Has anyone had any experience gaining muscle on a Keto diet?
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SCP0914
Posts: 74 Member
I've been trying to research it, but there seems to be some conflicting views on it. Any experience with it? Opinions?
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It's possible but not optimal. It's especially harder for women who tend to gain less muscle than men. It's all that much harder if your surplus isn't large. If gaining muscle is your main goal, I would stay away from keto for now.6
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It is definitely possible to gain muscle on the keto diet. Watch your macros, be consistent and grind.0
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I'll side with monkey. Carbs are an amazing fuel source for your muscles. If you're looking to optimize your muscle growth I too agree keto might not be the most practical approach.
Plus what would be the actual reasoning to a keto diet whilst trying to bulk and build muscle?5 -
Eat enough food to fuel your workouts and you will build muscle. Is there some reason this basic principle does not apply to keto?3
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Has anyone had any experience gaining muscle on a Keto diet?
If you're just trying to look more "toned".. which is what i suspect.. then yes, keto is fine, since looking toned is mostly about reducing body fat. Add in a good strength program and you're good to go.
On the other hand, if you want to bulk up and get bigger, follow the advice given the last time you asked about it:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10641044/can-you-build-muscle-on-a-keto-diet
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Eat enough food to fuel your workouts and you will build muscle. Is there some reason this basic principle does not apply to keto?
It is possible but not optimal. Carbs help drive muscle synthesis, prevent protein breakdown, they can help increase lifting performance, also bulking on keto can be very difficult.. if you are trying to get in over 3K calories without carbs, I would imagine it could get physically painful.
OP... what are your goals exactly, are you trying to gain weight on keto, are you trying to maintain muscle as you lose weight, are you trying to recomp?5 -
I do not think it would be that difficult to bulk with keto or consuming 3k+ calories. Curious why you think it could possibly be painful?0
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I do not think it would be that difficult to bulk with keto or consuming 3k+ calories. Curious why you think it could possibly be painful?
I would say typically when people lower their carbs, fats and protein are can be pretty satiating, which is why keto is successful to help some remain in a deficit in the first place. I would say typically of course, YMMV.. I don't find fats very filling but I know I would get very tired of eating them and it wouldn't do well with my energy levels.
I remember there was a video series of someone trying to gain on keto and it came to the point where he was drinking oil. Yea.. no thanks.
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Everyone that is saying don't do Keto because of carbs and building muscle, I would ignore. Go to youtube, there are plenty of PHD Bodybuilders and powerlifters that do Keto just fine and have many conversations about it.10
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Everyone that is saying don't do Keto because of carbs and building muscle, I would ignore. Go to youtube, there are plenty of PHD Bodybuilders and powerlifters that do Keto just fine and have many conversations about it.
No one said it isn't possible.. just not the best way of going about it. Also if you are going the keto route, many time their carbs around their workouts for best performance and results.6 -
I do not think it would be that difficult to bulk with keto or consuming 3k+ calories. Curious why you think it could possibly be painful?
Most people go on Keto to lose as you feel full on fewer calories, so then in theory, if you are full eating less, then eating much more (from a deficit to surplus) would be hard.
Carbs are king when it comes to bulking, even more so than protein, and keto centres around fat.8 -
I can't say it's good for bulking or weightlifting performance. Note: most people doing "keto" and weightlifting/bodybuilding use a much higher %kcal from protein (more like 30-35% protein, 60-65% fat). Maintenance and "cutting" are better suited for keto
Lol...Jason Wittrock I believe it was consuming like 4,000 kcal/day for a month stuck @ like 145-150lbs (nice guy, just a bit too naive with pseudoscience advocating keto as superior no matter what)2 -
When you say bulking, you mean adding FAT from too many carbs?? There are TONS of people doing keto and gaining muscle just fine. protein is king for muscles. Go out and do some research and watch tons of videos on this already.16 -
When you say bulking, you mean adding FAT from too many carbs?? There are TONS of people doing keto and gaining muscle just fine. protein is king for muscles. Go out and do some research and watch tons of videos on this already.
Too much fat gain in a bulk will come from too high a surplus calories (or poor programming/performance), and is not a result of too many carbs in and of themselves.
Protein is necessary for building muscle, but carbs help drive it and make the process most productive. There are many people bulking on keto I'm sure, but it is not typical. And to be honest muscles without carbs tend to look more flat and not as full, which is why bodybuilders carb load before a show.6 -
https://sci-fit.net/ketogenic-diet-fat-muscle-performance/
Indication is that keto is less than optimal for anaerobic performance based on meta analysis of the data.
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When you say bulking, you mean adding FAT from too many carbs?? There are TONS of people doing keto and gaining muscle just fine. protein is king for muscles. Go out and do some research and watch tons of videos on this already.
Too much fat gain in a bulk will come from too high a surplus calories (or poor programming/performance), and is not a result of too many carbs in and of themselves.
Protein is necessary for building muscle, but carbs help drive it and make the process most productive. There are many people bulking on keto I'm sure, but it is not typical. And to be honest muscles without carbs tend to look more flat and not as full, which is why bodybuilders carb load before a show.
Carb load before a show is a myth and a sign of bad dieting, to a point. This has been a result quite often of poor sodium intake. There are tons of videos out now talking about how badly bodybuilders have dieted in the past. There are tons of body builders that got horrible advice from trainers that did not know what they were talking about, or used OLD knowledge about how things work.
Before you guys continue posting this, go out and watch youtube videos on flexible dieting, keto, etc. There are tons of bodybuilders that talk about how crappy their diets were and what horrible advice they got. I personally don't do keto, but have watch probably over 20 videos on keto and flexible dieting.
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When you say bulking, you mean adding FAT from too many carbs?? There are TONS of people doing keto and gaining muscle just fine. protein is king for muscles. Go out and do some research and watch tons of videos on this already.
Too much fat gain in a bulk will come from too high a surplus calories (or poor programming/performance), and is not a result of too many carbs in and of themselves.
Protein is necessary for building muscle, but carbs help drive it and make the process most productive. There are many people bulking on keto I'm sure, but it is not typical. And to be honest muscles without carbs tend to look more flat and not as full, which is why bodybuilders carb load before a show.
Carb load before a show is a myth and a sign of bad dieting, to a point. This has been a result quite often of poor sodium intake. There are tons of videos out now talking about how badly bodybuilders have dieted in the past. There are tons of body builders that got horrible advice from trainers that did not know what they were talking about, or used OLD knowledge about how things work.
Before you guys continue posting this, go out and watch youtube videos on flexible dieting, keto, etc. There are tons of bodybuilders that talk about how crappy their diets were and what horrible advice they got. I personally don't do keto, but have watch probably over 20 videos on keto and flexible dieting.
I'm not talking eating carbs to the point of extreme bloating, but the right about of carbs do make your muscles look more full. I know I find after a refeed my muscles are popping and I look fantastic. But hey do you what works for you.. every bodybuilder is different in how they respond.
I do my research and watch plenty of videos. Again no one is saying it is impossible... if someone finds their workout performance and muscle building best on keto, go for it, but to get the kind of results you get with carbs on a bulk, it is not easy, and I have heard many people struggle with it.
There are a few people who have tried bulking on keto... @Gallowmere1984 is one of them, he might be able to share some insight.
At the end of the day you do what works for you. If OP wants to try it, I encourage her to do so and she can share her results. I am always open to hearing different experiences first hand.4 -
I have done a very successful "re-comp" using keto... Last spring I went really deep into ketosis for 3 months and (by dexa) dropped from 24% to 8% body fat while gaining 8 or 9 pounds of lean mass...
My scans were actually 6 months apart and the first 3 months I was lower carb but not keto the last 3 months I was consuming less than 10g per day of carbs (mostly just secondary stuff like a slice of tomato on the side or condiments or a dill pickle...) I was definitely eating in a surplus (over 4k calories total most days).
My main observation besides the rapid fat loss and avoiding going catabolic was that I would definitely "bonk" before I was actually finished my workout. (hit the wall hard and suddenly and be completely unable to lift... just go home because there's zero in the tank)
I tried BCAAs and that let me finish a workout but completely kicked me out of ketosis. When I got my 8% scan I started letting carbs back into my life and usually have around 200g or so a day now.2 -
Not optimal. Carbs help with signal pathways for anabolism (building) that keto can't provide.I've been trying to research it, but there seems to be some conflicting views on it. Any experience with it? Opinions?
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1288474/ketogenic-diets-dont-build-muscle/p1
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Lol, well drugs help too.Everyone that is saying don't do Keto because of carbs and building muscle, I would ignore. Go to youtube, there are plenty of PHD Bodybuilders and powerlifters that do Keto just fine and have many conversations about it.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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