a semi-fast state. So that's kind of my go-to secret for doing one meal a day and still being able to build a muscle.

Sean McCormick (3:09)

So I want to get this straight. So you fasted all day, a little coffee with those additions, and then at 6 o'clock at night, you decide to work out fasted. But while you're working out, you're consuming the protein shake for this targeted metabolic fasting.

Siim Land (3:29)

Yeah. That's basically what I do. And it's like a good combination for one meal a day.

And especially for people who want to build strength as well as a muscle mass. So it's always, let's say, eating more frequently would be beneficial for muscle growth, but it's kind of a hassle. So I would much rather do it with like an easier way where I'm still able to eat once a day and still able to build muscle with it. So it's kind of a shortcut or a little biohack.

Sean McCormick (4:01)

So we got to know what's in the protein shake. I imagine that there's a thousand things in it.

Siim Land (4:08)

Not really. It's a regular whey protein.

It tends to be with all the essential amino acids as well as kind of stimulates the anabolic switches like mTOR and IGF-1 as well. So that's why I tend to use it.

Sean McCormick (4:26)

So then that's your OMAD is a protein shake while you're working out and then you won't eat for the rest of the day again?

Siim Land (4:35)

No, like I'll probably have like a meal, an actual post-workout meal after this podcast. So I'm still eating.

So if I were to be having only the protein shake, then that would be like two little calories and that was like, unless I would want to maybe like lose weight or something, then that would be an option. But current I'm in this semi like lean gains phase where I'm just gradually progressing in the workouts and gradually trying to build muscle while still maintaining leanness and burning some body fat as well.