Leena Watts
The ketogenic diet has become increasingly popular for weight loss. It involves drastically lowering your carb intake and consuming fat instead, bringing your body into a metabolic state known as ketosis. For a long time, it was assumed that it was impossible to build muscle on a keto diet, as low-carb diets restrict carbs, which promote the release of insulin, an anabolic hormone that helps create conditions that drive muscle growth. However, studies have shown that it is possible to build and maintain muscle mass while adhering to a strict ketogenic diet. This can be achieved by ensuring a sufficient calorie intake, maintaining a good balance of protein and fats, and engaging in regular weight training.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Carbohydrate intake | Carbohydrates should be restricted to less than 50g per day or 5–10% of total caloric intake. |
| Fat intake | Fat intake should be high, with no set limit, and determined by energy requirements. |
| Protein intake | Protein intake should be moderate, at around 20%, but can be higher to facilitate muscle growth. |
| Calorie intake | Calorie intake should be above maintenance level, with a surplus of around 15% to build muscle. |
| Weight training | Weight training or resistance training is essential to stimulate muscle growth. |
| Muscle glycogen | Muscle glycogen is still present on a keto diet and can be replenished after exercise. |
| Gluconeogenesis | The body can create glucose from non-carbohydrate sources, such as amino acids and fatty acids, through gluconeogenesis. |
| Insulin | Low-carb diets restrict carbs, which promote the release of insulin, an anabolic hormone that helps create conditions for muscle growth. |
| Muscle protein synthesis | Muscle protein synthesis is the process the body uses to build new proteins and gain muscle mass. |
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What You'll Learn
Consume enough calories to maintain a surplus
Consuming enough calories to maintain a surplus is crucial for building muscle on a ketogenic diet. This involves consistently eating more calories than you burn. To determine your maintenance calories, you should monitor your weight and food intake over a period of time. You can use a calorie-tracking app to record your food intake and calculate your maintenance calories. Once you know your maintenance calories, aim to increase your calorie intake by about 15% to promote muscle growth.
Maintaining a caloric surplus on a ketogenic diet can be challenging due to the satiating nature of the diet. However, it is important to ensure you are consuming enough calories to support muscle building. The ketogenic diet typically involves reducing carbohydrate intake and increasing fat consumption, with protein intake being moderate. While the diet may not be high in protein, it provides sufficient protein for most people when combined with resistance training.
To build muscle effectively, it is essential to have a good balance of protein and fats in your diet. Protein is crucial as it provides fuel for your muscles and prevents muscle breakdown. By ensuring adequate protein intake, you can support muscle growth and maintenance. Additionally, resistance training or weight training is recommended to stimulate muscle growth.
It is worth noting that the ketogenic diet has been found to be a viable option for increasing muscle mass, as long as an energy surplus is generated. However, following the diet for extended periods without interruption may not be ideal due to the potential for decreased adherence caused by the challenge of maintaining a caloric surplus. Therefore, it is important to monitor your calorie intake and ensure you are consistently consuming enough calories to support muscle growth while adhering to the ketogenic diet.
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Eat sufficient protein
Eating sufficient protein is crucial for maintaining muscle mass on a ketogenic diet. While the ketogenic diet is typically associated with a moderate protein intake of around 20%, ensuring an adequate protein supply is essential for muscle retention and growth.
Protein is fundamental to building muscle because it provides the necessary fuel for this process. When you consume protein, your body releases insulin, similar to when you eat carbohydrates. Additionally, some of the protein you ingest is transformed into glucose through gluconeogenesis, which becomes more pronounced on a low-carb diet. This conversion process ensures that your body can maintain blood sugar levels without relying solely on carbohydrates for glucose.
To effectively maintain muscle on a ketogenic diet, it is recommended to increase your calorie intake by about 15% above your maintenance calories. This surplus of energy is crucial for muscle growth. However, as the ketogenic diet can make you feel fuller than other diets, ensuring sufficient calorie intake may be challenging.
It is important to note that the ketogenic diet does not hinder muscle growth or cause muscle loss, as some may believe. In fact, research suggests that lower-carb diets effectively preserve lean muscle mass. Therefore, as long as you consume enough protein and maintain a caloric surplus, you can successfully maintain and build muscle while adhering to a ketogenic diet.
Lastly, while protein intake is crucial, it is equally important to incorporate weight training into your routine. Weight training is a potent stimulator of muscle growth and, when combined with sufficient protein intake, can lead to optimal muscle maintenance and development.
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Maintain muscle glycogen
Maintaining muscle glycogen on a ketogenic diet is possible, contrary to some beliefs. The ketogenic diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that encourages the body to use ketones as fuel instead of glucose. This diet has gained popularity for weight loss, but it can also be used to build and maintain muscle.
Muscle glycogen is important for muscle development and regulating blood sugar. Glycogen is the main energy substrate during exercise intensity above 70% of the maximal oxygen uptake, and fatigue sets in when glycogen stores in the active muscles are depleted. Thus, maintaining muscle glycogen is essential for athletes and individuals who want to build muscle.
On a ketogenic diet, the body can still produce a small amount of glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis, which uses amino acids or glycerol from fatty acids instead of carbohydrates. This process allows keto-adapted athletes to maintain glycogen levels similar to those of athletes on a high-carbohydrate diet. After exercise, keto-adapted athletes can replenish their glycogen levels just as effectively as their carbohydrate-consuming counterparts, despite consuming far fewer carbohydrates.
To maintain muscle glycogen on a ketogenic diet, it is crucial to consume enough fat and protein to compensate for the low carbohydrate intake. Healthy fats, such as nuts, seeds, olive oil, and avocado, are recommended. Additionally, it is important to ensure adequate calorie intake. To build muscle, it is generally recommended to increase calorie intake by 15% above maintenance calories, which can be calculated based on weight, height, lifestyle, sex, and activity levels.
While it is possible to maintain muscle glycogen on a ketogenic diet, some studies suggest that high-intensity exercise performance may be impaired due to diminished glycogen stores. Therefore, athletes should consider their specific needs and goals when deciding whether to adopt a ketogenic diet.
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Lift weights regularly
Weight training is essential for building muscle on any diet, including keto. The resistance provided by weight training stimulates muscle growth, also known as muscle hypertrophy.
To build muscle effectively, it is recommended to determine your maintenance calories, which is the number of calories you need to consume per day to stay at the same weight. This can be done by weighing yourself at least three times a week and recording your food intake over the week with a calorie-tracking app. Once you have determined your maintenance calories, it is recommended to increase your calorie intake by 15% to build muscle effectively.
It is also important to ensure you are getting enough protein when following a ketogenic diet. While the standard ketogenic diet provides adequate protein for most people, a high-protein diet can make it much easier to gain lean muscle mass. This is because muscle growth requires a process called muscle protein synthesis (MPS), which uses the protein your body has to build new proteins and make your muscles larger.
Additionally, supplementing with creatine can help increase muscle mass quickly and efficiently. Creatine is produced naturally by the body and can be found in high-protein foods. Therefore, it is important to eat enough protein-rich foods to support muscle growth while also staying in ketosis.
By lifting weights regularly, consuming enough calories, and ensuring adequate protein intake, it is possible to build and maintain muscle mass while following a ketogenic diet.
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Use supplements like creatine
Maintaining muscle on a ketogenic diet is possible, and supplementing with creatine can be a great way to enhance lean body mass. Creatine is an amino acid available in high concentrations in skeletal muscle, with about 95% of it stored there, and the rest in your heart, brain, and testes. It is derived from the Greek word "kreas", meaning "meat", and is found in high concentrations in red meat, fish, and poultry.
Research has shown that supplementing with creatine during training can improve muscle mass, strength, and power for high-intensity workouts, as well as enhance recovery. Creatine helps produce and replenish ATP, the energy-carrying molecule in cells, providing muscles with more energy to sustain workouts. It is particularly useful for those on a ketogenic diet as it can serve as an alternative to post-workout carbohydrates, which are limited on a low-carb diet.
In one study, healthy but sedentary female volunteers who did resistance training and took creatine experienced greater increases in lean mass and strength compared to those who did resistance training alone. Another study found that creatine monohydrate led to significant improvements in the rate of recovery of knee extensor muscle function in male participants.
The recommended dose of creatine is around 3 grams per day for a normal-sized person, though this may vary depending on activity level, muscle mass, and body weight. Creatine is also naturally produced by the body, with the liver, kidneys, and pancreas producing about 1 gram per day. However, those who eat meat and seafood will have higher creatine stores, as these are keto-friendly sources of creatine.
Overall, creatine is a useful supplement for those on a ketogenic diet who are serious about improving their body composition and workout performance. It can help to enhance lean body mass, improve strength and power, and speed up muscle recovery.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, it is possible to maintain muscle on a ketogenic diet. Research has shown that the ketogenic diet can help prevent muscle from breaking down.
The three most important things to keep in mind are:
- Lift weights regularly. Weight training is one of the best ways to stimulate muscle growth.
- Consume enough calories. Eating too few calories will make it harder to build muscle.
- Eat plenty of protein. While the standard ketogenic diet provides adequate protein for most people, a high-protein diet makes it much easier to gain lean muscle mass.
In addition to the key principles outlined above, here are some other tips to help maintain muscle on a ketogenic diet:
- Determine your maintenance calories, which is the number of calories you need to consume per day to stay at the same weight. When trying to build muscle, it is recommended to increase your calorie intake by 15% above your maintenance calories.
- Supplement with creatine to help increase muscle mass quickly and efficiently.
- Ensure you are still getting enough protein without going over your carb limit. Some people worry that eating too much protein will kick them out of ketosis, but this is a common misconception.
