Working out to improve your body composition requires dedication, hard work, and careful planning. Integrating workouts into your schedule, maintaining motivation, and consistently pushing your limits each week can be challenging. With so much effort involved in achieving your ideal body, it's not surprising that nutrient timing for optimal workout results is a topic of much discussion. While some advocate for post-workout protein shakes consumed within an hour of training, the reality is that optimal pre- and post-workout nutrition lies somewhere in between these extremes.
Nutrient timing does matter, but the overall quality and quantity of your diet are more critical. From a body composition perspective, the two most important nutrition variables are calories and protein. It is also essential that you eat the right amount of protein every day. Once you have these two values locked in, you can manipulate your fat and carb needs in a way that allows you to follow the diet strategy that works best for you.
Understanding the Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic, or "keto," diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat eating plan that has been used for centuries to treat specific medical conditions. It gained attention as a potential weight-loss strategy due to the low-carb diet craze that started in the 1970s with the Atkins diet. The premise of the ketogenic diet for weight loss is that when the body is deprived of glucose, its primary energy source, it begins to produce an alternative fuel called ketones from stored fat. This process is called ketosis.
During fasting or when very little carbohydrate is eaten, the body first pulls stored glucose from the liver and temporarily breaks down muscle to release glucose. If this continues for 3-4 days and stored glucose is fully depleted, blood levels of a hormone called insulin decrease, and the body begins to use fat as its primary fuel. The liver produces ketone bodies from fat, which can be used in the absence of glucose. When ketone bodies accumulate in the blood, this is called ketosis.
There is not one “standard” ketogenic diet with a specific ratio of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat). The ketogenic diet typically reduces total carbohydrate intake to less than 50 grams a day-less than the amount found in a medium plain bagel-and can be as low as 20 grams a day. Generally, popular ketogenic resources suggest an average of 70-80% fat from total daily calories, 5-10% carbohydrate, and 10-20% protein. For a 2000-calorie diet, this translates to about 165 grams fat, 40 grams carbohydrate, and 75 grams protein.
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Nutrient Timing on Keto: What Matters Most
After digging through the research on nutrient timing, a clear hierarchy of priorities emerges.
- Eat enough calories and protein every day based on your goals.
- Workout with enough volume that you stimulate muscle growth.
The Anabolic Window: Fact vs. Fiction
The magical anabolic post-workout window, often believed to last only an hour, actually extends much longer. Research indicates that resistance exercise results in increased muscle net protein balance for 24-48 hours. However, just because your muscles are more prone to grow doesn’t mean that they are going to grow.
Fortunately, you won’t have to slam 20-40 grams of protein shakes every 2 to 3 hours to make sure you gain muscle. Carbs, fats, and soluble fiber have all been found to prolong the anabolic effect of high protein meals in different ways. To create your own high protein meal, the current literature suggests having at least 0.18-0.23 g/lb of lean body mass (LBM) or 0.4-0.5 g/kg of LBM of high-quality protein. For example, someone with 70 kg of LBM would consume roughly 28-35 g protein in both the pre- and post-exercise meal. If they just had a protein shake with only traces of fat, fiber, or carbs, then they would have to consume another shake around two to three hours later. It is also important to note that exceeding these protein recommendations will have minimal detriment if any.
Practical Advice for Keto Dieters
- Calculate Your Macros: Determine your daily calorie, protein, fat, and carb needs based on your goals (weight loss, maintenance, or gain) and activity level. A keto calculator can help with this.
- Prioritize Protein: Aim for a moderate- to high-protein intake to support muscle recovery and growth.
- Time Your Meals: Eat the last meal of the day 4-6 hours after the previous meal.
- Note: If any of your macro needs are not meet with three meals, you can either manipulate the macro content of your typical meals or add in an extra meal.
- Stay Hydrated: Drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially around workouts.
- Manage Stress and Sleep: Prioritize sleep and stress reduction to minimize cortisol secretion, which can hinder muscle growth.
- Meet Your Micronutrient Needs: Consume a variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts, high-fat dairy, meat, and seafood to ensure adequate intake of vitamins and minerals.
- Workout Consistently: Follow a weightlifting protocol that increases volume over time to stimulate muscle growth.
- Don't Fear Protein: The traditional low-protein recommendations for keto are based on epilepsy treatment and should be modified to fit your own bio-individuality and lifestyle.
Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD)
The Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD) involves supplementing a standard keto diet with carbohydrate intake around workout times. The TKD is meant to improve exercise performance for high-intensity workouts or extended bouts of activity. For most people’s purposes, TKD can help us maintain high-intensity exercise performance and aid recovery.
Most people experimenting with TKD find that 25-50g of carbohydrates taken 30 minutes prior to exercise gives them the best performance. However, the best sources of carbs for a successful TKD would be dextrose and glucose. On the other hand, some good carb sources for TKD are things like gummy bears, hard candies, Gatorade, and Powerade. People also have shown great results taking in natural maple syrup prior to workouts. To get the purest form of glucose, try supplementing with dextrose tablets or glucose gel packets. Regardless of what carb source you choose, it should be consumed on its own or with protein (for a muscle building effect). Fat consumption should generally be avoided immediately before and after exercise. The only fats that won’t impact carb or protein digestion are medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) because they are digested more quickly than any other fat. As a side bonus, they also help increase ketone levels whether you eat carbs or not.
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Keto-Friendly Post-Workout Food Options
- Whey Protein: Whey protein is a great source of leucine, an amino acid necessary for muscle growth. It’s also a complete protein.
- High-Quality Meat and Fish: Grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish are excellent sources of fat and protein.
- Collagen: Collagen gives your connective tissues structural support. The best way to boost collagen synthesis is to consume collagen powder.
- Eggs: The egg is nature’s ketogenic miracle: high fat, moderate protein, and very low carb.
- Keto Protein Bars: One option that won’t mess with ketosis is our Collagen Protein Bars.
- Exogenous Ketones: Exogenous ketones, like our Base Ketones, enhance exercise performance.
- MCT Oil: Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil is a type of fat derived from coconut oil. That’s because MCT oil heads straight to your liver for ketone conversion.
- Micronutrients: Dark leafy greens like spinach, kale, and Swiss chard are excellent for post-workout recovery.
- Avocado: One cup of avocado contains 22 grams of fat, 4 grams of protein, and 13 grams of carbohydrates.
- Nuts: Almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews, walnuts, and pistachios are all high-fat, low-carb, keto-friendly snacks.
Keto-Friendly Snack Recipes
- Delicious Protein Bars: These are simple to make, and they last a while, so you can always grab a protein bar when you need it.
- Egg Salad Avocado Boats: Rich in proteins and healthy fats, it’s just the thing for the keto diet.
- Smoked Salmon Cucumber Rolls: It won’t keep for long but should stay fresh in a sealed container.
- Keto Fat Bombs: Rich in fats and proteins, they’re also really easy to stuff in a gym bag.
- Banana Bread Muffins: Great breakfast on the go, or a delicious snack to take to the gym.
- Carmelitas: They’re also fantastic. About the size of a protein bar, and packed full of sweetness, they’re the perfect way to curb an after-workout craving.
- Beef Jerky: Beef jerky is the ultimate in travel-friendly protein.
- Egg Muffins: Egg muffins are full of proteins, and you can fix them with whatever your favorite mix-ins are.
Potential Benefits of Keto for Exercise
- May improve endurance: Although the ketogenic diet may not be suitable for high intensity bursts of activity, some studies have found that it may enhance performance for endurance athletes.
- May boost fat burning: Some research indicates that following a ketogenic diet may help boost fat burning during exercise.
- Can speed muscle recovery: Several studies have found that the ketogenic diet could help speed up post-workout muscle recovery.
Potential Drawbacks of Keto for Exercise
- May decrease energy levels: The ketogenic diet involves severely restricting your intake of carbs, which are your body’s main source of energy.
- Could impair muscle growth: While the ketogenic diet may be fine if you’re looking to maintain muscle mass, maximizing muscle growth may be a bit more challenging.
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