Building Muscle On Keto: Gaining Weight The Right Way

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that has gained popularity as a weight-loss method. It is believed that building muscle on keto is challenging because the body prefers carbohydrates when lifting weights, and because carbs release insulin, an anabolic hormone. However, it is possible to build muscle on keto, and there is research to support this claim.

To build muscle on keto, it is crucial to consume enough calories and protein. This means eating at least as many calories as you burn and ensuring your protein intake is sufficient for muscle repair and growth. Timing your protein and carb intake can also be beneficial. Additionally, resistance training and adequate rest are essential for muscle growth, regardless of diet.

While building muscle on keto is achievable, it may be slightly more difficult than on a high-carb diet due to the reduced carb intake. However, with careful planning and consistency, you can successfully gain muscle while following the ketogenic diet.

Eat a calorie surplus

To build muscle on keto, you need to eat more calories than you burn. This is called eating in a calorie surplus.

The number of calories you need to eat per day to build muscle depends on several factors, such as your weight, height, lifestyle, sex, and activity levels.

The first thing you need to do is determine your maintenance calories—the number of calories you need to consume per day to stay the same weight.

To do this, weigh yourself at least three times per week and record your food intake over the week with a calorie-tracking app. If your weight stays the same, that is roughly your maintenance calories.

When you're trying to build muscle, it's recommended to increase your calorie intake by 15% above your maintenance calories. So if your maintenance calories are 2,000 per day, you should eat 2,300 calories per day to build muscle.

As you build muscle, it's a good idea to adjust your calorie intake around once per month to account for changes in your weight.

It's recommended to gain no more than 0.25–0.5% of your body weight per week to prevent accumulating too much fat.

Eat plenty of protein

Eating enough protein is essential for building muscle. 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.

Most studies suggest that eating 0.7–0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.6–2.0 grams per kg) is ideal for building muscle. There’s some concern among keto dieters about consuming too much protein because it could encourage your body to use gluconeogenesis—a process in which amino acids are converted from protein into sugar, which could stop your body from making ketones. However, studies have shown that people can safely consume around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (2.1 grams per kg) and stay in ketosis.

A high-quality protein source is one that contains all nine essential amino acids and is specifically rich in the key muscle-building amino acid leucine. The best keto protein choices include eggs (both yolk and white), whole-fat milk, Greek yogurt, cheese, chicken, turkey, pork, beef, lamb, fish, and seafood.

When it comes to building muscle, protein is the nutrient to track. If you don’t eat enough protein, you’ll find it much harder to pack on muscle. Studies show that you need a higher protein intake when training to gain muscle. Eating 1.4–2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day is sufficient for most people. To be on the safe side, why not go for 2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day? It does no harm, and you ensure that your muscles have all the building blocks they need.

A common concern in the bodybuilding community is that eating too much protein will kick you out of ketosis. Fortunately, it’s also a common misconception. Eating protein makes your body release insulin, just like when you eat carbs. Also, some of the protein you consume is converted to glucose, more so when you’re on a low-carb diet. That process is called gluconeogenesis.

Protein doesn’t have much of an effect on your blood sugar. That means you can eat a lot of protein without worrying about your blood sugar spiking and bringing you out of ketosis. The small amount of glucose your body gets from the protein you eat is useful, even on a ketogenic diet. When you’re not getting any carbs from your diet, or if you fast, you maintain your blood sugar levels through gluconeogenesis. When you fast, you have to get those carbs by breaking down your own body, but when you’re on keto, you can use the sugar converted from the protein you eat.

While your brain functions without eating carbs, ketones can only provide 70% of its energy. It still needs some carbs to function. You don’t have to eat carbohydrates, though, since gluconeogenesis provides enough glucose to do the job.

Fatty acids and ketone bodies are your primary fuels when you’re on keto, but not all organs can do without carbs completely. Your testes (if you’re male), parts of your kidneys, and your red blood cells all require a steady flow of glucose into the bloodstream. From where does that glucose come? Gluconeogenesis.

Even if you’re not eating carbs, gluconeogenesis allows you to store glycogen in your muscles after a workout. Without glycogen, your performance during high-intensity exercise might suffer.

In summary, a standard ketogenic diet isn’t very high in protein. However, when you engage in strength training, you need more protein than average if you want good results. A protein intake between 1.4 and 2 grams per kilogram of body weight (0.65–0.91 grams per pound of body weight) per day is an excellent target.

Fortunately, you are unlikely to get kicked out of ketosis on a high-protein diet. You still need some carbs even when you’re on keto, but you don’t have to get them from pasta and pancakes. Instead, your body creates the glucose it needs from protein, allowing you to remain in ketosis and run on fat and ketone bodies.

Lift weights regularly

Weight training is an essential part of building muscle on keto. It's all about progressive overload—gradually increasing the weight, reps, or sets to ensure your body is continuously challenged.

The number of reps that work for building muscle is between 3 and 30, but a good starting point is 6–15. Going too heavy can be hard on your joints, and high-rep training to failure can be mentally exhausting.

It's recommended to perform at least ten sets per muscle group and week for optimal results. It doesn't matter if you work a muscle group once or five times a week, as long as your total weekly training volume is the same. If you're into high-volume training, you might benefit from spreading your training volume over several workouts.

Rest for two minutes or longer between sets.

It's also a good idea to include a variety of exercises to target your muscle fibres from different angles. Mix and match compound movements and isolation exercises.

Training Programs for Building Muscle

• Beginner Barbell Program, three days/week: A time-efficient training program for beginners looking to gain muscle.
• Beginner Machine Program, two days/week: An alternative to the barbell program for beginners, this program introduces strength training using machines.
• StrengthLog’s Full Body Hypertrophy, three days/week: This intermediate program trains your entire body three times per week, with each session being unique and working all muscle groups with a wide range of repetitions to stimulate hypertrophy.
• StrengthLog’s Upper/Lower Program, four days/week: This program is great if you want to train four days per week. It's minimalistic, using only compound movements, but you can add isolation work according to your preferences.
• Bodybuilding Ballet, 4–6 days/week: Our most popular and advanced training program for building muscle.
• Bodybuilding 313, 5–6 days/week: A classic three-day training split, where you train three days, rest one, train three, and so on.

Supplements to Support Your Training

Although supplements are not necessary for muscle building, they can help you perform better in the gym and make it easier to pack on muscle. Here are some of the best supplements to include for keto bodybuilding:

• Creatine: This supplement is backed by extensive research. It helps you perform better, become stronger, and gain more muscle.
• Caffeine: For high-intensity training sessions, caffeine is a great energy boost. It won't kick you out of ketosis, either.
• Exogenous ketone supplements: These can lower your appetite and improve your exercise performance.
• MCT oil: Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) make it easier to get into and stay in ketosis. They are rapidly absorbed by the body and converted into ketones, which your brain and body can use for energy. Combining MCTs with caffeine enhances their effect.
• Protein powder: When you need a convenient way to boost your overall protein intake, a quality protein powder like whey, casein, or soy protein is always good to have on hand.

Nail your protein timing

To build muscle on keto, you need to nail your protein timing. Research shows that it's not just about how much protein you eat in a day, but also when you eat it.

To receive the maximum benefit from the protein you consume, you should eat a specific amount of high-quality protein to reach what is known as the "leucine threshold" every few hours. However, once you've met this threshold at a meal, there's no added muscle-building benefit. This is especially true if it will kick you out of ketosis.

Keep it simple: Focus on eating 3-4 meals per day, each with a fairly consistent amount of protein, so that you can reach the leucine threshold at each meal. This will yield some fantastic muscle-growth results, assuming you're also training hard to stimulate that muscle growth.

Leucine is a key muscle-building amino acid. A high-quality protein source is one that contains all nine essential amino acids and is specifically rich in leucine.

The best keto protein choices include:

• Eggs (both yolk and white)
• Whole-fat milk
• Greek yoghurt
• Cheese
• Chicken
• Turkey
• Pork
• Beef
• Lamb
• Fish
• Seafood

To ensure you're getting the most out of every gram of protein in your diet while following the ketogenic diet, focus on eating high-quality proteins and nailing your protein timing.

Stay in ketosis

Staying in ketosis is a challenge for anyone on the keto diet, but it's especially important for those looking to build muscle. Here are some tips to help you stay in ketosis while gaining muscle:

• Monitor your carb intake: To stay in ketosis, you need to restrict your carb intake to less than 50 grams per day. This can be challenging, as carbs are hidden in many foods and beverages. Use a calorie tracking app to help you stay within your carb limit.
• Time your carb intake: Consider a targeted keto approach, where you consume your daily carbs around your workouts. This can help improve your exercise performance.
• Increase your fat intake: When you're in ketosis, your body relies primarily on fat for fuel. Make sure you're getting enough healthy fats, such as avocado, olive oil, nuts, and seeds.
• Maintain a calorie surplus: To build muscle, you need to consistently eat more calories than you burn. Use a calorie calculator to determine your maintenance calories, and then aim for a surplus of about 15%.
• Eat plenty of protein: Protein is essential for building muscle. Aim for 0.7-0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you're very active, you may need up to 1 gram of protein per pound.
• Supplement wisely: While not necessary, supplements can help you meet your daily protein needs. Whey, casein, pea, or hemp protein powders can be useful. Creatine monohydrate can also aid in gym performance and lead to more muscle gain.
• Test your ketone levels: Use keto strips or a keto breath test to regularly check if you're in ketosis. This will help you adjust your diet as needed.
• Get enough sleep: Proper sleep is crucial for muscle gain and exercise performance. Aim for 7-9 hours each night.
• Stay patient: If you're new to keto, you may experience an initial drop in strength and performance. This is temporary and will improve as your body adapts to using ketones for fuel.

Frequently asked questions