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Keto to drop BF and Maintain (ideally build) muscle

m_cowley
m_cowley Posts: 5
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Hi,
I'm looking into keto to drop some BF, but keep muscle, leading up to rugby preseason.
Stats wise, I'm 6'8 and around 270lbs.
My macros are currently 5% carbs (30g)/35% protein (228g sometimes slightly more)/60% fat (174g).

Am I on the right track here?

Thanks!

Replies

  • HauteLlama
    HauteLlama Posts: 21 Member
    Looks pretty good to me. Just don't go back to your normal eating patterns, and drinking patterns (Former rugger here), once the season starts. Maintain your eating habits, but look into some carb cycling pre game to get the most out of your glucose stores. Since what you are doing is basically sprinting back and forth, you will need some extra energy. I'm going to give you some links to some serious low carb athletic studies.

    Quick Article of High Performance athletes switching to Keto diets

    http://www.examiner.com/article/fitness-experts-endurance-athletes-can-benefit-from-high-fat-ketogenic-diet

    Self Study and improved endurance Dr. Peter Attia

    http://eatingacademy.com/how-a-low-carb-diet-affected-my-athletic-performance

    Metabolic states: Video presentation:

    http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2013/07/30/ketogenic-diet/

    Cool runners doing LCHF and their results

    http://www.runketo.com/

    Pretty long but its a good read.

    http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/1/1/2

    Long podcast: better oxygen absorption, improved oxygen efficiency on Navy SEALS

    http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/10/deep-dive-ketosis-navy-seals-extreme-athletes-busy-executives-can-enhance-physical-mental-performance-secret-weapon-ketone-fuel/


    Good luck
    x
  • HauteLlama
    HauteLlama Posts: 21 Member
    Also This,

    http://www.reddit.com/r/ketogains
  • m_cowley
    m_cowley Posts: 5
    That's great, exactly what I was looking for!

    Drink wise, I'm going to have a good few months off, but realistically once the season starts it'll creep in every now and again!

    If I can keep my carbs down to <30g, I'm hoping that when I start to cycle them during pre-season onwards I'll really feel the benefit.

    Biggest concern will be losing muscle, but if I'm keeping my protein between 230-270g/day, and doing 5-6 weight sessions a week then I can't see how that'd happen. (Hopefully!)
  • m_cowley
    m_cowley Posts: 5
    So to get this right, when I'm playing on a Saturday it's best to 'carb-up' on the friday. 80mins of rugby+light cardio on the sunday should be enough to deplete glyco levels fairly quickly.

    If I'm right here, what sort of amount of carbs should I be looking at?

    Thanks!
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
    Read the book, art and science of low carb performance for athletes and read eatingacademy.com. Try to follow the recommendations in the book on protein. The biggest challenge is finding the right protein balance, too high it can pull you back, too low, it can result in loss in muscle. I lift/ weight train with 1-1.2g of protein/kg. I also run for 2-3 hrs on Sundays. Good luck.
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
    Also check out Generation UCAN super starch for game days. I know few low carb NFL athletes use it.
  • m_cowley
    m_cowley Posts: 5
    Great, thanks for your input!

    If I'm around 270lbs, but only getting 250ish g of protein, am I going to lose muscle?

    If I increase my g/protein then it'll bump my daily calories over 3000, which will surely hinder fat loss?
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
    I am 180 lbs and I eat 80-100 gm of protein while increasing lean tissue. I don't ya Rugby though. 250 gm sounds plenty.
  • busywaterbending
    busywaterbending Posts: 844 Member
    first of all, if you are in a calorie deficit you are in ketosis. Ketosis is nothing more than the scientific vocabulary word to say "burning body fat". So watch your calories. Changing up your macros can work, just be sure to monitor your energy levels when in anaerobic exercise mode. By 4 weeks of a low carb diet you will need to fuel your body with carbs during your rugby.

    second, in order to not lose muscle (for recovery) you must eat carbs with that protein post workout.

    best wishes, happy training.
  • Caeyla
    Caeyla Posts: 42 Member


    second, in order to not lose muscle (for recovery) you must eat carbs with that protein post workout.


    Why? I'm genuinely curious.

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