If you’re just a bro who’s training to look good and lift heavy stuff, this study lends support to the idea that
IF is neither harmful nor a “hack.” Neither group had a meaningful change in lean mass, muscle thicknesses, or strength. The IF group lost a bit of fat, but the most plausible explanation is simply that they were in a slight deficit. If the IF eating pattern fits into your schedule best, then it’s a viable strategy for you. If you prefer eating breakfast, and that helps with your dietary adherence, there’s probably not a good reason for you to go with IF.
However, this study does provide some evidence that IF may be more beneficial for your health than a traditional meal pattern. This isn’t a point I’m going to harp on; I’m not a doctor, so it’s not my place. But for the most part, the changes in the IF group’s blood work are consistent with improved metabolic health and lower chronic disease risk. This isn’t all that surprising, since various time-restricted feeding and fasting approaches have been shown to have health-promoting effects in previous research (in addition to or independent of calorie restriction and weight loss); however, most of the previous work was on overweight and sedentary populations, so it’s cool to see similar effects in active, young, healthy-weight people. A lot of that research is linked in the
full text of the study at hand if you’re interested in checking it out.