It Came from the '90s: The Warrior Diet

 A.K.A.: Intermittent Fasting: A Personal History

Hugh Jackman used intermittent fasting to get shredded for the X-Men movie "Days of Future Past" (seen here in this scene from the film).

I'm going to go ahead and say it (or write it, in this case), even if there's an ever so slight possibility that I might be wrong: I was one of the first serious lifters in this country to experiment with intermittent fasting for competition.  How can I make such a bold statement, especially considering the fact that every single athlete, bodybuilder, lifter, etc. on planet friggin' Earth has at least heard of intermittent fasting, and knows something about what it is even if they don't practice it/utilize it?  I say it with some degree of confidence because I did it in the '90s, while getting ready for a powerlifting meet, and, I'll add, I had no clue whatsoever that what I was doing would go on to be called "intermittent fasting".  And that's because I had never met, talked to, or read about any athlete who only ate one meal per day, and didn't eat a damn thing the rest of the day.  No one, especially in the bodybuilding community at that time, would have ever thought of using something such as intermittent fasting (or what came to be known as intermittent fasting) because we - I use the term "we" here because I was always part of the bodybuilding community more than the 'lifting community in the '90s, seeing as how I worked for IronMan magazine for most of the decade (at least the second half) - would have thought that eating in such a manner would have resulted in severe muscle loss.  Fast forward almost 25 years and now even bodybuilders do intermittent fasting!

Since I'm going by memory, and have done zero research for this article (not a good idea for any of you aspiring writers out there), I think I first heard/read about this "intermittent fasting" thing from an article that appeared in "T-Nation" in 1998 or 1999 on the "Warrior Diet" created by Ori Hofmekler who was, at the time, the editor-in-chief of (of all things) Penthouse magazine.  I had a couple of powerlifting meets coming up, each a few months apart.  One of them was toward the end of 1999, and the other was in early 2000, and I followed the "warrior diet" for both of them, so I'm pretty sure that my timeline is correct.  (It wouldn't do to write a piece called "It Came from the '90s" if it was really the early '00s, so let's hope I am correct!)

Before I go any further - before we get into the history of intermittent fasting (yes, it has been around for longer than the Warrior Diet's inception, despite my ignorance of it in the late '90s) and then my "personal" history with utilizing it, I must add this caveat (and though caveat it may be, it's also the main reason that I decided I should write this piece): Ori Hofmekler deserves way, and I do mean WAY, more respect, admiration, recognition, and credit for single-handedly re-introducing fasting for athletes!  For instance, you can't go anywhere, work anywhere, or live anywhere that someone hasn't at least heard of intermittent fasting.  And most places that you go, you will find a person, or few, who actually uses the intermittent fasting approach.  And, yet, I dare you to find any of these people who know about Hofmekler, and his original Warrior Diet.  Kinda sad.  So even if this particular post only reaches a few thousand - or even just a few hundred - people, then it'll be worth it knowing that you, reader, are now not ignorant of Hofmekler's deserved place in the modern world of fitness, Crossfit, bodybuilding, powerlifting, and martial arts!

I believe this was the original cover of the Warrior Diet book published by Dragon Door in 2003.

Must-said caveat out of the way, it should be noted that intermittent fasting had been around for not just years, or decades, but for centuries.  Hofmekler called his form of intermittent fasting the "Warrior Diet" because - from his research - he discovered that it was the way that ancient warriors often ate, especially ancient Roman warriors.  Ancient Roman soldiers, centurions, and, apparently,  gladiators used - for the most part - a diet of one meal per day, often at the end of a day of training, or military excursions, or beheading fellow gladiators (or some such shit as that).  Hofmekler, to his credit, never claimed to have "invented" the diet, but only that he re-discovered it.

Of course, if you pay attention, or even if I had paid attention in the '90s, you would know that there have always been people that eat this way, and not just "regular" folks, but serious athletes.  Case in point: Herschel Walker.  Anyone who investigated his eating and training during his college and pro days would know that Walker ate only one meal per day (at the end of the day), and said he always felt better when training in a "fasted" state.  But I guess most people who did know this information just chalked it up to Walker's amazing genetics, when there was obviously more to it than simple genes.

Fast-forward from Walker's football days to my reading about Hofmeklers' approach in the late '90s, and, despite some serious trepidation, not to mention dire warnings from my training partner who was pretty sure I would shrivel into a skeletal waste, I decided that this approach to eating might be what I needed in order to get down to the 165-lb class in powerlifting while maintaining my strength.  Fast-forward again to another year or so, and I squatted over 500 pounds, raw, at a bodyweight of only 163 pounds.  My sons' mother even pointed out that I had an "8-pack" for the first time since I had met her.  And I pointed out to her that I had an 8-pack for the first (and only) time in my whole life!

While getting ready for that particular powerlifting meet, I was working in a factory, too (in addition to my freelance writing gigs), often for long hours, and plenty of manual labor to boot.  I would only consume water, coffee (black), or Diet Mountain Dew during the day while at work.  When I got off work, I would have a small snack (explanation below) and then I would train for an hour or two (if it was a training day), and then I would always eat a very large meal - of whatever food I wanted, it didn't even need to be "healthy" or "clean" - once the session was over.  This first meal was typically around 6 p.m., and then I would eat another "meal" right before bed, typically a big protein shake, even one made with ice cream, honey, and whatever else I wanted to throw on top of the milk and protein powder for extra calories.

Since that time, I've used this Warrior Diet-esque approach to intermittent fasting a lot over the years.  Here are some brief takeaways (these "takeaways" are not that new, either - I wrote most of them about 8 years ago for another post):

After a few days of eating this way, my body always adjusts to the lack of food during the day.  In fact, I find that I’m rarely hungry, and the hardest thing is getting enough calories and macronutrients in my body during the "feeding" period.  This is especially tough considering the fact that I would still try eat close to my bodyweight in grams-of-protein daily.

·         Several proponents of "IF" recommend training during a “fasted” state, followed by a post-workout meal to optimize fat loss and muscle growth.  I never found this conducive to building strength.  Since I always lifted in the evening – and still do – I found it best to eat a small meal (or a protein shake) immediately prior to training.  I would then have another meal as soon as my workout was finished.  Once my body adjusted to the diet, I had no problem eating this way and staying strong throughout the workouts.

·         Intermittent fasting is not particularly good for building muscle if you are an ectomorph.

·         IF is good for losing bodyfat.

·         IF can be good for building strength while simultaneously losing weight.  I say can because often strength development – at least the kind of strength need for powerlifting or Olympic lifting – is more a product of training than diet.  The reverse is not necessarily true, which is why you often hear from bodybuilders that 80% of building muscle is nutrition.  If you are a powerlifter or Olympic lifter who is trying to stay in his/her weight class, then IF is probably a very good selection, as long as the training is not too frequent and/or intense.

·         I don’t think this diet would be as good for people who train with a lot of “metabolic conditioning” – you simply wouldn’t have the energy to make it through a lot of tough "met-con" workouts (Cross-fit, I'm looking at you).  But it’s fine for lifters who train with heavy weights and low reps.

·         IF tends to work much better for men than it does women.  I don’t know why this is.  It just is.

·         This is the best diet to follow if you don’t want to actually think or plan your diet much in advance.  It’s incredibly simple: go a long time without eating, and then eat as much as possible during the feeding window.  Although I still try to eat a “training friendly” diet – lots of green stuff, lean protein, and good fats – I find that you don’t have to be all that strict with what you eat and you can still lose bodyfat with relative ease.

·         IF is probably even better as a “health” diet than one focused on changing body composition.

·          Several times, toward the end of my IF diet cycles, people have remarked to me about how young I look.  And I’m not the only one who has said this.  (Nick Horton, who used to bog at Iron Samurai, expressed a similar sentiment.)   Some proponents of IF claim this is because of the growth hormone released during the fasting states.  I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I guess I could partially buy it.  But whatever the reason, it does seem to be the case.  Maybe IF is best used as a "beauty diet."