The Ketogenic Diet For Bodybuilders
PHILOSOPHY When you cut carbs out of your diet, your body must find an alternative source of energy. The body turns first to muscle tissue, breaking it down to fuel activity. However, if you take in an adequate amount of protein, this will help protect your muscle tissue and encourage your body to use stored body fat instead. The ketogenic diet is a way to trick your body into thinking it’s in starvation mode while you’re still consuming enough calories from protein and fat to provide satiety and protect your muscle mass from being used as fuel. The ketogenic diet is very similar to the Atkins Diet, with perhaps the biggest difference being that on Atkins you don’t pee on ketone strips to determine if you’re in ketosis. This is the condition in which your body is releasing stored fat to fuel activity, and ketone bodies are present in your urine, providing a measurable indication that you are in this state. WHAT YOU SHOULD EAT Meat, cheese, oils, fish, eggs, very low-carb protein products. WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T EAT Processed foods, sugars, grains, and even vegetables and fruits. CONS You can’t eat carbs and stay in ketosis, making this a fairly restrictive diet. During the initial stages, it’s best to cut even fruits and vegetables to make sure your carb intake is minimal and you reach ketosis as quickly as possible. And you have to pee on ketone strips to check your urine for ketones. Often people develop an odd breath odor when they enter ketosis. PROS You can consume your regular amount of calories (or slightly fewer), so you’re not likely to suffer from hunger. Add fibrous vegetables (broccoli, spinach, other greens) once you reach ketosis. Recently, some endurance athletes have started following a ketogenic diet program, reporting that it allows them to p Continue reading >>
The Palumbo Keto Diet
Developed for use by bodybuilders, the ketogenic diet is an effective method of losing fat rapidly while preserving muscle mass. One variation of this diet is the Palumbo Keto Diet, which follows a very rigid diet plan at specific intervals. Note that any keto diet must be followed precisely to avoid health risks; these diets are intended for very active athletes only and for periods of no more than two months. However, even athletes should consult their physicians before beginning a new diet or exercise regimen. Video of the Day Keto diets are temporary eating plans that consist of a high protein intake along with a moderate amount of fats and very low carbohydrate consumption. The basic premise behind these diets is to place your body into a state of ketosis, a temporary state in which the body is deprived of blood glucose and is forced to seek alternative sources of energy -- in this case, body fat. It is necessary to regulate the states of ketosis, as prolonged time in this state can be harmful to the body. The key to a successful keto diet is to continue to perform resistance training and aerobic activity at regular intervals. Resistance training is necessary to deplete muscle glycogen and induce ketosis as well as to preserve muscle mass and burn excess calories. Aerobic activity is not as crucial but can speed up the fat-loss process. How Ketogenic Diets Work The primary source of energy for the body is glucose, which is metabolized and transported around the brain and body to fuel daily processes. When the diet lacks sufficient carbohydrates, however, there is no source of glucose and the body is forced to seek a replacement -- fats. Fats are broken down into fatty acids and ketone bodies which provide fuel via different pathways. When regular resistance trainin Continue reading >>
My Low Carb Bodybuilding Experience
I never planned to go 15 days with less than 50g carbs, it just sort of happened. Honestly, it was out of convenience that I had this low carb bodybuilding experience, actually. I had things going on and simplifying my diet made my life easier, which translates to less food prep, less time in the kitchen, and less food cleanup! The first few days were easy. But working in my favor were many factors. Among them, I’m no stranger to a ketogenic diet as a Paleo athlete. In fact, I’ve done contest prep for bodybuilding on a strict ketogenic diet before as an experiment. Further, my experience competing has tested and hardened my commitment and discipline with diet. I know my strengths, weaknesses, and triggers. I found myself feeling strong and decided I wanted continue past a few days to ensure my glycogen levels were depleted, and then in I’d experiment with a carb load. What I expected to happen was that I’d lose bodyfat by purposely tapping into my fat reserves, to eventually have a “flat” muscular look because of the depleted glycogen levels, and THEN I wanted to experiment with reintroducing carbs in a “loading” fashion to see how much my weight would fluctuate and how “full” my muscles would show. Bodybuilders have to learn to peak at the right moment on stage, so this was an opportunity to practice. My current hypothesis about my body is that my ability to synthesize carbohydrates is higher than others, and even higher than even I had imagined. Therefore, I wanted to deplete, and then reintroduce an even greater load of carbohydrates to fully fill glycogen levels. Basically, I wanted to see how “full” my muscles would get if I introduced even MORE carbs than I’ve ever loaded with. If you know me, you have to realize I’m a different breed. Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Muscle Building
Do you feel incredibly sleepy and lethargic whenever you eat carbohydrate rich foods? Yes, then this Ketogenic Bodybuilding Diet will be ideal for you. You may be among the individuals out there who simply don’t tolerate carbohydrates in their diet. To help you achieve you goals you would have to follow a lower carb diet plan, which would help you feel better. The drawback? It can be harder to build muscle mass while using a very low carbohydrate diet because of the fact you aren’t providing your body with the fuel energy it needs to perform each and every muscular contraction. Well, I am going to show you exactly how to overcome this with this ketogenic Bodybuilding diet plan. You will however need to make some adjustments. this targeted ketogenic diet plan tends to work very well for those who are intolerant to carbs but do want to sustain intense workouts and build lean muscle. You’ll eat a very low carbohydrate diet all throughout the week and then right before and after the workout program, carbohydrates will be added which will help to fuel the body and resaturate muscle glycogen stores. The end result? You build muscle and feel great as you do. Let’s show you how to set up a targeted ketogenic diet so that you can start supporting your intense gym training with proper nutrition. Continue reading >>
The Ketogenic Diet And Bodybuilding
If you are, or are interested in becoming, a bodybuilder, then you may have seen resources suggesting that a ketogenic diet and bodybuilding can compliment each other really well. Whether your interest in bodybuilding is at a competitive level or you simply want to look ripped, a ketogenic diet can really help you achieve your goals by stripping off body fat while preserving lean muscle mass. There are few champion bodybuilders who don’t incorporate a low carb eating plan at some times, even if only just before a competition to really highlight their muscles. Why do some bodybuilders choose a Ketogenic Diet? So why are a ketogenic diet and bodybuilding such a good combination? Well, a ketogenic diet is one that is high in fat, with good protein levels, but very low in carbohydrate. The absence of carbs means that the body has to use fat stores as a source of fuel, in a reaction called ketosis. This means you lose body fat quickly while still being able to get the calories you need – a low calorie diet would make you lose fat too, but you risk losing muscle mass, which you definitely don’t want. Another benefit of the ketogenic diet in bodybuilding is that it has a strong diuretic effect, meaning you won’t be holding excess water. Many bodybuilders actually dehydrate themselves before competitions using diuretic pills or alcohol, to further define the appearance of their muscles. While this works, you wouldn’t want to be dehydrated all the time because your performance would suffer and you’d feel terrible. The gentle diuretic effect of the low carb diet will help you look good all the time without going to competition level extremes. Can I compete at the same level as bodybuilders that eat carbs? The one concern many people have around the ketogenic diet and Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diet For Bodybuilders
It has gone through a couple of facelifts, namely via South Beach and Paleo, but many still like the all-or-none style of pure ketogenic eating. Why suffer with small portions of carbs when you can just banish them and in turn be rewarded with unlimited amounts of steak and bacon? The selling point is viable. Pros When you eliminate starch, you use more body fat for energy. Weight loss will occur faster — initially. Some dieters report feeling fuller due to the increased amount of protein they’re eating. When they’ve adjusted to the plan, hunger can decrease. Cons More lean body mass is typically lost than with other diets. Cravings and low-blood-sugar symptoms can be overwhelming. Metabolism will be suppressed, leading to a greater instance of body fat regain. Application As the beginning phase of the Atkins diet is intended, a brief shock of pure ketogenic dieting can lead to fast depletion of glycogen stores and a quicker start to fat loss. Behaviourally it can set the tone for fast progress. Copying this type of initiation for a week or two also takes advantage of the normal metabolic starting point. If you’re just beginning a diet, your metabolism is more responsive. Another potentially valuable time to use a ketogenic model is later in the dieting phase, when you might be trying to push past your metabolic set point — the body composition range at which the body is hormonally pulling out all the stops to conserve body fat. If, however, you use ketogenic dieting throughout the process, metabolic suppression and lean-body-mass loss are extremely high. The devastating effects on energy and compliance are tolls not often talked about, but they’re real. Bingeing and the risks of eating-disordered behaviour become more of a probability than a possibility if Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Dieting: Frequently Asked Questions
Ketogenic dieting is more popular than ever these days, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean it's more understood than ever. In fact, given the many different names, styles, and goals that get associated with the term, the confusion seems to be growing! After researching ketogenic dieting for years and studying it firsthand in the lab, I believe it has a lot to offer to a wide range of people who want to burn fat, hold on to muscle, and live the healthiest life possible. Researchers have been digging into the details of ketogenic dieting for decades, but there's also fascinating new science happening in this area all the time. So, I'm devoting this installment of "Ask the Muscle Prof" to answering the most common questions I hear about ketogenic dieting. In addition to the questions I’ve answered in the article itself, I also did a live Google Hangout answering the most common questions from readers! After you’ve read the article, check it out at the bottom of the page to have even more of your burning keto questions answered in details! My goal is for you to have no excuse not to know what's going on in this exciting part of the nutrition world! The Terms "Fat-Adapted," "Keto-Adapted," And "In Ketosis" All Get Mixed Up Online. Do They Mean The Same Thing, Or Are There Differences? This is a great question. Ketosis is induced when carbohydrates in the diet are too low to provide the exclusive fuel source for the body, usually lower than 50 grams per day.[1] When this occurs, you enter into a unique metabolic state in which the liver produces small organic molecules called ketone bodies at sufficient levels to allow your brain, organs, and muscles to function using them and fat as fuel.[2] Someone consuming a "traditional Western diet" has a blood ketone level that's Continue reading >>
Five Compelling Reasons Bodybuilders Really Should Commit To A Ketogenic Diet
A ketogenic diet is a proven way to build muscle and lose fat in an efficient and sustainable way, helping you to create a body to be truly proud of in double-quick time. Bodybuilding comes with diet suggestions aplenty. Chances are if you've been worrying about your mass for any real length of time you've already been given dozens of diets to consider, supplements to take and lectures from everyone you know talking about how someone in their life swears by a secret food doctors don't want you to know about. In reality, the building blocks to cultivating muscle are simpler than we think and adhering to that simplicity through a keto diet can fit into almost any bodybuilding routine. For starters, knowing the basics of what makes bodybuilding work will get you further than jumping onto the first diet you see. Eating and training work in tandem, primarily through your intake of protein weighed versus your calorie needs for the day. Paired with proper stimulus to your body to prompt muscle growth - along with hydration and other factors - you'll come out on top no matter how you eat. Cutting out carbs along the way is just an extra step towards keeping your calorie goals clean. Is keto right for you? Chances are you could get serious results from its core principles. #1. Keto Is Protein-Positive Calling it a protein-centric diet might be an understatement compared to the average adult's protein intake throughout the week, but that only works to your advantage. Bodybuilding requires a solid intake of protein. There aren't any ‘ifs’ ands or ‘buts’ about it considering how essential protein is as the building block from which your muscular frame is derived. By focusing on a diet that works protein into your eating cycle you can skip calorie-loaded or downright unpleas Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diets | Muscle Insider
For over 24-years, Vince Andrich has been the driving force behind many of the most innovative and successful companies in performance nutrition and sports supplements. His success developing go-to-market product strategies, as well as authoring numerous books and articles, have one common theme: find the science, or concept that actually helps bodybuilders in the real world. A: I dont think ketogenic diets are necessary to get into the kind of shape that will bring out a set of abs worthy of a shirtless summer. Even if you need to achieve ridiculously low levels of body fat for high-level bodybuilding competition, a ketogenic diet is not necessary and actually must be modified to work for bodybuilders. Let me explain: The term ketogenic diet refers to an eating program that contains almost no carbohydrate, has modest protein and requires consuming 4 grams of fat for every gram of protein and carbohydrate. This nutritional prescription is popular for the treatment of epilepsy and is often referred to as the 4:1:1 Diet or a standard ketogenic diet (SKD). Bodybuilders have used variations on the standard ketogenic diet theme to get shredded, and they can work quite well. The reason a recreational or competitive bodybuilder would want to use this method of dieting is simple: to get the body to use more stored body fat as fuel, which of course is the goal of any fat-loss plan. With a ketogenic diet, the strategy is to reduce carbohydrate intake to extremely low levels (less than 50 grams per day), which puts your body in a state of ketosis. That is, the severe reduction in carbohydrates causes your body to rapidly increase the quantity of ketones (or ketone bodies) in the blood. Ketones are a by-product of fat metabolism, and for proponents of this diet, being in a state o Continue reading >>
Menno Henselmans Speaks On Ketogenic Diet And Bodybuilding At The Keto Summit
For those of you who don’t know, the Keto Summit was an event that just past last month rounding up the industry experts on the ketogenic diet. photo credit It’s like the TED Talks of the low carb high fat industry. Menno Henselmans, the extra shredded bodybuilder from Bayesianbodybuilding.com graced his presence spittin’ tons of knowledge bombs. Anyways, the talk isn’t available anymore so luckily I took some notes. And i’m sharing it with you guys because I love you. I’m like the guy who takes extremely concise notes in college and decides to share it with the class. While the class sits back and waits for Mr. “Note-Taker” to finish doing what he’s gotta do. Well class is over and here are my beautiful notes so you know what Menno Henselman’s point of view is on the ketogenic diet and bodybuilding. Henselmans starts off saying that the ketogenic diet is HIGHLY underrated from a bodybuilding point of view. The traditional bodybuilding regimen followed a super high carb super high protein and virtually no fat diet. The complete opposite of the ketogenic diet. Sounds like hell. He then goes on to drop more knowledge nukes explaining the benefits and science behind keto and bodybuilding: The keto diet is very appetite suppressing, to Menno, this is one of the biggest benefits because it becomes easy to drop fat (by eating less than your body burns). It does NOT adversely affect strength training performance. Your body uses glycogen when lifting weights, this is already inside your muscles. It’s not about what you ate immediately before your workout, it’s about what you ALREADY HAD inside your body. Even high levels of bodybuilding only burns about 40% of glycogen in the muscle. Pretty much what he’s trying to say is the keto lifestyle can be supe Continue reading >>
In Depth Look At Ketogenic Diets And Ketosis
What exactly is Ketosis? The metabolic state of ketosis simply means that the quantity of ketone bodies in the blood have reached higher-than-normal levels. When the body is in a ketogenic state, this means that lipid energy metabolism is intact. The body will start breaking down your own body fat to fuel the body's normal, everyday functions. What's So Great About Being In Ketosis? Establishing this metabolic state of ketosis even for a short period of time has many outstanding benefits. Benefit 1 The main benefit of ketosis is that it increases the body's ability to utilize fats for fuel, which gets very lazy on a high-carbohydrate diet. When on high-carbohydrate diets, the body can usually expect an energy source to keep entering the body. But in the state of ketosis, the body has to become efficient at mobilizing fats as energy. Benefit 2 Ketosis has a protein-sparing effect, assuming that you are consuming adequate quantities of protein and calories—0.7 grams per pound of body weight per day—in the first place.[1] Once in ketosis, the body actually prefers ketones to glucose. Since the body has copious quantities of fat, this means there is no need to oxidize protein to generate glucose through gluconeogenesis. Benefit 3 Another benefit has to do with the low levels of insulin in the body, which causes greater lipolysis and free-glycerol release compared to a normal diet when insulin is around 80-120. Insulin has a lipolysis-blocking effect, which can inhibit the use of fatty acids as energy. Also, when insulin is brought to low levels, beneficial hormones are released in the body, such as growth hormone and other powerful growth factors. Benefit 4 Another small but very important benefit of the ketogenic diet is that when in the state of ketosis, ketones, alon Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Vegan Bodybuilding Day Of Eating!
I’ve had a lot of people asking me about vegan ketogenic dieting on my channel and on Facebook… so, I’ve decided to do a couple of day-of-eating videos dedicated to my favorite form of Keto… Cyclic Keto. It is cyclic in that most of the week is spent low-carb, but one day out of each week, only after the initial “adaptation phase”, I enjoy carbs… all sorts of carbs. Including candies and shit, if I am feeling that. However, this video, or part 1, is devoted to a low-carb day of eating. A keto day. I will cover a carb-load in another video. To give you a little background, about a month ago I began a keto phase again. To shake things up a bit. When I came back from London in late July, I weighed in around 212 pounds thanks to a month of culinary debauchery. I currently weighed in last Saturday at 202 pounds. I suppose the difference is a little hard to tell from video captures, but oh well. It will look drastically different given another 10 pounds. Suffice it to say, I’ve dropped anywhere from 1/2 to 2 pounds per week, consistently, using keto this past month. And I get to enjoy myself every Saturday. And Saturdays were intentionally planned before entering the “adaptation phase” of this diet. Anyhow… enough preface… let’s get right to it! This is the calorie and macro breakdown that I am currently following on my low-carb days. I’ve been waking up, pretty much daily, around 6:40am. The first thing I do is have my morning coffee! 16 ounces, black. Even though I am following a ketogenic diet plan, I still utilize a daily intermittent fasting protocol. I just prefer it. After I have my coffee, I get prepared and dressed for the day. And there are some of you that think I only wear tank tops… well, you’d be wrong! On that note, all of my clo Continue reading >>
Free Keto (ketogenic) Bodybuilding Custom Meal Planner
Ketogenic diet is a special case of the low-carb diet. It is even lower in carb than a low carb diet which means that there are fewer low net-carb vegetables and more nuts and oils. Otherwise, the keto (ketogenic) nutritional plan is simlar to the low-carb meal. Many people are interested in keto because it does seem to work miracles for fat loss. Before we go into WHY it works lets get this standard explanation of how keto works out of the way: The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted to glucose which is transported around the body for energy. However, if there is very little carbohydrate in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketones which server as the energy source. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood, a state known as ketosis. Many will go on further to create complicated explanations of how keto increases the metabolic rate and amplifies the fat loss beyond what could be expected from the caloric deficit. Maybe its true, maybe its not, but honestly, I dont buy it. I do not dispute that keto is great for fat loss, I have seen its results in myself but I think the reason is a lot simpler. The simple reason keto works so well for fat loss is that it causes you to lose your carb cravings. I have a sweet tooth at a level that most would call it a psychological addiction but after two to three weeks of very low carb levels I found that even I did not crave sweets any more ... or other carbs either! Once you get in this state, no willpower is required, you simply dont need carbs and you are not hungry either. This lack of sugar cravings was nothing short of a miracle to me. A consistent caloric deficit is required week after week, month after month for a succ Continue reading >>
Chaz Branham: Ketosis, Carb Backloading, And Bodybuilding
Can You Compete In a Bodybuilding Competition Using Ketosis and Carb Backloading? Chaz is a man-beast, a freak of nature in all the best ways. This is a guy who entered the Texas Shredder Classic, his first bodybuilding competition, on a dare– and did ridiculously well by using a fat-based approach. He’s my good friend, a venture capitalist, a trainer, and the first person I thought of to answer your questions about burning fat fast, ketosis, and carb backloading. Before we get to the podcast, our Review of the Week comes from Amanda, who listens to the podcast and switched to a Wild diet with wild results! Amanda and her husband have never felt better in their lives—and he even got rid of his migraines. She also loves the idea of burning fat without gut-busting cardio workouts… and she shouts out to me and all the people behind the scenes. I do, too! So, my sincerest thanks to Alyson, Bailey (our mascot), Tyler, Peter, and Melinda! You guys rock. And thanks to all the listeners out there—keep the comments and reviews coming, I read every one. Also, please remember that we keep this podcast commercial free so that I don’t have to promote a bunch of junk on the show—but you can support the team and keep up the flow of unbiased information by grabbing a copy of The Wild Diet at www.wilddietbook.com. There are some really great bonuses available when you pre-order so check them out and get your copy today. Chaz Branham has coached some of the world’s greatest athletes, executives, and early stage entrepreneurs. He started his fitness career by helping college and professional athletes fine-tune during the off season and now he’s a venture capitalist investing in startups in Austin, TX. He also advises Fixed Foods, an explosive subscription-based paleo mea Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diet In Bodybuilders
Today, I was asked why I do not recommend a ketogenic diet more often, because it is so good to lose fat and build muscle. This may be true, but under following conditions: It must be hypocaloric, the workout is super strenuous and the athlete experienced. Most people want to build muscle. The biochemical 1×1 sets simple rules, to which even with the ketogenic diet must abide. A muscle without glycogen will NEVER achieve the same performance and growth as one with. The muscle is composed of 2 types of fibers: the “fast” white glycolytic fibers (sometimes called Type 2 or type 2X) and the “slow” red oxidative fibers (sometimes called type 1). The white fibers can become broader and thicker, which is usually the goal in bodybuilding. But they are really bad in the use of ketones as energy supply. The red fibers can become “better” but not much thicker due to their structure and their metabolism. That is why endurance athletes, despite their considerable performance, are never very muscular. This means that under a strictly ketogenic diet, the muscle can not properly use and activate its “strong” fibers, and thus they can not become thicker and larger because the muscle can not lift much weight. If you want big muscles, you have to grow them with big weights, and this is only possible with carbohydrates in the food. However, if you’re on a diet and want to emphasize the muscle structure and reduce your fat, it’s easier with the ketogenic diet because you’re less hungry because of the lack of insane insulin fluctuations. In conclusion: First set the target, then set the nutritional form and do not simply try it without switching the brain on Continue reading >>
