The Complete Guide to Exercise & Keto
Exercise and Ketogenic Diet: A Powerful Combo for Health and Performance
Hey everyone! Let’s dive into the dynamic duo of exercise and the ketogenic diet. Many folks consider these two strategies to be top-notch for boosting metabolism, burning fat, and improving overall health. So, what happens when you combine them?
You might already guess that there’s a powerful synergy at play. Loads of people report that blending keto with the right exercise routine marked a turning point in their health journey. Science is starting to back this up too.
Take this recent study, for example. It compared low-carb ultra-endurance athletes to those on a traditional diet. During a three-hour run, the low-carb runners burned 2-3 times more fat than their high-carb counterparts. But the story isn’t always that straightforward.
When you drastically cut carbs and enter ketosis, it sets off a chain reaction throughout your body’s systems, and some of these changes impact exercise. Depending on your health and fitness goals, you might need to tweak your workout routine or consider a modified version of the keto diet.
To help you navigate this sometimes complex relationship between exercise and ketosis, we’ve put together a guide. In it, you’ll learn how to make the most of your experience with exercise and keto. We’ll bust myths, help you avoid pitfalls, and guide you through choosing an exercise program that fits your personal health goals.
Best Exercises for Weight Loss
Combining weight training, LISS (Low Intensity, Steady State), and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) typically packs the biggest punch for weight loss.
Weight training builds dense, lean muscle mass, which often gets lost during calorie-cutting phases. Plus, more muscle helps you work harder and faster during cardio, torching more fat and calories.
LISS is a form of aerobic exercise that pushes you just hard enough to rev up your metabolism but keeps the intensity low enough to sustain a 60-minute workout, maxing out calorie burn.
HIIT involves short, intense bursts of cardio that crank up your body’s resting metabolic rate, helping you burn more fat even when you’re chilling on the couch.
Note: Weight training might temporarily bump up the number on the scale due to increased muscle mass. When this happens, it’s better to track your progress by inches and how your clothes fit.
Specifics
Weight Training: For weight loss, mix low reps/high weight (for muscle mass) with high reps/low weight (for muscle endurance) to get the best of both worlds.
With low reps/high weight, use enough weight to feel muscle fatigue by 5-10 reps. For high reps and low weight, lower the weight just enough to do 15-20 reps before fatigue sets in.
To maximize impact in a short workout, focus on compound exercises that hit multiple muscles at once, like squats, bench presses, and deadlifts.
Not sure how to do these exercises? No worries! You’ll find tutorials and videos in the “Exercise” section of the Carb Manager app.
An added perk of combining weight training with keto is an improved hormonal profile. At least one study suggests that keto might boost testosterone in males, which could lead to faster muscle gains and fat loss when paired with weight training.
LISS: This workout style aims to maximize calorie burn and usually involves spending 30 to 60 minutes in the “fat-burning zone” of roughly 70-80 percent of your max heart rate effort. While research is mixed, LISS fans say it helps kick-start weight loss, increase blood flow, and promote oxygen delivery within cells.
To calculate your fat-burning zone, subtract your age from 220. Then multiply the result by 0.7 and 0.8 to get your heart rate range.
For example, if you’re 40: 220 – 40 = 180 x 0.7 = 126 (lower end of the range). Then 180 x 0.8 = 144 (upper end). So, a 40-year-old’s fat-burning zone is between 126 and 144 beats per minute.
Examples of LISS include running, brisk walking, cycling, cardio machines, and swimming. As a bonus, there’s some evidence that keto might boost your LISS endurance and performance.
HIIT: This workout style involves short, intense bursts of exercise lasting 10 to 60 seconds. Examples include sprints, push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, jumping rope, burpees, or similar exercises. HIIT often combines cardio and strength training for a well-rounded workout.
Proponents claim that HIIT is unique because it revs up your body’s metabolic rate and fat-burning ability even at rest. Preliminary research, including a meta-analysis from the British Journal of Sports Medicine, supports these claims, though more studies are needed.
Click here to learn how to log exercise in the Carb Manager app.
How to Maintain Peak Performance on Keto
Some people following a ketogenic diet might experience a dip in performance during high-intensity anaerobic workouts. This is because muscles rely on glycogen (which comes from carbs) for quick bursts of high energy.
Examples include:
- Lifting weights to failure or close to failure
- Sprinting, cycling, or swimming at full speed for more than 10 seconds
- Playing sports with minimal rest breaks, like soccer, rugby, and lacrosse
- HIIT, Crossfit, or circuit training
This performance drop doesn’t usually affect the fat-burning and body recomposition benefits of these exercises. Keto dieters who notice a dip can often get back to their baseline performance by switching to a modified keto diet.
The two common modified keto diets are:
Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD): This version has you eat a meal with 20-50 grams of net carbs 30-60 minutes before exercise. This gives your muscles a targeted carb boost to fuel the upcoming activity.
Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD) AKA Carb Cycling: This involves eating a low-carb keto diet for 5-6 days and a higher-carb, low-fat diet for 1-2 days. This method tops up muscle glycogen stores weekly while keeping you in deep ketosis the rest of the week.
Both methods yield similar results. Choose the one that fits your schedule and preferences best.
Click here to learn more about different types of keto diets.
Setting Up Carb Manager for a Modified Keto Diet
Carb Manager Premium users can use the “Carb Cycling” feature to set up the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet. This feature lets you set different macros and diet goals for different days.
To configure this, go to the “Macros” tab in settings. Under the sliders, click the “Everyday” dropdown to choose specific days for carb cycling. By default, it says “Everyday,” but you can change it.
After making your goal changes, tap “Apply” to save. If setting individual goals for different days, tap “Select” after setting goals for one day, then choose the next day, set different goals, tap “Select,” and repeat as needed.
Click here to learn more about configuring carb cycling in Carb Manager.
For the Targeted Ketogenic Diet, both free and Premium Carb Manager users can set up a simplified TKD regime. Go to Settings, choose the Macros tab, then select “Custom grams” or “Custom %” and set a higher daily macro target.
Premium users can fine-tune their TKD setup more.
For those who only exercise on certain days, use the Carb Cycling feature mentioned above to set higher macro targets for exercise days while keeping the normal 5% carb macro target on non-exercise days.
Tips for Exercising on Keto
#1 – Always Listen to Your Body
The first couple of weeks on keto can be tough as your body adapts to using fat as its primary fuel. Don’t feel bad about taking it easy during this adjustment period. If your body is telling you to temporarily reduce the intensity of workouts, it’s best to listen. This effect is usually temporary. Once you’ve become fat-adapted, your physical performance will likely return to baseline.
#2 – Set a Daily Calorie Goal
While there’s more to body recomposition than “Calories-In/Calories-Out” (CICO), daily calorie intake still matters. Follow these steps to set a calorie goal in the Carb Manager app. If your goal is weight loss, select a caloric deficit. For users aiming to bulk up and minimize body fat, opt for a caloric surplus.
#3 – 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. Click here to learn more about connecting your fitness device to Carb Manager.
#4 – Eat Enough Protein
Be sure to provide your muscles with the raw material they need to get stronger by maintaining protein at about 25% of total calories, or 0.8-1.0 grams per kilogram of your total body weight. If you’re looking to gain significant muscle, consider consuming closer to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. But don’t go overboard. Research suggests that protein consumption beyond 1.6g/kg of body weight per day doesn’t yield additional benefits.
#5 – Get Plenty of Rest
Your body needs deep rest to recover effectively between workouts. Be sure to take
