Ketogenic diets DON'T build muscle

ninerbuff

I've had this question asked of me and a while back had an article on it. Thought I reprint it for those who are interested.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ketogenesis refers to the creation of ketone in the liver that occurs when the body is desperate for energy due to low carbohydrate availability. The body has complex sensing mechanisms that respond to energy availability and body weight. For example, mTOR is a powerful signaling pathway that responds to changes in energy, nutrients, and growth factors. Nutrients and growth factors activate mTOR, which promotes muscle protein synthesis. Energy deprivation and ketosis suppresses the pathway. When the body is well fed and growing, mTOR is "turned on;" conversely, when energy (most strongly affected by glucose availability to the cell) is low, mTOR is "turned off." Bodybuilders are most interested in activating mTOR in muscle, as well as turning it off in fat tissue. Unfortunately, the natural signals are generally not tissue-specific, meaning that what increases muscle-building also tends to promote fat gain; the opposite is also true, to increase fat loss, one risks increasing muscle loss. This may account for some degree of the association of muscle loss during dieting. Ketogenic diets restrict carbohydrate intake to 10 to 20 grams per day.



Will following a ketogenic diet reduce muscle gains or promote muscle loss? Sadly, it appears this may be the case, particularly for drug-free bodybuilders. Ketogenic diets cause much lower blood insulin levels than normal. High levels of insulin activate the mTOR pathway and increases muscle growth. Studies in children on ketogenic diets have shown that they experience growth impairments in height and mass.



Very low-carbohydrate diets increase muscle loss in drug-free bodybuilders. The loss of anabolic/anti-catabolic signaling from reduced insulin concentrations, along with increased thyroid hormone activity (a catabolic hormone), and reduced resting testosterone levels, combine to promote muscle loss and inhibit muscle gains.



In recent professional bodybuilding shows, some athletes failed to reach former levels of competitiveness. No names will be mentioned out of respect for the efforts and frustration these men endured. Some of these athletes followed a ketogenic plan. Even for drug-enhanced bodybuilders, a ketogenic diet may produce a minor but significant deficit that can mean the difference between winning and losing.



When dieting, people seek the fastest and most effective way to lose fat. For athletes and bodybuilders, ketogenic dieting is counterproductive. Muscle loss is too high a price to pay for reduced fat.



References



Adam-Perrot A, Clifton P, et al. Low-carbohydrate diets: nutritional and physiological aspects. Obes Rev, 2006 Feb;7(1):49-58.



Bolster DR, Jefferson LS, et al. Regulation of protein synthesis associated with skeletal muscle hypertrophy by insulin-, amino acid- and exercise-induced signalling. Proc Nutr Soc, 2004 May;63(2):351-6.



Langfort JL, Zarzeczny R, et al. The effect of low-carbohydrate diet on the pattern of hormonal changes during incremental, graded exercise in young men. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2001 Jun;11(2):248-57.



Matsakas A, Patel K. Intracellular signalling pathways regulating the adaptation of skeletal muscle to exercise and nutritional changes. Histol Histopathol, 2009 Feb;24(2):209-22.



McCarthy JJ, Esser KA. Anabolic and catabolic pathways regulating skeletal muscle mass. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care, 2010 May;13(3):230-5.



McDaniel SS, Rensing NR, et al. The ketogenic diet inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Epilepsia, 2011 Mar;52(3):e7-e11.



Neal EG, Chaffe HM, et al. Growth of children on classical and medium-chain triglyceride ketogenic diets. Pediatrics, 2008 Aug;122(2):e334-40.

Weinheimer EM, Sands LP, et al. A systematic review of the separate and combined effects of energy restriction and exercise on fat-free mass in middle-aged and older adults: implications for sarcopenic obesity. Nutr Rev, 2010 Jul;68(7):375-88.

Reprint from Muscular Development.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

Nice.


Also, in for the inevitable shenanigans.

Last time I mentioned it without the article, ketogenic followers were insisting they were building muscle while on a ketogenic surplus. With the article, I don't expect too much debating about it now.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

eric_sg61

Nice.


Also, in for the inevitable shenanigans.

Last time I mentioned it without the article, ketogenic followers were insisting they were building muscle while on a ketogenic surplus. With the article, I don't expect too much debating about it now.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Don't count on it this is MFP.............where everyone gains muscle and loses fat at the same time and people get huge muscular thighs from just cardio

ninerbuff

Nice.


Also, in for the inevitable shenanigans.

Last time I mentioned it without the article, ketogenic followers were insisting they were building muscle while on a ketogenic surplus. With the article, I don't expect too much debating about it now.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Don't count on it this is MFP.............where everyone gains muscle and loses fat at the same time and people get huge muscular thighs from just cardio

Wish I had their genetics.:laugh: This whole lifting and eating well for 30 years has only kept me at minimal gains.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MityMax96

Great read....thanks for posting.

Makes me like the protocol I am on even more....
Now I just need to eat more.

MityMax96

Wish I had their genetics.:laugh: This whole lifting and eating well for 30 years has only kept me at minimal gains.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

20 yrs here. and I feel your pain.
So frustrating at times. :grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

dieselbyte

Great post.

albertabeefy

I've been on a ketogenic diet for a little over 41 months now.

While I agree much of what you state may be true on a Standard Ketogenic Diet - it's not necessarily true of either a TKD (Targeted Ketogenic Diet) or CKD (Cyclical Ketogenic Diet).

BTW in ketogenesis the body isn't "desperate" for energy. That idea is laughable. One could possibly suggest desperation during a starvation experiment, but not on a ketogenic diet. That comment alone leads me to conclude your article is highly-biased.

Your references about mTOR activation do nothing to suggest that while on a hypercaloric ketogenic diet one cannot gain muscle, and in-fact loses mass. None of your reference support this. Nor does any science I've ever seen.

Once I started lifting (a little over a year into the diet) I did gain muscle - about 5 pounds in the first year - without having a clue what I was doing. But honestly, that was to be expected as I'd severely atrophied after 5 years of heavy bed-rest due to a spinal injury, and my results aren't common or replicable in the vast-majority of others.

There is no doubt that building muscle now is MUCH more difficult - but I'm certainly not losing mass. DEXA scans show a whopping 2 lb increase in lean mass over this time last year. It's not very much (barely 1% increase in lean mass), but I'm thrilled with it. It's roughly the same increase I had last year, FYI.

The ONLY way I've found to do this for myself is adopt a TKD - a targeted ketogenic diet. I time my highest carbohydrate intake to be just prior to exercise, and eat a moderate caloric surplus during my 2 bulking cycles each year. I only add about 10lbs of weight in total during each bulk as I can't afford the decreased insulin-sensitivity that comes with more added bodyfat. Doing this I *stay* ketogenic, but have the carb-intake required to push heavy (I do 5x5 three days per week) and the insulin and growth factors required to build some lean mass.

As a Type I diabetic I *have* to stay ketogenic unless I inject bolus insulin, which I prefer not to do (because I have all the insulin-resistance issues of a Type II as well.)

That's me - that's anecdotal. Now for your studies:

The studies in which ketogenic diets impaired growth in children were on epileptic children, and showed it was likely in those that ate < 80% of their recommended calories AND < 80% of their recommended daily protein intake, and was possible in those that ate protein based on the old recommendations of intake.

Further studies have shown an increase in dietary protein is warranted for epileptic children on a ketogenic diet, and most specialists recognize and prescribe that now.

The nail in the coffin on your ketogenic-diet/stunted grown argument is that epileptics that experience seizures prior to age 18 are universally statistically shorter than norm, REGARDLESS of diet. The statistics on stunted-growth are higher for those that took phenytoin prior to completing growth as well. It's not just the diet that matters, it's the disease.

There are no studies that show a ketogenic diet stunts / alters growth in non-epileptic children.

As for the references showing muscle loss:

#1 is an article, not a study, that states simply "On the other hand some less desirable immediate effects such as enhanced lean body mass loss ... have been reported. But it should be noted that this was on "low-carb" diets, not ketogenic per se, AND there are more studies show the ketogenic diet is lean-mass-sparing than show a loss.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129159/
http://www.jissn.com/content/9/1/34

#2 is informational only and reaches no conclusions

#3 states "which MAY have an impact on the balance between anabolic and catabolic processes and subsequently influence the effectiveness of training" ... but if you read the study (even just the abstract) it showed clearly that:

"Neither the magnitude nor the pattern of the hormonal changes were affected by L-CHO diet except the NA (noradrenaline) threshold, which was lowered ... It is concluded that restriction of CHO intake (a) does not affect the pattern of changes in plasma A, hGH, and T concentrations during graded exercise but lowers NA threshold"

While opening up some discussion about the importance of noradrenaline in muscular development, this study does nothing to support your claims.

#4 and #5 are again, informational and again, neither is a study. Nor do they support the claim you can't build muscle while ketogenic.

#6 is a rat study about why seizures are suppressed by the ketogenic diet. They determined:

Because mTOR signaling has been implicated in epileptogenesis, these results suggest that the KD may have anticonvulsant or antiepileptogenic actions via mTOR pathway inhibition.

The extrapolation of this rodent study to mean ketogenic diets cause muscle loss in humans isn't warranted or even logical.

The last study again shows what we've known for a while, and again is on epileptic children. No scientist would automatically associate this with healthy bodybuilders, especially based on the information I provided on epilepsy and growth above.

While I appreciate that it can be difficult for some people to gain mass on a ketogenic diet - It's not impossible, nor does science reach the consensus that it promotes muscle loss. More studies show that even when hypocaloric, it is, by nature, muscle sparing. And experts like Lyle McDonald agree.

Also in counter to your claims is an excellent article with 15 scientific references here: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/can-you-build-muscle-on-a-ketogenic-diet.html

MityMax96

There is no doubt that building muscle now is MUCH more difficult - but I'm certainly not losing mass. DEXA scans show a whopping 2 lb increase in lean mass over this time last year. It's not very much (barely 1% increase in lean mass), but I'm thrilled with it. It's roughly the same increase I had last year, FYI.

Not to knock your gains or what you are doing.
But under optimal dieting, it is possible for a person to do about 2 lbs of muscle per month.
A total of 24 pounds of lean muscle in 1 year.

NRBreit

Anyone know the current thinking around CKD plans? Is this a viable way to get to sub-10% body fat with minimal muscle loss?

Edmond_Dantes

I've been on a ketogenic diet for a little over 41 months now.

While I agree much of what you state may be true on a Standard Ketogenic Diet - it's not necessarily true of either a TKD (Targeted Ketogenic Diet) or CKD (Cyclical Ketogenic Diet).

BTW in ketogenesis the body isn't "desperate" for energy. That idea is laughable. One could possibly suggest desperation during a starvation experiment, but not on a ketogenic diet. That comment alone leads me to conclude your article is highly-biased.

Your references about mTOR activation do nothing to suggest that while on a hypercaloric ketogenic diet one cannot gain muscle, and in-fact loses mass. None of your reference support this. Nor does any science I've ever seen.

Once I started lifting (a little over a year into the diet) I did gain muscle - about 5 pounds in the first year - without having a clue what I was doing. But honestly, that was to be expected as I'd severely atrophied after 5 years of heavy bed-rest due to a spinal injury, and my results aren't common or replicable in the vast-majority of others.

There is no doubt that building muscle now is MUCH more difficult - but I'm certainly not losing mass. DEXA scans show a whopping 2 lb increase in lean mass over this time last year. It's not very much (barely 1% increase in lean mass), but I'm thrilled with it. It's roughly the same increase I had last year, FYI.

The ONLY way I've found to do this for myself is adopt a TKD - a targeted ketogenic diet. I time my highest carbohydrate intake to be just prior to exercise, and eat a moderate caloric surplus during my 2 bulking cycles each year. I only add about 10lbs of weight in total during each bulk as I can't afford the decreased insulin-sensitivity that comes with more added bodyfat. Doing this I *stay* ketogenic, but have the carb-intake required to push heavy (I do 5x5 three days per week) and the insulin and growth factors required to build some lean mass.

As a Type I diabetic I *have* to stay ketogenic unless I inject bolus insulin, which I prefer not to do (because I have all the insulin-resistance issues of a Type II as well.)

That's me - that's anecdotal. Now for your studies:

The studies in which ketogenic diets impaired growth in children were on epileptic children, and showed it was likely in those that ate < 80% of their recommended calories AND < 80% of their recommended daily protein intake, and was possible in those that ate protein based on the old recommendations of intake.

Further studies have shown an increase in dietary protein is warranted for epileptic children on a ketogenic diet, and most specialists recognize and prescribe that now.

The nail in the coffin on your ketogenic-diet/stunted grown argument is that epileptics that experience seizures prior to age 18 are universally statistically shorter than norm, REGARDLESS of diet. The statistics on stunted-growth are higher for those that took phenytoin prior to completing growth as well. It's not just the diet that matters, it's the disease.

There are no studies that show a ketogenic diet stunts / alters growth in non-epileptic children.

As for the references showing muscle loss:

#1 is an article, not a study, that states simply "On the other hand some less desirable immediate effects such as enhanced lean body mass loss ... have been reported. But it should be noted that this was on "low-carb" diets, not ketogenic per se, AND there are more studies show the ketogenic diet is lean-mass-sparing than show a loss.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129159/
http://www.jissn.com/content/9/1/34

#2 is informational only and reaches no conclusions

#3 states "which MAY have an impact on the balance between anabolic and catabolic processes and subsequently influence the effectiveness of training" ... but if you read[/u[ the study (even just the abstract) it showed clearly that:

"Neither the magnitude nor the pattern of the hormonal changes were affected by L-CHO diet except the NA (noradrenaline) threshold, which was lowered ... It is concluded that restriction of CHO intake (a) does not affect the pattern of changes in plasma A, hGH, and T concentrations during graded exercise but lowers NA threshold"

While opening up some discussion about the importance of noradrenaline in muscular development, this study does nothing to support your claims.

#4 and #5 are again, informational and again, neither is a study. Nor do they support the claim you can't build muscle while ketogenic.

#6 is a rat study about why seizures are suppressed by the ketogenic diet. They determined:

Because mTOR signaling has been implicated in epileptogenesis, these results suggest that the KD may have anticonvulsant or antiepileptogenic actions via mTOR pathway inhibition.

The extrapolation of this rodent study to mean ketogenic diets cause muscle loss in humans isn't warranted or even logical.

The last study again shows what we've known for a while, and again is on epileptic children. No scientist would automatically associate this with healthy bodybuilders, especially based on the information I provided on epilepsy and growth above.

While I appreciate that it can be difficult for some people to gain mass on a ketogenic diet - It's not impossible, nor does science reach the consensus that it promotes muscle loss. More studies show that even when hypocaloric, it is, by nature, muscle sparing. And experts like Lyle McDonald agree.

Also in counter to your claims is an excellent article with 15 scientific references here: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/can-you-build-muscle-on-a-ketogenic-diet.html

This. I believe the original post just got thoroughly mythbusted.

albertabeefy

There is no doubt that building muscle now is MUCH more difficult - but I'm certainly not losing mass. DEXA scans show a whopping 2 lb increase in lean mass over this time last year. It's not very much (barely 1% increase in lean mass), but I'm thrilled with it. It's roughly the same increase I had last year, FYI.

Not to knock your gains or what you are doing.
But under optimal dieting, it is possible for a person to do about 2 lbs of muscle per month.
A total of 24 pounds of lean muscle in 1 year.

That's fascinating, because experts state otherwise.

Lyle McDonald states after 3 years of training, 5-6lbs per year.
Alan Aragon states .25-.5% of bodyweight per month.

Please don't suggest I can gain 25lbs per year now that I'm in my 3rd year of doing this. If I were 25 and non-diabetic and in my first year of training, perhaps. But at nearly 50, and a low-carb diabetic who doesn't inject bolus insulin, I'm doing FAR better than most would.

Scooby's calculator for my stats, if I were "naturally muscular" would be a maximum of 6.8lbs per year.

I'm thrilled with 2lbs a year because as a low-carb diabetic with low-circulating insulin I know how difficult hypertrophy is.

Thoth8

I'd also like to point out that initial so-called muscle mass losses on a ketogenic diet are actually usually just stored glycogen and water that are retained in the muscles. A larger person will tend to retain a lot more glycogen. Since glycogen is hydrophillic, it also absorbs water! (Up to twice to four times its weight in water) So the muscles actual protein mass never decreases, just the stored water and glycogen. If you are on any standard diet that has you eating 100+ carbs a day, especially if you are trying to gain muscle, therefore, eating more calories than you need, then you are going to be retaining a lot of glycogen and water in your muscles, which btw do not affect muscular performance in any feasible way. I know this, because I still have the same max deadlift after 3 weeks of inactivity after going into ketosis. Before ketosis I was on a high calorie high carb diet, and lifted the exact same max rep. It cannot be neural adaptation because I did nothing after that while going into ketosis.

MityMax96

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html

How Fast Can You Actually Gain Muscle Mass?

We live in an instant gratification society and are constantly bombarded with amazing claims; while this is probably most true in the world of weight loss, it’s not much different when it comes to muscle gain.

Magazines advertise 20 pounds or rock hard muscle in a mere 8-10 weeks, a supplement promises 5 lbs of muscle in 3 days or whatever; all around we see claims of rapid gains in muscle mass. Sadly, this is all basically bull****. Yeah, with glycogen loading or creatine you can increase lean body mass (not the same as muscle mass) fairly rapidly but beyond that, skeletal muscle actually grows fairly slowly.

How slowly?

On average, a natural male doing everything right will be doing very well to gain 1/2 of pound muscle per week. A female might gain half that or about 1/2 pound muscle every 2 weeks.

Let’s put that in perspective: over a full year of training, assuming the trainee is doing everything right, that’s 26 pounds of the good stuff for men (13 pounds for women). Which, if you think about it, actually isn’t that awful. It’s simply awful compared to what people think they are going to get based on the false promises in the magazines (or the claims of drug using bodybuilders).

That assumes that half-pound is gained week-in, week-out for the entire year. Oddly, and somewhat tangentially, it usually doesn’t work that way. Trainees may go a long time with no measurable gains and then wake up several pounds heavier seemingly overnight. I have no idea why, that’s just how it usually works.

I’d note that, under the right conditions (usually underweight high school kids), much faster rates of gain are often seen or reported. But these tend to be exceptions to the rule more than the norm and since I’m usually writing for the average male trainee who’s not 15 years old with raging hormones, I don’t consider those values very illustrative. And, occasionally, when the stars are right, and everything clicks, a true one pound per week of muscle mass gain may be seen for short periods. But again, that tends to be the exception.

Let me reiterate: the average male trainee is doing well to gain about 1/2 pound muscle per week, 2 pounds per month or about 24-26 pounds per year. I’d note that that will generally only happen in the first year of training and things slow down after that. A female may be gaining about half that much, 1 pound per month of actual muscle tissue or 10-12 pounds per year. I know it sucks but that’s reality.

I bring this up as it has some relevance to the weekly rate of weight gain that is acceptable for what I’m going to describe next.

Thoth8

" I’d note that that will generally only happen in the first year of training and things slow down after that."

The article makes it sound like it's always like that. It is only like that in the beginning. Things slow down considerably after that as you get closer to your maximum genetic potential.

Lofteren

Nice.


Also, in for the inevitable shenanigans.

Last time I mentioned it without the article, ketogenic followers were insisting they were building muscle while on a ketogenic surplus. With the article, I don't expect too much debating about it now.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Don't count on it this is MFP.............where everyone gains muscle and loses fat at the same time and people get huge muscular thighs from just cardio

This seriously made me laugh my *kitten* off.

I did a ketogenic diet for a while and lost 50lbs. I'm pretty sure about 20 of it was muscle. My deadlift went from 661 to 565 in 3 months. Needless to say, I quit the keto diet.

albertabeefy

See bolded parts:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html

How Fast Can You Actually Gain Muscle Mass?

We live in an instant gratification society and are constantly bombarded with amazing claims; while this is probably most true in the world of weight loss, it’s not much different when it comes to muscle gain.

Magazines advertise 20 pounds or rock hard muscle in a mere 8-10 weeks, a supplement promises 5 lbs of muscle in 3 days or whatever; all around we see claims of rapid gains in muscle mass. Sadly, this is all basically bull****. Yeah, with glycogen loading or creatine you can increase lean body mass (not the same as muscle mass) fairly rapidly but beyond that, skeletal muscle actually grows fairly slowly.

How slowly?

On average, a natural male doing everything right will be doing very well to gain 1/2 of pound muscle per week. A female might gain half that or about 1/2 pound muscle every 2 weeks.

Let’s put that in perspective: over a full year of training, assuming the trainee is doing everything right, that’s 26 pounds of the good stuff for men (13 pounds for women). Which, if you think about it, actually isn’t that awful. It’s simply awful compared to what people think they are going to get based on the false promises in the magazines (or the claims of drug using bodybuilders).

That assumes that half-pound is gained week-in, week-out for the entire year. Oddly, and somewhat tangentially, it usually doesn’t work that way. Trainees may go a long time with no measurable gains and then wake up several pounds heavier seemingly overnight. I have no idea why, that’s just how it usually works.

I’d note that, under the right conditions (usually underweight high school kids), much faster rates of gain are often seen or reported. But these tend to be exceptions to the rule more than the norm and since I’m usually writing for the average male trainee who’s not 15 years old with raging hormones, I don’t consider those values very illustrative. And, occasionally, when the stars are right, and everything clicks, a true one pound per week of muscle mass gain may be seen for short periods. But again, that tends to be the exception.

Let me reiterate: the average male trainee is doing well to gain about 1/2 pound muscle per week, 2 pounds per month or about 24-26 pounds per year. I’d note that that will generally only happen in the first year of training and things slow down after that. A female may be gaining about half that much, 1 pound per month of actual muscle tissue or 10-12 pounds per year. I know it sucks but that’s reality.

I bring this up as it has some relevance to the weekly rate of weight gain that is acceptable for what I’m going to describe next.

I'm neither the average trainee (I'm in my 3rd year of doing this and a low-carb diabetic with spinal injuries) AND Lyle (the guy you referenced) suggests the maximum at my level of training would be 5-6lbs a year - which also assumes I were younger.

Thoth8

Then you were doing something wrong. My deadlift stayed the same after 3 weeks of 500 cal daily intake ketosis. :-)

Edit: That's after 3 weeks of inactivity.

Lofteren

I'd also like to point out that initial so-called muscle mass losses on a ketogenic diet are actually usually just stored glycogen and water that are retained in the muscles. A larger person will tend to retain a lot more glycogen. Since glycogen is hydrophillic, it also absorbs water! (Up to twice to four times its weight in water) So the muscles actual protein mass never decreases, just the stored water and glycogen. If you are on any standard diet that has you eating 100+ carbs a day, especially if you are trying to gain muscle, therefore, eating more calories than you need, then you are going to be retaining a lot of glycogen and water in your muscles, which btw do not affect muscular performance in any feasible way. I know this, because I still have the same max deadlift after 3 weeks of inactivity after going into ketosis. Before ketosis I was on a high calorie high carb diet, and lifted the exact same max rep. It cannot be neural adaptation because I did nothing after that while going into ketosis.

I am going to go ahead and make an assumption here. Seeing as how your deadlift is exactly the same, I doubt that it's a very heavy pull. If you were really strong and then went into ketosis and didn't train for 3 weeks your deadlift would have definitely gone down since your body is no longer in a state to support that amount of strength. If you had an unimpressive deadlift to begin with; however, you wouldn't face this issue as abruptly. Furthermore, since it is likely that you aren't particularly strong, you probably haven't learned how to grind through a rep to find your true 1RM which makes gauging your performance on a 1RM deadlift inaccurate. So, just out of curiosity, how much can you deadlift?

albertabeefy

I am going to go ahead and make an assumption here. Seeing as how your deadlift is exactly the same, I doubt that it's a very heavy pull. If you were really strong and then went into ketosis and didn't train for 3 weeks your deadlift would have definitely gone down since your body is no longer in a state to support that amount of strength. If you had an unimpressive deadlift to begin with; however, you wouldn't face this issue as abruptly. Furthermore, since it is likely that you aren't particularly strong, you probably haven't learned how to grind through a rep to find your true 1RM which makes gauging your performance on a 1RM deadlift inaccurate. So, just out of curiosity, how much can you deadlift?

Lofteren ... Were you doing a standard ketogenic diet, or targeted?

I experienced issues with maximum strength until I started a targeted ketogenic diet. I simply didn't have enough circulating glucose to fuel the anaerobic effort required by 1RM's until I timed my carbohydrate intake to increase serum glucose just prior to either strength-training or HIIT.