How Ketogenic Diet Impacts Your Exercise Performance

Keto diet has become extremely popular among athletes. Low in carbs, high in fat, this diet is a true challenge when it comes to exercising.

You were probably wondering, is it really possible for sport athletes to exercise while eating like this? Where to gain strength from if not from carbs? However, it is not just possible to exercise while on a keto diet, it is recommended. Keto diets may help athletes control body weight, reduce body fat, and maintain muscle mass. Combined with dietary supplements like Ursolic acid that can also help maintain muscle mass, it is no surprise that many athletes are now turning to Keto diet and dietary supplements as a healthy alternative to crash dieting.

Nutritional needs vary depending on the type of exercise performed. Workout styles are typically divided into four types: aerobic, anaerobic, flexibility, and stability.

Types of exercises in depth

Aerobic exercise is any exercise that last more than 3 minutes. Lower intensity, steady-state cardio is fat burning, making it very friendly for the keto dieter.

Anaerobic exercise is becoming extremely popular way of working out, it is characterized by short bursts of energy, such as from weight training or high intensity interval training (HIIT). Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for anaerobic exercise, so fat alone can’t provide enough energy for this type of workout.

Flexibility exercise is a wonderful way to release stress and tension from your muscles while at the same time improving your muscles range of motion and supporting joints. Flexibility exercises are helpful for prevention of muscle shortening that can happen over time. Yoga and simple stretches could help you a lot, and this kind of exercises could be combined with any other type of exercise.

Stability exercises include balance exercises and core training. They help improve your alignment, strength muscles, and control of movement.

You should be very cautious when it comes to the workout intensity. During low-intensity training, your body uses fat as a primary source of energy, while on the other hand, HIIT requires carbohydrates.

How to use keto diet if you have higher intensity training

As we mentioned earlier, higher intensity means more carbs, and we were not kidding. You don’t want to lose your muscles! The goal is to tone and shape your body without affecting your health. That is why you should grab some great, fast-acting carbs right before your training.

It would be perfect to eat 15-30 grams of fast-acting carbs, such as fruit, within 30 minutes before your workout and within 30 minutes after. This will ensure you provide your muscles with the proper amount of glycogen to perform during the training and also recover. It allows the carbs to be used exactly for this purpose and prevent any risk of leaving ketosis.

You will be pleasantly surprised to see that your workout performance has improved over time because of your low-carb diet. It takes two or three weeks to for body to get used to using fat instead of carbs but it is worth it! The longer you remain on a low-carb, ketogenic diet, the body goes through what’s known as keto-adaptation—becoming more efficient at burning fat and using ketones for fuel.

What are health exercises from exercising in ketosis?

•  Being in ketosis might also help prevent fatigue during longer periods of aerobic exercise.
•  Plus, ketosis has been shown to help with blood glucose maintenance during exercise.
•  As mentioned above, the power of keto-adaptation helps low-carb dieters perform better in all forms of exercise with fewer carbs over time.

There are historical pieces of evidence that support the idea behind keto diet. As we all know, a long time ago people had to hunt for food. Hunting is not an easy physical activity as it requires prolonged steady movement and strength. Back then people used to eat mostly animal food with no carbs involved or very few. However, they were strong enough to hunt all day.

All of this implies one thing – we would be more energized if we reduce carbs intake. Our bodies would benefit from eating more fat and using fat as a fuel as we will feel more energized and capable of accomplishing more.