Is it possible to build muscle with keto or not? From a long time until now, various diet plans have been introduced to maximize sports performance and endurance of athletes, and one of them is the ketogenic diet.
When most people hear the keto diet, they think of the popular weight loss diet, but this diet is not just for weight loss, and because it restricts the consumption of certain food groups, it forces the body to burn more fat and uses fat as an energy source.
Over the past few years, the high benefits of the keto diet for athletes have made its fans increase day to day. In today’s article, we will review the keto diet for athletes, specifically the ketogenic diet and bodybuilding, and we will tell you everything in detail, so stay with us until the end of the article.
What Is Keto?
The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet. You decrease your carb intake to 5–10% of your energy intake and replace those calories with fat. If you eat 2,000 calories per day, that means staying below 50 grams of carbs per day. Some people go for an entirely carbohydrate-free approach.
Unlike regular low carb diets that reduce your carbohydrate intake to 25% or less of your caloric intake, the ketogenic diet goes a step further.
Can athletes use the keto diet?
Yes; keto diet is very useful for athletes. As you know, the ketogenic diet, by reducing the consumption of carbohydrates and replacing them with fats, puts the body into a phase called ketosis, in which our body uses fats instead of glucose for energy.
This mode is very suitable for athletes who are looking for weight loss and fat burning; because it increases their metabolism.
What sports is the ketogenic diet more compatible with?
In a proper diet, carbohydrates are the main source of energy for athletes to perform heavy activities such as sprinting, boxing, swimming and rope jumping.
When starting a new diet, your motivation to lose weight is very high.
You want to lose weight as fast as possible and at the same time you go to the gym every day until you reach your goal.
Doing this may seem like the best way to do it, but in the case of the keto diet, it’s the worst way to lose weight!
For this reason, try to include low and constant intensity activities in your training program while using the ketogenic diet in order to get the maximum efficiency from this diet such as:
- slow running
- cycling,
- rowing,
- stretching,
- rolling,
- walking,
- yoga
are among the physical activities that are compatible with the ketogenic diet; because in addition to raising the heart rate, they will prevent the body from entering a state of confusion and lethargy.
Also, you can include other activities that you enjoy in a short form in your training program; with the difference that if the activity you want is heavy or high-intensity endurance training, it is difficult to do it during the ketogenic diet and it will make the situation very difficult for you. So avoid doing such sports as much as possible.
Is it possible to build muscle with keto?
Muscle bulking is possible with a ketogenic diet. From time to time, due to the excessive obesity of the majority of people and the rising statistics of weight gain in today’s societies, the use of a diet becomes more popular compared to other diets, and currently the ketogenic diet is one of them.
Due to the high effectiveness of the keto diet in slimming and fat burning, most people believe that the rapid weight loss of this diet can be more effective than other diets in relaxing and losing muscles.
But the fact is that in every food program, part of the muscles and tissues of the body are destroyed to some extent, and the ketogenic diet will not be an exception to this rule.
Therefore, if you are a bodybuilder and want to build muscle while on a diet plan, you should pay attention to the type of foods you use in your ketogenic diet.
Contrary to popular belief, our body does not need a specific food group such as carbohydrates to build muscle.
A basic diet is a diet that includes all food groups in your plan; So that you don’t feel too hungry and weak by consuming them, and at the same time, it doesn’t affect your performance in sports.
In the keto diet, include more macronutrients and proteins in your diet. Within a few days to a few weeks of doing the ketogenic diet, your body will gradually realize that it should use fats for energy instead of burning glucose. In addition to maintaining muscle mass, exercising alongside the keto diet helps maintain blood sugar levels and reduce insulin sensitivity.
Keto Diet Recommendations for Athletes
In the following, we will tell you some recommendations that will help you build muscle while using the Keto Diet:
Determine the amount of food you consume
The amount of calories you need on a daily basis to build muscle depends on various factors such as your weight, height, gender, and activity level.
Sports experts recommend that you should increase your calorie intake by about 15% during muscle building to get better results.
For example, if your calorie intake is 2000 calories during the day, you should increase this amount to 2300 calories to build muscle.
Increase your intake of protein foods
Eating enough protein is very important in building muscle. Simply put, if you’re looking to build muscle in sports, you need to double your protein intake compared to the past.
New studies on athletes and bodybuilders have shown that consuming 700 to 900 grams of protein per 2 pound of body weight is ideal for muscle building.
Therefore, ketogenic diet and bodybuilding have an effective and useful relationship.
Pay attention to the amount of carbohydrates you consume
As mentioned earlier, most people believe that consuming a lot of carbohydrates plays a very important role in building muscle, but this is not the case. So, if you want to stay in ketosis, keep your carbohydrate intake as limited as possible. On the other hand, to reach the ketosis phase and stay in this phase, it is recommended to eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates during the day, and this amount may be different for each person.
Increase your fat intake
Paying attention to healthy fat intake is very important on a ketogenic diet. When you limit the consumption of carbohydrates in this diet, your body no longer has an efficient metabolism and relies mainly on fat fuel for daily energy.
For example, a 154 pound person, who is prescribed 2,300 calories per day, is allowed to eat 110 grams of protein, 50 grams of carbohydrates, and 185 grams of fat in order to stay in the ketosis stage and be more efficient in the diet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can athletes use the keto diet?
Yes; as you know, in this diet, our body uses fats instead of glucose for energy consumption. This mode is very suitable for athletes who are looking for weight loss and fat burning; because it increases their metabolism.
What are the keto diet recommendations for bodybuilders?
Maintain the limit of carbohydrates on the keto diet because completely eliminating them from the diet will, on the contrary, damage your muscles. Also, increase your consumption of healthy fats and protein.
Does the ketogenic diet help build muscle?
Within a few weeks to a few days of doing the ketogenic diet, your body will gradually realize that it should use fats for energy instead of burning glucose. In addition to maintaining muscle mass, exercising alongside the keto diet helps maintain blood sugar levels and reduce insulin sensitivity.
Bottom line
In this article, we investigated muscle building with keto and the effect of the keto diet for athletes. During the last few years, various food programs have been introduced to increase productivity and increase endurance in sports, among which the ketogenic diet has many fans.
Choosing the type of food that athletes use when using a ketogenic diet is very important. It is also recommended to do light aerobic exercises during this period, such as stationary cycling, walking, yoga, etc., in order to avoid excessive body fatigue in addition to raising your heart rate. With these interpretations, ketogenic diet and bodybuilding have a positive relationship with each other and can be a nutritious food plan for athletes, especially bodybuilders.
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