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KETO PERFORMANCE

Losing Muscle On Keto? [Not If You Read This]

The real reason why you're losing muscle on a ketogenic diet

There is an increased demand for protein during the initial few weeks of a keto diet that may lead to muscle loss. Different factors, such as resistance training, rate of weight loss, and sleep, can also affect muscle retention when dieting and should be addressed.

When first starting a ketogenic diet, your body is undergoing many changes. The transition to ketosis can affect your strength in the gym and even cause you to lose some of that hard-earned muscle if you're not careful. 

In this article, I'll go over why you may be losing muscle on a ketogenic diet, how to transition correctly, and the right way to train to not only lose fat but build muscle while living a keto lifestyle. 

CAN I LOSE MUSCLE ON A KETO DIET

Why You're Losing Muscle On Keto

There are a few reasons people typically lose muscle while trying to diet to get lean. However, keto adds in another layer of complexity that may cause you to lose muscle even quicker if you don't know how to counteract them. 

Protein requirements increased

When you first transition to a ketogenic diet, your body's protein requirements go up. The brain's primary fuel source up until now has been glucose (sugar), and while it can and will utilize ketones, it hasn't yet “adapted” to use them efficiently. 

Before you become keto-adapted, your brain's requirements for glucose must still be met. In non-ketotic states, the brain uses roughly 100 grams of carbohydrates per day. This requirement is met through the process of gluconeogenesis in the early stages of a ketogenic diet.

Brain needs glucose  lose muscle on keto

During this period, usually one to three weeks, your body drastically increases the production of glucose from protein and other substrates through a process called gluconeogenesis. In the beginning, the brain is incapable of using ketones for fuel. 

Eventually, your brain adapts to using ketones as time passes. Ultimately, the brain will derive ~75% of its total energy from ketones, with the remaining coming from glucose made by the body. 

Without sufficient dietary protein, the body undergoes a negative nitrogen balance and begins breaking down tissue to supply the required amino acids to undergo gluconeogenesis. When the body is in a positive nitrogen balance, your body experiences growth and tissue repair. 

So, therefore, our goal during this period is to maintain a positive nitrogen balance. 

… and this is where people go wrong. 

When individuals switch to a ketogenic diet, they are often told that protein is bad and will prevent or kick them out of ketosis. Not only that, but you may have found information on the internet that had you limit your protein intake to a certain percentage of total calories.

Which is also incorrect.

Think about it this way, if Joe is a 200-pound male eating 2,000 calories and Suzy is a 120-pound female eating 2,000 calories, do you think Joe and Suzy will require the same amount of protein?

If the answer isn't apparent, it's of course not. Instead, protein requirements should be individualized and based on your total lean body mass (LBM), not a percentage of total calories.

Lean body mass (LBM) is calculated by taking your total body weight and subtracting your fat mass. For example, if you're a 180 pound male at 20% body fat, then you have 36 pounds of fat, leaving 144 pounds of LBM. 

Under normal dieting circumstances, protein would be set at 0.8 – 1.2g/lbm, but due to the increased protein demand in the first few weeks of a ketogenic diet, you could argue that this should be even higher. 

 Regardless of size, a protein intake of ~150 grams per day should be sufficient to achieve this nitrogen balance during the first two to three weeks of a ketogenic diet. After the first three weeks, protein may be brought down to 0.8 – 1.2g/lbm 

Dieting too aggressively

I get it; you want to lose the fat as quick as possible. Ask yourself, if it took you three months or a year, would it really matter? 

Of course not, you'll never look back and think about how long it took you to lose the weight. The only thing that would matter is you lost the weight, and if you did it without a shotgun approach, hopefully, built up great habits and changed your lifestyle to keep the weight off.

That said, there's a time and a place to lose weight quickly, some of which are:

  • Weight class athletes
  • Upcoming special event or vacation
  • Kickstart a more moderate diet
  • Make weight for a procedure of some sort (bariatric surgery)

In which case, something like a protein sparing modified fast (PSMF) may be ok for a small group of people.

In most cases, I would recommend a weight loss rate of 0.5 – 1.0% of body weight per week. For severely overweight or obese individuals, a higher percentage of ~1.0 – 2.5% can be used without too many negative consequences.

Since you've stumbled on this article, I'm going to assume you're concerned with muscle loss. Studies show that losing weight at too fast of a rate won't necessarily lead to any more fat loss, but substantially more muscle loss, especially in lean individuals.

I.e., the more fat you have to lose, the more aggressive you can be with your diet without risking much if any, muscle loss. 

The same argument can be made if you're looking to put on muscle. After a specific rate of gain, the weight you're gaining is no longer muscle, but fat, you'll have to diet off later. 

You can read more on how to bulk on keto to make sure you're gaining muscle without putting on un-necessary amounts of fat. While fat loss is a much quicker process, we still have to be reasonable with our rate of loss to minimize losing that hard-earned muscle we worked for. 

 My general recommendation is to eat as much as you can while still losing fat. Using this method may take longer to reach your desired goal, but you'll probably feel much better, retain more muscle, and get to do it while eating more food. 

Slow rate of loss to not lose muscle on keto

Not training hard enough

Somewhere, at some point in time, the myth emerged that to get “toned” you needed to lift lighter weights for higher reps. While there is a time and place to lift lighter, doing so while attempting to lose fat and retain muscle is not one of them. 

 The same training and stimulus that helped you put on the muscle will be the same training and stimulus that will help you retain the muscle.  

Studies show that you can reduce volume by up to 2/3 and maintain strength and muscle mass, but if you maintain intensity. When referring to intensity, I mean weight on the bar and reps in reserve (RIR).

Reps in reserve are just a way of quantifying how close or far you are from failure in a given set. For example, with an RIR of 2, that would mean you were two reps shy of failure, and when I say two reps from failure, I mean two reps if I had a gun to your head two reps. 

While you don't have to take every set to failure, with reduced volumes, one may argue that you should take most sets pretty near or close to failure (~1 – 3 rir) as a way to ensure sufficient stimulus for muscle retention.

Train intense to not lose muscle on keto

Additionally, I'd like to mention that you can potentially use this same strategy with “lighter” weights. Research suggests that you can cause sufficient stimulus for muscle growth with sets up to 30 reps.

 Again, with enough intensity (RIR in this case), lighter weights can be used. 

 The Takeaway

Once you've become keto-adapted, the metabolic state of ketosis sets in motion a series of adaptations to minimize body protein losses during periods of caloric restriction. 

 By nature, ketogenic diets are muscle sparing.  

If you maintain sufficient protein intake, diet at a moderate pace, and train with intensity, then you shouldn't lose any muscle while on a ketogenic diet. If you need help putting all the pieces together, I wrote up The Best Damn Keto Weight Loss Guide On The Internet. 

How To Use A Targeted Ketogenic Diet To Get FIT

One question I’m often asked on different forums and social media platforms is how to best use a ketogenic diet for performance and to build muscle.

While you can build muscle and perform well on a standard ketogenic diet, most bodybuilders and athletes I know who live a keto lifestyle implement a targeted ketogenic diet (TKD) or a cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD).

I’ve used variations of both over the last 15+ years, so here is how I can best explain what and how you can implement a targeted keto diet to maintain high-intensities in the gym or your sport.

What is a targeted ketogenic diet?

Simply put, a Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD) is nothing more than the standard ketogenic diet (SKD) with carbs around your workout.

TARGETED KETOGENIC DIET PINTEREST COVER

A quick reference:

  • SKD – Standard Ketogenic diet
  • TKD – Targeted Ketogenic diet
  • CKD – Cyclical Ketogenic diet

Who is a targeted ketogenic diet for?

The primary goal of a targeted ketogenic diet (TKD) is to strategically consume carbohydrates at specific times around exercise to allow you to lift heavier, do some extra reps, and help promote muscle growth while minimizing fat gain.

If your goal is to maintain a ketogenic lifestyle while improving performance and body composition, I would recommend trying a targeted ketogenic diet.

That being said, it is a very specialized and advanced approach. I would only recommend a TKD to athletes and individuals who exercise regularly at high-intensities for extended periods of time.

Another caveat before starting…

 For the best results,  I would suggest you become keto-adapted (fat adapted) before implementing either a targeted ketogenic diet or a cyclical ketogenic diet

You can accomplish this by eating a strict ketogenic diet for 3 to 5 weeks (preferably longer). This gives your body time to upregulate the enzymes to burn fat and ketones as fuel.

But if you’ve already been doing this, you’re ahead of the game.

Benefits of a targeted ketogenic diet

Unlike a cyclical ketogenic diet where you would implement a full one to two days of carbohydrates, a TKD is a compromise between an SKD and a CKD.

Improve immediate performance without interrupting ketosis long if at all

The TKD is aimed at allowing you to perform high-intensity exercise without having to interrupt ketosis for long. You may even stay in ketosis despite your carb intake pre and/or post-exercise.

I find that those who took my suggestion above and gave their body time to become keto-adapted have an easier time maintaining ketosis despite the influx of carbohydrates.

The TKD is more anecdotal 1User feedback versus actual studies than anything because weight training isn’t really limited by the availability of blood glucose. This is another reason a standard keto diet and bodybuilding is more than doable.

To build muscle, one doesn’t require the consumption of carbohydrates.

Building muscle is mostly the result of resistance training, adequate protein intake, and enough energy. Whether that energy comes from high fat, carbohydrates, or even stored body fat really doesn’t matter.

Improve your NEXT workout

While pre-workout carbs may improve performance during that specific bout of exercise, especially for those who perform quick and explosive movements. Another aim of pre-workout carbohydrates would be to promote post-workout glycogen synthesis.

Loosely translated, the carbohydrates taken before today's workout would be an attempt to set your body up to perform well during your  next  workout by maintaining glycogen levels.

But why carbs if they are unnecessary?

While there have been a few studies these past couples of years related to a low carb high-fat diet and performance, there’s still little research on the effects of a true ketogenic diet and weight training.

While carbohydrates are unnecessary, they have shown as little as 5 grams of carbs to raise blood glucose to normal levels. This means better muscle fiber recruitment and even a delay in fatigue, which may translate to an improvement in performance.

Studies show that ingesting carbohydrates before endurance activities, think an hour or longer, can improve performance and reduce perceived exertion.

That said, individuals on an SKD, including myself, report not only improved strength but also increased endurance. I’ve used a keto diet for CrossFit at a competitive level and even set my best times in the half marathon and marathon distances using a targeted keto approach.

As I am writing this in 2019, I am using a hybrid of a TKD and a CKD while preparing for a bodybuilding show. Even with the ingestion of carbohydrates prior to my races and workouts, I still register ketones in my blood and normal blood glucose levels post workout.

How to do a targeted ketogenic diet

As mentioned previously, a TKD is simply your standard ketogenic diet with carbs strategically implemented before and/or after your workout. This section will be aimed at describing the amounts, types, and timing of carbohydrates.

How many carbohydrates

How many carbohydrates to take in on a TKD diet will vary, but you don’t need as much as you would think.

While I would highly suggest experimenting with the number of carbohydrates that best works for you, most people will find that 10 to 50 grams of carbohydrates is ample to enhance your workout.

If you migrate towards the upper half ~50 or above, I would suggest splitting the intake between pre and post workout.

What dictates how many carbohydrates you should consume ultimately comes down to how long and intense your workout will be.

What types of carbohydrates

When it comes to what carbohydrates to consume on a TKD, not all carbs are created equally. For our purposes, we want to focus on high GI 2glycemic index, easily digestible carbohydrates, preferably liquids.

Our goal with the pre-workout carbohydrates is to have them absorb rapidly. We want the carbs available for use immediately while also avoiding stomach upset during training.

I would recommend a glucose source like dextrose or highly branched cyclic dextrin (HBCD). 3Also referred to as clustered dextrin If you want to get fancy or rather chew your carbohydrates, they make candies like smarties out of pure dextrose.

HBCD is a fairly new form of carbohydrate that provides a sustained increase in energy levels without causing a spike in blood glucose or insulin levels. While dextrose is perfectly acceptable, and cheaper, HBCD is my new go-to for pre or intra-workout carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates I recommend:

  • Muscle Feast Dextrose
  • Muscle Feast Highly Branched Cyclic Dextrin
  • NutraBio Super Carb – Another HBCD alternative with added electrolytes, I personally use this one most of the time and love the orange mango flavor.

Carbohydrates to avoid

You want to avoid fructose and sucrose since they primarily refill liver glycogen and can disrupt ketosis. This means that things like fruit, honey, and table sugar are not ideal for our purposes.

When to take in carbohydrates

It is preferred that you take in carbohydrates thirty minutes before a workout for enhanced performance. Some will also prefer to consume additional carbohydrates post-training to help with recovery.

With post-workout carbs, you want to consume those as soon as possible following a workout. While I don’t think post-workout carbs are necessary, experimenting to see what is optimal for YOU is the best course of action.

Another variation I’ve experimented with is ingesting carbohydrates intra-workout by sipping my carbohydrates at the beginning of the workout and finishing it right before my workout is complete.

Personally, I will take in ~30g of carbohydrates with ~10g of essential amino acids during or before my workouts. In addition, I may add MCT oil or caffeine for an added boost.

I usually consume my carbohydrate beverage before my first set and finish up close to the end of my workout. This gives me plenty of energy to sustain high volume workouts and recover well enough for my next session.

How does a TKD affect ketosis?

For many, just the act of working out causes blood sugar levels to rise due to the stress upon the body. However, as blood glucose is shuttled into the muscles, insulin levels will begin to drop and ketogenesis will resume.

If you stick to the tips I’ve laid out above and don’t overdo the carbohydrates, you might very still be in ketosis following your workout.

At the worst, you’ll transiently knock yourself out during your workout, but you find that you quickly re-enter ketosis shortly after.

Summary and guidelines for a TKD

  • Become keto-adapted by using a standard ketogenic diet for 3 to 5 weeks prior to implementing a TKD protocol.
  • Experiment with as little as 10 grams of carbohydrates pre-workout and adjust up or down as necessary.
  • If consuming upwards of 50 grams of carbs or more I would suggest splitting it up half pre-workout and the other half post-workout.
  • Stick to glucose based carbohydrates such as dextrose or clustered dextrin.
  • Whether fat loss or muscle gain is your goal, a targeted ketogenic approach is effective at accomplishing both through consistency and hard work.

Are you interested in giving a targeted ketogenic diet a try? Let me know down below if you have any questions or what your results have been giving on a TKD.

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