Ketogenic diet and muscle building (muscles, lifting, reduce, bodybuilding)
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Hey all -- I was curious as to whether anyone here has been on a ketogenic diet or low carb diet and was able to see good gains in not only gaining muscle but in their single rep maximum weights?
It didn't work for me. I need the carbs for energy. especially in the morning. However, I ONLY eat complex carbs (brown rice, pasta, breads.) I do not eat any simple or refined sugars.
So just to confirm- you were on a low carb diet and would you say just too lethargic to exercise? Or you exercised but so no gains? --
A mix of both. I lift in the mornings and box at night. Back when I wasn't into boxing and was only lifting and bodybuilding, I had a stint of trying out a very low-carb diet, but I found myself extremely lethargic. That in turn was hurting my gains. Eventually, I modified my diet and I found myself having more energy. My lifts even went up when I decided to be a little bit more liberal with my diet as it pertains to carb intake.
There is no One-Size-Fits-All approach to dieting and exercise. What works for one person might completely crash for another person. I know some people who do just fine and even make gains when on a Keto diet. Others, like myself, can't really function well on that.
I am on a ketogenic diet. The reason is that I wanted to reduce my body fat in addition to keeping my blood sugar under strict control, and so, with my doctor's blessing, I decided to give it a try. Prior to eating like this, I had been on a South Beach type of plan where I was doing less fat and whole grain carbs only, and on that way of eating, I was getting fasting blood sugar levels up very close to the diabetes zone, in spite of my vigorous exercise plan.
I was actually not prepared for how great I would feel on this diet So I have kept it up since January. I do cross-training Crossfit style, a little running and sprinting, some bike rides (mountain/road/cyclocross) of varying lengths, hiking, you name it. I have deliberately pushed the boundaries as far as carb intake and endurance and so far, for me, no bonking, no loss of strength, no lethargy (other than the initial "carb detox.") I do need to have my lean body mass measured once again, because I had it done prior to beginning this way of eating, and I am curious now as to what I have done muscle mass wise. I can tell you that I have lost some weight, a TON of inches/sizes, massively toned up, and people are constantly commenting on my upper body muscles and lack of the "post baby belly" I had for the past 18 yrs since my oldest was born. Now to work on that "six pack..."
The only thing I can't help you with is max lifts, because my coach varies the routine so greatly and we've done a lot of outside work while the weather is nice. We will do more lifting as the class sizes decrease and the weather turns colder.
I guess this is about as much muscle as you can see in a pic of mine (I don't pose for many LOL) This was during our gym's picnic/strongman competition:
Karen this is a great post and this and gatsby's are exactly the type of information I was looking for. I wonder if the reason you progressed and Gatsby ran into some lethargy is you weaned away from carbs going to the south beach diet first and he sounds like he may have gone more of a cold turkey approach. How would you describe your intake of fruits during this time?
This is more of a scientific inquiry so I'd still like to hear more personal experience stories on the subject from others - thank you all!
I go fairly low on carbs, <50g most days and one or two days out of the weak I eat whatever I want >100g carbs.
Diet is high in protein and fats. I squat 4x (back squat) and 2x (front squat) (1:30-2hr per session) per week (70% of 1RM - 100% of 1RM) and weightlift (olympic lifting) 4-5x per week on top of that, 60-90% of 1RM on clean,snatch, jerks, pulls etc (1:30 each time).
I maintain a bodyweight of 140lbs, with little monitoring of food intake. When I want to cut down and get strict, I will monitor food intake more (no fast food). Squatting 4x a week highbar/olympic style (stopping powerlifting movements) I went from a 1RM of approx 265 to 300+ in a month.
Cyclic Ketogenic Diet works great for me, Im very lean at mid 190's (seeing abs is no problem..33.5 inch taped waist at the navel) very strong and fast with decent energy level. 24 hour carb up evey 2-3 weeks as a goal day. Carbs stay under 30g most days. I can still do ample OLY lifts, power lifts, and crossfit workouts as well as run fast (sub 10 min mile and a half)...and Im 44 yrs old! If you have discipline this works.
Karen this is a great post and this and gatsby's are exactly the type of information I was looking for. I wonder if the reason you progressed and Gatsby ran into some lethargy is you weaned away from carbs going to the south beach diet first and he sounds like he may have gone more of a cold turkey approach. How would you describe your intake of fruits during this time?
This is more of a scientific inquiry so I'd still like to hear more personal experience stories on the subject from others - thank you all!
That is an interesting observation - you are correct that I was not eating a "typical American diet" when I started this. As far as the fruits, I tried them all after I started this diet, and I used my dad's glucometer to see if they spiked my blood sugar. I am only safe with berries, so I stick with those. I pretty much only do berries in my smoothies with protein, never alone.
There are still some in real life and on this site who insist that I can't possibly be functioning/working hard/seeing performance gains on a ketogenic diet, but I am, and I feel great. My labs are all wonderful and I feel better physically and mentally than when I was in my teens/twenties.
Before I ate this way I was one of those "fat and active" folks - working really hard and not having the results I wanted.
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So I have kept it up since January. I do cross-training Crossfit style, a little running and sprinting, some bike rides (mountain/road/cyclocross) of varying lengths, hiking, you name it. I have deliberately pushed the boundaries as far as carb intake and endurance and so far, for me, no bonking, no loss of strength, no lethargy (other than the initial "carb detox.") I do need to have my lean body mass measured once again, because I had it done prior to beginning this way of eating, and I am curious now as to what I have done muscle mass wise. I can tell you that I have lost some weight, a TON of inches/sizes, massively toned up, and people are constantly commenting on my upper body muscles and lack of the "post baby belly" I had for the past 18 yrs since my oldest was born. Now to work on that "six pack..."
