Building Muscle On Keto: The Role Of Carbs

The ketogenic diet is a popular low-carb, high-fat diet. It involves drastically lowering your carb intake and consuming fat instead. This helps your body transition into a metabolic state known as ketosis.

Ketosis occurs when your body has limited access to glucose or carbs, its preferred source of fuel. To compensate, your body uses fat to make ketone bodies as an alternative fuel source.

Ketogenic diets are often associated with weight loss. However, there is a growing interest in keto bodybuilding. This has led to the question: do you need carbs to build muscle on a keto diet?

The answer is no – you can absolutely build muscle on a keto diet. However, it may be more difficult without carbs since they release insulin, an anabolic hormone that helps create conditions for muscle growth.

Research shows that even high-level powerlifters can gain strength on a ketogenic diet. A 2020 study found that lean body mass increased in both a ketogenic group and a traditional Western diet group. Furthermore, the ketogenic group lost more fat.

To build muscle on a keto diet, it is important to eat enough calories and protein, and to train with weights regularly.

Ketogenic diets and muscle growth

The ketogenic diet is a popular low-carb, high-fat diet. When you go keto, you basically eliminate carbohydrates from your diet and replace them with fat. This diet is well-known as a weight-loss method, as it makes you feel full and eat less.

However, many people believe that building muscle on keto is difficult, if not impossible. This is because your body prefers carbohydrates when you lift weights, and carbohydrates release insulin, an anabolic hormone that helps create conditions that drive muscle growth.

Yes, you can. There are numerous real-world examples of people transforming their physiques, improving their body composition, and gaining muscle while on a keto diet. Research also shows that it is possible to gain muscle tissue and lose fat simultaneously with keto.

For example, in a recent study, 25 young men participated in a strength-training program for 12 weeks while following either a ketogenic diet or a traditional Western diet. Both groups increased their lean body mass. In addition, the keto group experienced more fat loss than the control group.

Other studies are not as optimistic. One review concluded that keto might help you curtail muscle breakdown and prevent muscle loss on a weight-loss diet but make muscle gain more difficult. Most of them show that you perform just as well in the gym on keto, but that you might find it harder to gain as much muscle without carbs.

You must eat enough food to gain muscle. This entails consuming at least as many calories as you burn. While it is possible to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, it is much more difficult. After a week or so, even a moderate calorie deficit reduces muscle protein synthesis.

The first step is to figure out how many calories you need to consume to maintain your body weight. You can use a calorie calculator to estimate how many calories you require, based on one of the most widely used and accurate equations.

How to gain muscle while on keto

The three most important things to remember when building muscle on keto are the same as they are when building muscle on any diet:

• Regular weight lifting: Weight training is the most effective way to stimulate muscle growth.
• Take in enough calories: It will be more difficult to gain muscle if you eat too few calories.
• Consume an abundance of protein: Gaining lean muscle is much easier with a high-protein diet. Protein is the building block of muscles, which means that you need to consume more protein than your body breaks down through natural processes when trying to build muscle.

Muscle-building exercise programs

If you’re looking for a new training program tailored to your experience level or just want a change from your old routine, there are several effective muscle-building programs available. These include beginner barbell and machine programs, as well as more advanced full-body hypertrophy and upper/lower body split programs.

Ketogenic muscle-building training

How should you modify your strength training for a ketogenic diet? You shouldn’t do it. One of the benefits of the ketogenic diet is that you can live your life normally while avoiding carbs. A muscle-building training program looks the same whether you’re on a ketogenic or a high-carb diet.

To gain serious muscle, regardless of your diet, you must hit the weights hard! In your training, use progressive overload. Always try to increase the weight you use or perform more reps with a given weight.

Muscle-building exercises can range from 3 to 30 reps. 6-15 is a good starting point from a practical standpoint. Using heavy weights all the time strains your joints, and high-rep training to failure is mentally draining.

If you want to see the best results in terms of muscle growth, you should do at least ten sets per muscle group and week. It makes little difference whether you work a muscle once or five times per week as long as your total weekly training volume is the same. If you enjoy high-volume training, you will benefit from spreading it out over several workouts. Otherwise, your sets’ quality may suffer.

Rest for at least two minutes between sets. Include a variety of exercises to target your muscle from various angles, and mix and match compound movements and isolation exercises rather than relying solely on one.

Carbohydrates and insulin release

The link between carbohydrates and insulin release is particularly important in the development of type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body can't make enough insulin or can't properly use the insulin it makes. Type 2 diabetes usually develops gradually over several years, beginning when muscle and other cells stop responding to insulin. This condition, known as insulin resistance, causes blood sugar and insulin levels to stay high long after eating. Over time, the heavy demands on the insulin-making cells wear them out, and insulin production eventually stops.

The type of carbohydrates consumed also affects insulin release. Simple carbohydrates, composed of sugars such as fructose and glucose, have simple chemical structures and are quickly utilised for energy by the body, often leading to a faster rise in blood sugar and insulin secretion. Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, have more complex chemical structures and take longer to digest, causing a slower rise in blood sugar and insulin release.

The glycemic index, which ranks carbohydrates based on how quickly and how much they raise blood sugar levels, is a better way to categorise carbohydrates in terms of their impact on insulin release. Foods with a high glycemic index, like white bread, cause substantial fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin levels, while foods with a low glycemic index, like whole oats, are digested more slowly and lead to a more gradual rise.

While carbohydrates are known to promote insulin release, recent research suggests that individuals might exhibit unique insulin responses to different nutrients. For example, a study found that about 9% of donors' pancreatic islets responded more strongly to proteins, and 8% responded more strongly to fats than carbohydrates. These findings indicate that insulin secretion in response to nutrients may be more complex and individualised than previously believed.

In summary, carbohydrates play a significant role in insulin release, but other factors, such as the type and amount of carbohydrates consumed, as well as individual variations in insulin response, also influence the interplay between carbohydrates and insulin.

Ketosis and alternative fuel sources

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet. When you go keto, you essentially eliminate carbohydrates from your diet and replace them with fat. This means reducing your carb intake to 5-10% of your total energy intake and getting the rest of your calories from fat.

When you drastically lower your carb intake, your body enters a metabolic state called ketosis. This usually happens within a few days, but it can take up to a week or more for some people.

During ketosis, your body switches from using carbs to alternative fuel sources: fat and ketone bodies. When you run out of carbs, your body releases fatty acids, which your liver converts into ketone bodies. These ketone bodies then replace carbs as your primary energy source.

Your body will stay in ketosis as long as you don't eat any carbs, using your fat stores and ketone bodies to fuel your muscles, organs, and even your brain, which typically relies on glucose for energy.

Benefits of Ketosis

Ketosis offers several potential health benefits, including:

• Weight loss
• Improved lipid markers for cardiovascular health
• Improved blood sugar control
• Enhanced responses to cancer treatments

Building Muscle on Keto

It is possible to build muscle while on a keto diet. Research shows that you can gain muscle tissue and lose fat simultaneously. However, it may be more challenging to build muscle without carbs since they promote the release of insulin, an anabolic hormone that helps create conditions for muscle growth.

To build muscle effectively on a keto diet, it is crucial to:

• Consume enough calories: Eat at least as many calories as you burn, or consider a slight calorie surplus to optimize muscle growth.
• Eat plenty of protein: Protein is essential for muscle growth, and a high-protein diet makes it easier to gain lean muscle mass. Aim for 1.4-2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
• Lift weights regularly: Weight training is the most effective way to stimulate muscle growth. Progressive overload, or gradually increasing the weight or number of reps, is key to gaining muscle and strength.

Calorie intake and muscle growth

Calorie intake is a key factor in muscle growth, and it's important to ensure you're consuming enough calories to support muscle development. Here are some detailed guidelines on calorie intake for optimal muscle growth:

Determining Calorie Intake for Muscle Growth

To build muscle effectively, you need to consume more calories than your body burns. This is known as a calorie surplus. Use a calorie calculator or consult with a dietician to determine your maintenance calories, which is the number of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. Once you know your maintenance calories, you can calculate your calorie surplus by increasing your intake by 10-20%. For example, if your maintenance calories are 2,000 per day, aim for 2,200-2,400 calories per day to support muscle growth.

Adjusting Calorie Intake for Goals

The rate at which you gain or lose weight depends on your specific goals. If your goal is to lose fat while maintaining or building muscle, aim for a weight loss rate of 0.5%-0.75% of your body weight per week. This is a sustainable rate that minimizes the risk of muscle loss. On the other hand, if your goal is to gain weight and build muscle, a monthly weight gain of 1% of your body weight is a good target. This translates to a daily calorie surplus of about 100-150 calories above your maintenance level.

Individual Factors Affecting Calorie Intake

It's important to consider individual factors such as training experience, body composition, and genetics when determining calorie intake for muscle growth. Beginners who are new to training will have a faster rate of muscle growth and can handle a larger calorie surplus. In contrast, more advanced individuals may need to be more cautious to avoid gaining too much fat. Additionally, individuals with a lower body fat percentage may be more likely to gain muscle than body fat in a calorie surplus.

Tracking Progress and Adjusting Calorie Intake

To ensure you're on the right track, it's crucial to track your progress over several weeks. Monitor your weight daily and take measurements of your body composition. If you're losing weight too quickly, increase your calorie intake to prevent muscle loss. If you're not losing or gaining weight as desired, make small adjustments to your calorie intake until you find the sweet spot that supports your goals. Remember that progress takes time, and it's important to be patient and consistent with your calorie intake and training regimen.

Protein intake and muscle growth

Protein is crucial for muscle growth and repair. It is made up of amino acids, which act as building blocks for cells and tissues in the body. There are 20 amino acids that combine to form proteins, and nine of them are amino acids that the body cannot make, called essential amino acids. These must be obtained through diet.

When a person eats protein, it is digested and broken down into amino acids, which are then used in various processes in the body, including tissue growth and repair, immune function, and energy production.

The ideal amount of protein for muscle growth depends on several factors, including age, gender, activity level, health, and other variables. However, experts generally recommend consuming about 1.6-2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For a 150-pound person, this equates to about 109-150 grams of protein per day.

It is important to note that consuming more protein than the body needs can lead to decreased muscle mass. On the other hand, increasing protein intake above the recommended amount may help improve strength and lean body mass when combined with resistance exercises.

Protein Sources

The best sources of protein are lean animal meats or plants. These include:

• Poultry (e.g., turkey)
• Fish (e.g., salmon)
• Eggs
• Beans
• Tofu
• Lentils
• Plant-based protein powders
• Whey protein powders

Animal proteins contain all the essential amino acids and are easy to digest, while some plant-based proteins may be less bioavailable and harder to digest. However, individuals can supplement their diet by eating more overall protein and opting for a variety of foods.

Timing of Protein Intake

While the amount of protein is crucial for muscle growth, the timing of protein intake is also important. It is recommended to distribute protein intake evenly throughout the day rather than spacing it into shorter increments. Consuming a good dose of protein at breakfast is especially important, as muscle protein synthesis decreases overnight. Front-loading protein intake in the morning can stimulate muscle protein synthesis to a greater extent.

Protein and the Keto Diet

The keto diet is a popular low-carb, high-fat diet that has been linked to weight loss and various health benefits. While it was once believed that building muscle on a keto diet was impossible due to the restriction of carbohydrates, recent studies have shown that it is possible to gain muscle and improve strength on a keto diet.

However, it may be more challenging to gain muscle on a keto diet, as carbohydrates are the body's preferred source of fuel during weight lifting and help release insulin, an anabolic hormone that promotes muscle growth. Additionally, the keto diet can be restrictive and may lead to low energy levels, affecting workout performance.

To build muscle on a keto diet, it is crucial to ensure adequate protein intake, determine calorie intake, and incorporate resistance training into your routine.

Frequently asked questions