Bulking while on an keto diet

A

Angermeans

New Member
Hi guys.

I want to ask you is it possible to gain anything while on a keto diet (Not CKD, around 10% carbs, 25-30% protein and the rets from fat - both saturated and vegetable fats) ?

Actually, I'm not so much looking to gain something, I mostly want to know if I can retain my muscle mass while trying to loose fat on a keto plan.

Thank you in advance.
 
Well I wouldn't exactly call it bulking.
I'm sure you could maintain muscle while losing fat on this sort of diet, but you certainly won't gain much muscle.

Oh and I would go higher protein, certainly no lower than 30%.

You're not planning on an atkins style gorge fest are you? Cause that probably won't work the best. You've still gotta keep you calories under control.
 
Irrespective of whether your goal is to maintain muscle while losing fat, or to gain lean muscle while minimising fat gain, the CKD approach will outperform a pure keto diet. Technically a ketogenic state is protein sparing and therefore muscle sparing, but assumiming that you are working out intensely with weights then you are going to need muscle glycogen to fuel your workouts at some point. The CKD will achieve this. Also, if you are looking to lose fat the periodic carb refeed is still going to help you attain this goal faster and more effectively. Do a search on refeeds and leptin etc and you'll find quite a bit of info. Also take a look at www.bodyrecomposition/forums
 
TKD is also another option besides CKD. Although personally I wouldn't waste my time on a keto diet, it may work better for you...
 
Thanks for the answers.

About the bulking - The problem is that I have lots to study and I just can't workout more than 2 times weekly (Wednesday and Saturday) and do some cardio (swimming) when having some free time. That's why I need a diet which can work for me to maintain my muscles and reduce bodyfat.
 
I second the suggestion for a CKD. IMO, it would be rather tough to build muscle without the help of the higher insulin levels that carbs could help you with. And if you really want to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time (a frustrating endeavor, if there ever was one) there are only two ways in which you could expect to have a decent level of success; a cyclical diet and/or drugs. (unless you're an absolute newbie or are otherwise significantly deconditioned, of course)
 
I agree on the TKD or CKD, for muscle building I think it is a better choice.

Being in ketosis is a catabolic environment, not the best place to be when you are looking for muscle gains.

Blade has mentioned good results with his clients by having them eat 100 carbs a day, 200 on workout days. Not a ketogenic environment, but not terrible if you are sensitive to carbs and want to bulk.



JWJ
 
Angermeans, one of the CKD or TKD (or even some sort of combination approach) will definitely work better regardless of whether you want to bulk or cut. However you can't really achieve both optimally at the same time. Gaining requires that you are anabolic most of the time, and cutting requires you to be catabolic most of the time - the one diet will be hard pressed to achieve both together. It's not impossible and there are some cyclical diets that may work, but it's probably still not optimal. I recommend you choose a goal and then stick with that for a while, then switch goals. Maybe two months cutting to lean up, and then go for two months bulking, or vice versa.
 
I never said I want to gain muscle and loose fat in the same time, I said that I only want to maintain (as far as possible) my current muscle mass while trying to lower bodyfat levels.
Thanks for the suggestions anyway. Maybe I'll stick to CKD + some EC from time to time...
 
and what would you guys prefer? a tkd/zone/lc approach or more something like ckd...? I guess ckd is not really workable with hst...
 
A CKD is just a carb cycling type of diet and you can vary the parameters to suit the goal. I'll soon be starting my bulking season (heading into winter in New Zealand now) and I'll be using a carb cycling approach with HST in order to bulk while minimising fat gain.
 
TKD with HST is the way to go. consume the majority of the carbs after you train. You can add some extra carbs pre-workout in the 15's and then decrease them in the 10s finally dropping them altogether (pre WO) during the 5s. You can also get away with higher total calories during the higher rep weeks, and then drop them as you progress.
 
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