Can I workout while on a keto diet? Of course you can. Exercise is a key strategy when it comes to achieving your health goals, and that includes when you’re on a keto diet.
A recent study found that exercising while on a keto diet can increase weight loss from fat storage without affecting lean muscle mass. What’s more, it has also been shown to increase endurance during exercise, as well as provide a faster recovery period after intense exercise.
A study in the Journal of Physiology found that athletes on a ketogenic diet were able to burn more fat during training compared to other athletes who were on a normal carbohydrate-rich diet. Because ketosis uses fat as fuel, rather than carbohydrates, workouts on a keto diet use fat directly for energy, which accelerates weight loss.
Following are some tips for workout on keto diet:
1 – Always listen to your body.
The first few weeks on keto may be tough as your body adjusts to using fat as its primary fuel source. During this adjustment period, don’t feel bad about relaxing. If your body tells you to temporarily reduce the intensity of your workouts, it’s best to listen.
You may also notice a decrease in performance, even during exercise that doesn’t make heavy use of glycogen stores. This effect is usually temporary. Once you’ ve become fat-adapted, your physical performance may return to baseline.
2 – Connect a fitness device.
Consider using a FitBit, Garmin, or Apple Health device for more precise data on calories burned.
Carb Manager Premium users can also connect and sync their fitness device with the Carb Manager app.
3 – Eat enough protein.
To make sure you provide your muscles with the raw materials they need to get stronger, keep protein to about 25% of your total calories, or 0.8-1.0 grams per kilogram of total body weight.
If you want to build a lot of muscle, consider consuming closer to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. But don’t go overboard. Studies have shown that consuming more than 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day does not produce additional benefits.
4 – Get plenty of rest.
Your body needs deep rest in order to recover effectively between workouts. Be sure to have a few days without exercise and spend those days relaxing and getting plenty of sleep so your body can recover and build an optimal amount of muscle tissue.
5 – Configure your Carb Manager account settings to meet your needs.
If all is going well, you may want to make things easier by enabling the “Deduct Calories When I Exercise” and “Deduct Macros When I Exercise” settings in your carbohydrate management program. Disable these settings if you want to get faster results, or if you want to punch through a plateau.
6 – Drink plenty of water.
When following a keto diet, it is important to increase your water intake to prevent dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. This becomes doubly important when adding exercise. As an option, you can also track water intake through the Carb Manager app.
7 – Maintain electrolyte levels.
Similar to point 6 above, this is already important for keto patients, but it becomes even more critical when combining exercise with ketosis. You can boost electrolyte levels by eating adequate amounts of leafy greens such as kale, spinach and collard greens, and by adding pink Himalayan sea salt to your food and water. As an option, you can also take a high-quality commercial electrolyte supplement.
