Low carb impact on lifting

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jonthemusse
jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I've been diligently taking the slack off my weights with SS after a few years of inactivity. Started exceptionally low as a token of respect for my new decade.

Got into trouble really soon with squats, like "holy crap I'm weak" soon. Been at about 50 grams of carbs for maybe two months already, and then accidentally fell into some ice cream with my mouth open and while getting up stumbled into some bread. You get the point.

I flew past the weights. I estimate maybe 30 pounds worth of extra speed on the bar.

HOW much exactly does low Carb affect performance. I've been giving myself maybe 10 % weakling pass, but do I have to reassess?
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Replies

  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    Why are you on such low carbs? Medical reasons? If not, no reason to do it, you will keep on falling into bread and ice cream....
    Personally, I lift and run and refuse to do it without carbs - so a 35c/3p/30f works well for me.....
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Because-for me-it's the least fussy way to deal with food. I can't keep up with my calorie intake in the long run if I'm eating willy nilly. This kind of lagging in strength is unacceptable though, but I'm afraid of all the more complicated options. Carb cycling and all that. Will listen nevertheless.

    Eat eggs, go through some cabbage, rinse repeat. I like.

    Life will get in the way with regularity, that's enough of metabolic shake-up without planning.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    i doubt it was the change in carbs that affected your lifting. you are probably just going through newbie gains.
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
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    Possibly. I'm paying attention to this. As a repeat customer, the gains don't tend to be so leapy and boundy. Cheap form gains are over with, and most neurons have woken up.

    I want to blame the food, but I don't want to complicate matters. 'Tis why I'm asking.
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
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    I probably should mention that SS has taken me to 2xBW in DL (and correct scaling in other lifts) before. Various programming has put me at 2.5xBW in DL occasionally. Nothing fancy, but plenty strong to open jars.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    beyond beginner levels of lifting , macro balance gets to be more important. And ice cream and bread contain a lot more than just carbs, ice cream has protein and sugar , and bread can contain protein.
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
    edited May 2016
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    I meant that after probably being ketogenic for a month and a half of lifting (and working) and feeling it, I unintentionally for the first time loaded myself with carbs, and the next day I was more where I thought I supposed to be strength wise. The difference was larger than I ever expected. Two days later, albeit still better than before, much weaker and in line with what I've been experiencing. I'm expecting to pay attention to the weight again tomorrow. I hope it's newbie gains.

    I'll know when I stall the latest, just wanted to get a few opinions while waiting for that.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    There's no set number or percentage that low carbs will affect you, it depends on a lot of factors. But waning strength is typical and expected.
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
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    Meh, suck it up and eat more.

    That's what I've done the last 25 years. I was hoping for a flood of superfluous information and hard numbers. I see it here all the time. Trying my bestest to be part of it.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    you can make your own numbers, but it takes time. once you max out your newbie gains experiment around with different diets and macros and track how your lifts are affected. it takes a long time, but its a great way to get to know your body.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    edited May 2016
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    If training performance is a high priority I don't think I'd mix low carbohydrate dieting with intense training modalities, like trying to go beast mode on SS.

    I think this is sub optimal for MOST people.
  • kirstinethornburg
    kirstinethornburg Posts: 300 Member
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    I am on low carbs as well and lifting 65 pound weights 4 days a week. low carbs are a big help in my droping nthe weight
    in one month I lost 10 pounds working out and eating low carbs. lifting weights do not push to quickely to avoid injury
  • lemmie177
    lemmie177 Posts: 479 Member
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    Ice cream and bread may have provided the carb boost you needed to replenish depleted muscle glycogen.

    Low carb is not the best for performance during moderate/high intensity activity. I've read that ppl CAN become keto-adapted such that the body will make glycogen from protein/fat but it takes a long time of very strict, very low carbs (and 50 may still be too high?), so that's a no go as long as there are ice cream accidents.

    I cycle carbs around my heavy workout and it got me out of my strength plateau.
  • martyqueen52
    martyqueen52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    First... do you have a medical provider recognized condition when you consume carbs?

    If no.... why are you avoiding them?

    If you have to ask this question in the first place, not trying to be a dick or smart, but, please go read some articles by Layne Norton and Alan Aragon on nutrition because you don't seem to have enough knowledge on the topic.
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
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    martyqueen52 wrote: »
    First... do you have a medical provider recognized condition when you consume carbs?

    If no.... why are you avoiding them?

    If you have to ask this question in the first place, not trying to be a dick or smart, but, please go read some articles by Layne Norton and Alan Aragon on nutrition because you don't seem to have enough knowledge on the topic.

    But you ARE being a dick. Not reading the question, being enthusiastic about your opinion, and grinding an obvious axe are surely going to get you there.

    Please, tell me more about these doctors I see you mention. Are they as free with off topic patronization as you are, because I love it!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    If you are more comfortable on a low carb diet, have you looked into following a modified ketogenic diet called Targeted Ketogenic Diet? Basically what you do is take in 25-50 grams of fast acting carbs 30 or so minutes before your workout. You might be knocked out of ketosis temporarily, but it's only for short periods of time with the benefit of increased performance.

    http://www.ruled.me/targeted-ketogenic-diet-indepth-look/
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
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    I'm not going beast mode on for now. I was surprised of the strength of the effect of muscles having proper fuel to play with.

    I was hoping for a quick survey on magnitude, but I got mostly boiler plate. I will eventually learn to formulate my questions correctly. Thank you all for your time, though.
  • jonthemusse
    jonthemusse Posts: 106 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    If you are more comfortable on a low carb diet, have you looked into following a modified ketogenic diet called Targeted Ketogenic Diet? Basically what you do is take in 25-50 grams of fast acting carbs 30 or so minutes before your workout. You might be knocked out of ketosis temporarily, but it's only for short periods of time with the benefit of increased performance.

    http://www.ruled.me/targeted-ketogenic-diet-indepth-look/

    This I can use!
  • richln
    richln Posts: 809 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    If you are more comfortable on a low carb diet, have you looked into following a modified ketogenic diet called Targeted Ketogenic Diet? Basically what you do is take in 25-50 grams of fast acting carbs 30 or so minutes before your workout. You might be knocked out of ketosis temporarily, but it's only for short periods of time with the benefit of increased performance.

    http://www.ruled.me/targeted-ketogenic-diet-indepth-look/

    Yep, I think most of the serious keto lifters are on TKD or CKD.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/ketogains/wiki/index
    https://www.reddit.com/r/ketogains/
  • WallBilly
    WallBilly Posts: 11 Member
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    I do a program similar to SS. Did SS for 6 months then transitioned to more steady-state (slower) gains with the same lifts. Been doing it for 2 years. January 1 this year, I decided to go back to Atkins to drop some weight quickly while maintaining lifting and playing hockey twice a week.

    Dropped weight, 12 pounds in 6 weeks. Calorie deficit was only 400-500/day.

    Performance in the weight room suffered dramatically.

    Now I'm back on a balanced diet (but avoiding most grains and refined carbs) and continuing to lose weight more slowly, but I'm getting stronger. Still have a deficit of ~ 300-500/day.

    I'm not saying this is generally true for everyone, but it was for me.

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