Keto diet for bodybuilders: How to gain and build muscles with a keto diet?

Burning fat by eating fat- no matter how weird and unbelievable it sounds, the keto diet has made it possible for many individuals. Not only the keto diet has proved itself to be capable of burning fat but it also has been worthy of muscle building.

You might have heard a lot about the keto diet and ketosis- the state under which your body goes when following a keto diet. But whether to go for a keto diet or not is still a troubling question for you. MuscleBlaze, via this article, is presenting a detailed overview of the keto diet so that you can make a final call on following this diet routine.

What is a keto diet?

A keto diet demands you to get your carb intake totally low and rely on fats and protein for your calorie intake.

How does the keto diet work?

When you make your body stay low on carbs every day, it runs out of fuel i.e. your blood sugar that is used quickly. This usually takes up to 3-4 days. Now, when your body is literally carb-starved, to get the required energy it will start breaking down the protein and fats for energy which in turn results in weight loss. This whole process is known as ketosis.

Let’s understand ketosis more…….

Ketosis is a metabolic state that suggests that the number of ketones in your blood is more than the normal levels. When your body is under ketosis, your lipid energy metabolism is intact. Your body will start using fat as its energy source for all the regular activities that you perform throughout the day.

Wondering what is so special about your body being in a ketosis state? We tell you how it benefits you.

Benefits of ketosis

• Enhances the body’s ability to utilize fat for getting energy: Your body generally derives the energy from carbs. But when you undergo ketosis, your body starts utilizing the stored fats for energy as you don’t provide carbs to fuel your body. This way body becomes more able to burn fats for fueling itself.
• Ketosis has a protein-sparing effect: If you are consuming enough protein throughout the day, ketosis gives a protein-sparing effect. When your body undergoes ketosis, it prefers ketones instead of glucose. You are giving your body ample amount of fats, so oxidization of protein is not required for glucose production through gluconeogenesis.
• Higher lipolysis and free glycerol release: Following the keto diet, you get lower insulin levels, which leads to having high lipolysis and free glycerol release in the body when compared to the standard diet. Your body becomes habitual of using fatty acids for energy as insulin gives a lipolysis blocking effect. When the insulin level in your body goes down, your body releases beneficial hormones like growth hormones and other impactful growth factors.
• Appetite suppressor: When your body experiences ketosis; ketones, and protein together work towards suppressing your diet. Foods rich in carb contribute towards high hunger levels. Under the keto diet, you consume more fats and protein which keeps you full and results in reduced hunger.

There is a very common misconception that states that carbs are a must if you want to build muscles. This means that if you are on a keto diet, you cannot build muscles. But is it so?

Well, the reality is, you can not only build muscles while on keto but also increase your gains while your body has adapted ketosis. Keto helps you to gain strength and build more muscles along with minimum fat gain. Pounding on carbs for bodybuilding is now outdated, keto is the new way to build muscles.

This article will tell you how keto will help you achieve your fitness goals and build the muscles to your desire.

Why carbs are not what you need to get the sturdy muscles?

Earlier it was believed that carbs are a very important component required for muscle building. You can still see some bodybuilders relying on carbs to get the glycogen so that they can have spiked up insulin levels to generate an anabolic response. This is all to build muscles.

The truth, however, is you can effectively build muscles while staying on a low-carb diet, given you do it correctly. Various studies have stated that when strength training is combined with a keto diet, lean muscle mass goes up with very low weight gain.

But as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day! So is the case here. If you want to see positive results, you need to give your body some time so that it fully adapts to the new routine. Your body is in habit of using carbs for fuel, getting used to utilizing fats for energy demands some time. All this while your body is adjusting to the new routine, there is an entire phase known as ‘keto-adaptation’. You might experience a lot of odd symptoms like nausea, vomiting, fever, etc. and your workout performance will also go down for around 1-4 weeks while your body is in the keto-adaptation phase.

Why you should expect low strength during keto-adaptation?

When starting with the keto diet, you will experience a downfall in your body strength and you might not be able to perform exercises with the same amount of energy and intensity as you were when consuming carbs. The reason behind it is the transformation your body is internally going through. It is learning to break down fats to ketones than glucose for glycolysis that is used for energy.

So, to see positive results, you need to follow a keto diet for the long-term.

Your body needs a certain time to adjust as it is used to burning glucose from carbs which acts as the main source of energy for it. When you lower down your carb intake, your body needs to find some other source of energy. This is the time when ketones serve as the body’s main source of energy.

The longer you follow the ketogenic diet, the more effective your metabolism becomes and burns ketones for fuel and your workout performance eventually increases.

When your body learns to use ketones instead of fat, the mitochondrial density is enhanced. This enables you to have a longer and speedier training session.

To put it in simple words, once your body is all ketofied, it combines more energy from the stored body fat and dietary fat to produce energy for workouts. It is known as ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate).

Multiple studies have stated that a low-carb and high-fat keto diet gives a muscle-sparing effect. This means that once your body fully adapts the fats, it will restrict itself from breaking down the muscle even when you are burning via fats.

How do you gain with the keto diet?

Eat more protein: If you consume very high protein while following a keto diet, you throw your body out of ketosis. This process is known as gluconeogenesis where the body converts excess protein to glucose in your bloodstream. When this glucose is present in your body, it will restrict the production of ketones, kicking your body out from ketosis.

What one might overlook is the importance of glucose for your brain. Glucose is very crucial for your brain’s survival. Even when you are going all keto, you need some glucose for your specialized cells, especially the brain cells which can only function on glucose. You can produce glucose from fats; fatty acids have glycerol that helps you form glucose.

Why should I follow a keto diet, if I still need glucose?

When you are on a standard diet, most of you consume a carb-rich diet which leads to insulin resistance and creates trouble in burning the stored fats in the body for energy. This results in a fat gain which is not healthy and also various other problems like high blood sugar, system inflammation, insulin resistance, etc. 

When you are following a keto diet, you offer your body the right amount of glucose which is derived from fats and protein. Being on ketones lets you have a more effective energy source allowing you to build muscles via protein synthesis. You don’t have to worry much about gaining excessive body fat.

Consume more calories to gain muscles

If you want to lose weight or build muscles, keeping a count of your calories is a must and by far the best way to achieve your goals. To have the muscle gain while on keto:

• Have 150-500 more calories than what you would normally consume
• 1g of protein per pound of lean body mass
• Acquire your remaining calories from healthy fats

To have keto gains you need to consume more calories than you burn on a daily basis. Having a caloric surplus and a good amount of protein will help you develop a muscular body that you have been working on.

I am a bodybuilder looking for muscle building. How should I target my ketogenic diet?

If you are looking for muscle gains with the keto diet, you need to have a targeted ketogenic diet that allows you to take 20-50g carbs right before or after your workout session. This quantity sums up your entire carb intake for the day. This enables your body to utilize the quick glucose to fuel your workout sessions. If you carry it out properly, your body becomes efficient in burning carbs quickly and get back to the ketosis state.

The targeted ketogenic diet is the formula best suited for people who have been practising the keto diet for around a month and are involved in heavy-duty workouts.

The number of carbs that you consume has a direct connection to your workout intensity. Mentioned below is an estimate of how much carbs you are required to consume based on your activity levels:

• Individuals who are involved in high-intensity training such as CrossFit can have up to 50g of carbs every day
• Athletes who take part in competitions can have around 100g of carbs per day
• An average individual who workout on an average of 4-5 times per week can have 20g or lesser carbs every day

If you just want to lose weight, this approach is not much helpful. It is for people looking for bodybuilding. To lose weight you should try a standard ketogenic diet plan which lays emphasis on other factors that enhance performance like adequate protein intake.

Keep a check on your electrolyte consumption

To get maximum athletic performance, it is very important to maintain your electrolyte levels. The electrolytes should comprise of potassium, sodium, and magnesium. These 3 electrolytes easily get drained away through urine and sweat. It is very important to recharge yourselves with foods that are rich in nutrients and keto-friendly. This will enable your body to perform its best while working out.

Foods that are rich in magnesium and keto-friendly are:

• Spinach
• Avocado
• Dark chocolate
• Cashews
• Almonds 

Foods rich in potassium along with being keto-friendly are:

• Salmon
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Cucumber
• Mushrooms

Get more sodium intake

You are committing a mistake if you don’t consider your sodium intake while on a keto diet. Under the ketogenic diet, you are cutting down on carbs and thus your body excretes more electrolytes than it does normally, especially at the beginning of keto diet. If you feel low while working out when on the keto diet, try and increase your sodium intake. It would be more beneficial if you have sodium before workouts.

Sodium is very essential for having healthy muscles, nerve activity and also helps in regulating muscle contraction, blood levels, and nerve function.  You should try and consume 5000mg to 7000mg of sodium on a daily basis. To enhance performance, have 1000-2000mg of sodium before training.

How to build muscles with a keto diet?

1. Reduce your carb intake: This is the most crucial demand of a keto diet. Lower down the intake of carbs. Don’t let it exceed 15-20% of your total calorie intake if you are an average individual looking for weight loss or muscle building. Replace the carbs with healthy fats and protein like nut butter, avocados, and grass-fed cow whey protein.
2. Make sure to have an adequate amount of protein: Protein is quintessential for muscle building. However eating too much protein won’t help you here, but ignoring it is also not the option. Choose your protein as per your preference.
3. Do strength training: There is no substitute for hard work. Resistance training is said to be a mood lifter and by combining strength training with the keto diet you can experience good muscle gains.

So this is how a keto diet helps you in getting big and sturdy muscles. Remember, you will experience symptoms like nausea, bloating, vomiting, fever, etc. when starting with the keto diet, but once you bear with it, there is no looking back.

MuscleBlaze recommends following a low-carb and high-fat diet along with adequate protein intake while on a keto diet so that your body can undergo ketosis and you can see favorable results.