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Complete Guide to Exercise on the Ketogenic Diet

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Updated Sep 18th, 2018 – Written by Craig Clarke

Exercise more, and you’ll have better health. Follow the ketogenic diet, and you’ll lose weight rapidly and take your health
to the next level. But what happens when you combine the two?

Although it’s reasonable to assume that combining exercise with keto would take your health and weight loss to the next
level, the truth behind it is a bit more complicated than that. When we restrict carbs, we cause a plethora of changes
throughout the body — some of which a ect exercise performance.

How Keto Impacts Exercise Performance

By restricting carbs, we limit the ability of our muscle cells
to access sugar — one of the fastest fuel sources that the
body relies on. When our muscles don’t have enough
sugar, their ability to function at high intensities (for any
activity that lasts longer than 10 seconds) is impaired. This
happens because —  after around 10 seconds of near
maximal to all-out e ort — the muscles start to rely on
glucose for energy by using a metabolic pathway called
glycolysis instead of the phosaphen system (which
depends on creatine phosphate and ATP, not glucose).

For this reason, any muscular activity that requires near

maximal to all-out e ort for 10 seconds to about 120
seconds can only be fueled by glucose. Fat and ketones
cannot stand in for glucose in the glycolytic pathway at all.
Only after around 2 minutes of exercise will your body
start to shift to metabolic pathways that can burn ketones
and fat.

To put it more simply, when we restrict carbs, we deprive our muscle cells of the sugar that it needs to fuel activities that
require a high-intensity e ort for 10 seconds to 2 minutes. This means that ketogenic diet can limit your performance
during high-intensity activities like:

Lifting weights for >5 rep sets using a weight that is heavy enough to take you to failure (or close to it).
Sprinting or swimming for longer than 10 seconds (e.g., 100 meter sprint or 50 meter freestyle swim)
Playing sports that have minimal rest breaks like soccer, rugby, and lacrosse
High-intensity interval training or circuit training

This isn’t a comprehensive list of the activities that restricting carbohydrates will impact, but it gives you an idea of what
types of exercise require your body to go into glycolysis and burn sugar.

Keep in mind, however, that the timing of each metabolic pathway depends on the person. Some people may be able to
maintain their performance for high-intensity e orts that last 30 seconds without having to burn carbs, while others may
burn out after 10 seconds of all-out e ort.

Another caveat to be aware of when you are exercising on keto is that eating the right amount of fat and protein is doubly
important. Carbs help provide a muscle preserving stimulus, and without having them in the diet, fat and protein must be
consumed in the right quantities to maintain performance and gain muscle mass.

Eating The Right Quantity of Macronutrients While Exercising on Keto

When it comes to creating a diet plan for active individuals, many health professionals will set the protein intake rst. Why
does protein always seem to be the top priority?

Because protein performs many actions that carbs and fats just cannot emulate. For example, protein improves satiation,
stimulates muscle protein synthesis (muscle building), and has a more signi cant thermic e ect (more calorie burning)
than any other macronutrient. On top of that, when we don’t eat enough protein we tend to lose muscle mass and
consume more calories, which can lead to a rapid increase in body fat percentage.

To get all of these bene ts, we must consume the right amount of protein — especially on the ketogenic diet.

Protein Intake Recommendations for Exercising on Keto

In the most recent International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand on diets and body composition, the researchers
reported that a protein intake of 1.4-2 g per kilogram or 0.6-.9 grams per pound of lean body mass is ideal for athletes and
others who exercise regularly.

If you are highly active and/or trying to lose weight, then you may bene t the most from eating around 2.2 grams of
protein per kilogram of lean body mass (1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass). This will help preserve muscle
mass and promote fat loss.

Keto athletes will also bene t from higher protein intakes because their bodies will use the excess protein to provide their
muscles with the glucose that they need by using a process called gluconeogenesis. However, if your goal is to get into
deeper levels of ketosis, then it is best to divide your protein intake evenly between meals while eating a bit more protein
after your workout to boost recovery (without impairing ketone production).

The best protein sources on the ketogenic diet are:

Meat
Eggs
Fish
High-fat dairy
Low-carb protein powders

Here’s a quick recap of our protein recommendations:

If you are trying to gain or maintain muscle and improve exercise  performance while on a ketogenic diet:

Eat around 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (2.2 g of protein per kilogram)

If you are trying to lose fat and maintain muscle:

Eat around 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (2.2 g of protein per kilogram)
However, some may be able to gain muscle with protein intakes above ~1.3 grams per pound of lean body
mass (3 grams per kilogram). The only downside to eating this much protein is that it may keep you from
reaching deeper levels of ketosis.

To gure out how these numbers play into the rest of your ketogenic diet, use our keto calculator. It will provide you with
the information you need to nd out if you are eating enough protein and calories.

How Many Carbs Should You Eat?

In general, we recommend starting with 35 grams of carbs
or less per day. Depending on your activity levels, you
might be able to increase your carb limit without keeping
you from ketosis.

If your exercise performance relies on high-intensity bouts

of muscle activity that lasts longer than 10 seconds, then
you may require some extra carbs to improve
performance.

There are three methods by which you can do this:

1. Increase your daily carb limit by following the

recommendations in this article.

2. Implement a Targeted Ketogenic Diet by consuming 25-50 grams of easily digestible carbs 30 minutes prior to exercise
(best for exercise beginners).

3. Include carb 1-2 refeeding days every week by following a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (best for athletes and people who
exercise at high-intensities regularly)

Keep in mind that these suggestions do not apply to you if you mainly do aerobic-based endurance-type activities like
cycling and jogging. These exercise methods are much less likely to be negatively impacted by the ketogenic diet. In fact,
after you are keto-adapted, you may nd that you can exercise at low to moderate intensities for longer periods of time
without getting tired. This is because this type of exercise relies on fat and ketones for fuel, which are the exact fuels that
your body prefers to use on the ketogenic diet.

We will learn more about training cardio on keto later in this article. For now, let’s top o our keto diet by getting some
high-quality fats.

How Much Fat Should You Eat While Exercising on Keto?

On the ketogenic diet, fat consumption is almost as essential as protein intake. Eat too much, and you’ll gain weight — eat
too little, and you’ll lose weight rapidly (while you starve throughout the whole process). To get the best results (and feel
the best throughout the process), you must eat the right amount of fat according to your goals.

After you gure out your ideal protein intake, your fat consumption should be around 70% of your daily calories. From
there you can adjust that number up or down depending on your goals.

Want to gain weight? Increase your daily fat intake until you are at a calorie surplus between 250-500 calories.

Want to lose weight? Decrease your calories from fat until you are in a 250-500 calorie de cit (or more if you are
overweight or obese).

Key Takeaways — How Much Should You Eat While Exercising on Keto?

When we combine the recommendations for fat, protein, and carbs, what do we get? Well, it depends on your goals.

To optimize your diet for muscle gain and improved exercise performance:

Eat a calorie surplus of 250-500 calories a day to increase your body weight by 0.5 to 1 pound a week.
Most of the excess calories should come from fat, not protein or carbs.
Maintain protein intake at around 1 gram per pound of lean body mass (~2.2 grams per kilogram
of lean body mass).
If carb restriction is impairing your performance, then consider implementing the targeted ketogenic diet or
the cyclical ketogenic diet

To optimize your keto diet for fat loss while exercising:

Calorie intake should be set at a level that results in steady weight loss. Weight loss of 0.5 to 1% per week is
typically recommended to maximize muscle retention.
Cut down on fat consumption to achieve a caloric de cit of 250-500 calories.
Maintain protein intake at 1 gram per pound of lean body mass (~2.2 grams per kilogram) or more.
If you are overweight or obese, you will bene t from faster weight loss (>1% of body weight lost per week)
and a slightly higher calorie de cit.

For ketogenic dieters who do endurance exercise regularly:

Follow the recommendations for fat, protein, and calories above.

Start with a standard ketogenic diet (fewer than 35 grams of carbs per day), and assess how that a ects
your exercise performance after 1 to 2 weeks.
If you notice no e ect or an increase in endurance, then keep your carb limit as it is.
If you are struggling to match your prior performance, then consider increasing your carb limit or
supplementing with MCTs or exogenous ketones before your exercise bouts.

How To Exercise on The Keto Diet

Now that we have established the bigger picture of how keto impacts exercise performance and how to tailor the keto diet
for di erent goals and activity levels, let’s take a look at the speci cs — starting with athletes.

Keto For Athletes – From Ultra Endurance to Ultra High Intensity

There are many di erent types of sports that put varying demands on the body and its metabolic pathways. Each sport
requires a slightly di erent dietary approach, but there are some general recommendations that most athletes can follow.

The most important thing to remember about competing and training for sports is that the body will need to burn sugar to
some degree. Even in a sport like race walking, the body requires carbohydrates to push the limits of its capacity so that it
can walk as fast as possible.

In fact, one study found that race walkers who were on a low carbohydrate group took an average of 23 seconds longer to
complete a simulated race. Conversely, race walkers that were on a high-carb diet or a diet that is similar to a cyclical
ketogenic diet experienced a signi cant improvement in performance.

These ndings seem to contradict what we learned earlier about the di erent energy pathways. Shouldn’t race walkers
have no problem with carbohydrate restriction since their performance relies on walking — a type of exercise that can
easily be fueled by ketones and fat?

We must consider the fact that race walking isn’t the same as going for a leisurely evening stroll. Race walking requires
athletes to push their bodies to the highest possible walking intensity, which will increase the demand on the glycolytic
pathway. As a result, when the race walkers who were on the low-carb diet tried to push their bodies to the next level of
intensity, they didn’t have the sugar available to make it happen, which lead to a decrease in performance.

With that being said, other scienti c evidence suggests that keto-adapted endurance athletes may not experience the
same decrease in performance. Once the athletes are keto-adapted, they tend to burn much more fat than high-carb
athletes, which allows them to spare more glycogen for when they need to increase their intensity. In other words, the
current data suggest that it is possible for keto-adapted ultra endurance athletes to have the same levels of performance
as athletes who are on a high carb diet.

As the sport places a greater demand on the glycolytic pathway, however, the ketogenic diet becomes a less desirable
dietary approach. Athletes who play sports like rugby, soccer, tennis, and lacrosse will most likely experience a decrease in
performance — even if they are keto-adapted. This happens because these sports place a higher demand on the glycolytic
pathway, which will require more glycogen than the body can store. For this reason, these athletes may bene t from
consuming easily digestible carbs before a competition, following a cyclical ketogenic diet, or increasing their daily carb
limit.

However, this doesn’t mean that the standard ketogenic diet isn’t ideal for any sport. Powerlifters, golfers, and some
football players, for example, can follow the ketogenic diet without experiencing any performance decrements. This is
because the performance of these athletes relies mainly on the phosphagen system. These athletes tend to use creatine
phosphate and ATP to fuel their e orts because their sports usually require less than 10 seconds of high-intensity e ort at
a time.

When we take athletic performance out of the equation, we nd that the ketogenic diet is one of the best diets for athletes
that need to cut weight. By restricting carbs, boxers, wrestlers, and weightlifters can shed excess water weight rapidly so
that they can make weight without having to lose muscle mass.

Also, many other athletes can use the ketogenic diet to lose fat during the o season. This can help them improve their
performance indirectly because they will carry much less weight with the same amount of muscle mass.

Key Takeaway for Keto Athletes

At this point, there is not enough data to recommend the ketogenic diet as a performance-enhancing diet for any sport.
The athletes that may bene t most from a ketogenic diet are endurance athletes — but they may experience a dip in
performance until they are keto-adapted.

Sports that require short bursts of maximal activity like powerlifting and golf will be una ected by the ketogenic diet.

Perhaps that greatest bene t of the ketogenic diet for athletes is its ability to induce rapid weight loss in the rst week and
sustainable fat loss afterward. This can be bene cial for any athlete that must compete at a speci c weight like boxers,
wrestlers, and weightlifters or any athlete that will bene t from having a lower body fat percentage.

Doing Cardio on Keto

If you are not an athlete, then implementing the ketogenic
diet will be a lot less complicated — especially if your
primary form of exercise is cardio. The beauty of cardio
workouts is that you don’t have to exercise at high-
intensities that require your body to burn sugar and
glycogen to get results. All you need to do is get your heart
rate up and keep it up. As a result of this type of training,
your health will improve in many ways that you can learn
more about in this article.

Due to the low to moderate intensity of cardio,  the

ketogenic diet will not impair your cardio exercise
performance. In fact, you may nd that you can work out
for much longer without getting tired when you are in
ketosis.

The intensity that you need to maintain to get the most bene ts is de ned as “moderate intensity” by the CDC. For
moderate-intensity physical activity, a person’s target heart rate should be 50 to 70% of his or her maximum heart rate.

To estimate your maximum heart rate, simply subtract your age from 220. For example, for a 50-year-old person, the
estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 – 50 years = 170 beats per minute (bpm). The 50%
and 70% levels would be:

50% level: 170 x 0.50 = 85 bpm, and

70% level: 170 x 0.70 = 119 bpm

Thus, moderate-intensity physical activity for a 50-year-old person will require that the heart rate remains between 85 and
119 bpm during physical activity.

As you are adapting to the ketogenic diet, aim for the lower end of the range (50% level). After a couple of weeks on the
diet, you will be able to maintain a higher heart rate for longer without needing to burn too many carbs.

If you are just starting to do cardio exercise, then aim to maintain 50% of your max heart rate for 10-15 minutes. Increase
the duration of exercise by 5 or so minutes each week until you can do between 30 and 45 min with your average heart
rate being around 50% of your calculated max. After that, start increasing the intensity each week until you can exercise at
around 70% of your max heart rate.

Here are some examples of great ways to get your cardio in:

cycling
running
circuit training
interval training classes
recreational sports
aerobic training classes
swimming

Keep in mind that your strength and power in some of these activities may decrease as a result of carbohydrate
restriction. However, if your goal is to get a good cardiovascular workout, then there is no need to push yourself to the
point where maximizing your strength and power actually matters.

Does this mean that we can’t increase strength and power while following the ketogenic diet? No, not at all. All it takes is
some mindful exercise programming and relatively heavy weights.

Weight Lifting On The Ketogenic Diet

Strength, power, and muscle mass can all be increased
while you are on the ketogenic diet. What’s even better is
that you can improve them all at the same time with the
same workout program.

Remember how earlier we discussed that the body doesn’t

require glucose for activities that last fewer than 10
seconds long? This is because we rely on stored ATP and
creatine phosphate to fuel these quick and intense
muscular actions. As a result, carbohydrate restriction will
not impair these brief, max e ort muscular contractions.

What does this mean for weightlifters? That it is possible to

improve strength, power, and muscle mass on keto by
doing sets that last no longer than 10 seconds.

In other words, a weightlifting program that prescribes ve or more sets of ve or fewer reps per exercise is an ideal
approach for keto weightlifters who are aiming to increase strength and power.

Recent research suggests that lower rep sets can be used to maximize hypertrophy (muscle gain) as well. That’s right —
your muscles don’t need you to do 8-12 reps in order to grow. What your muscle needs to grow is the appropriate volume
(which depends on the individual), and for that volume to increase every week (with some lower volume weeks dispersed
throughout the program to prevent overtraining). For a more precise breakdown of how to design a muscle building
program while you are on keto, read through our comprehensive guide to bodybuilding on the ketogenic diet.

If you would rather stick to the old-fashioned bodybuilding programs and do higher rep ranges with lighter weights, then
try supplementing your ketogenic diet with carbs. Exercise beginners can improve performance by following the targeted
ketogenic diet, while more experienced weightlifters will nd much more bene t from the cyclical ketogenic diet.

However, don’t take these recommendations to mean that you can’t gain muscle without carbs. Carbs are necessary for
fueling certain high-intensity activities, but this doesn’t mean that they are absolutely necessary for bodybuilding.

Can You Build Muscle Without Carbs?

Carbs have an anti-catabolic e ect on the body (they prevent muscle breakdown) — but they are not needed to build
muscle. As long as you follow the nutrition recommendations that you nd throughout this article and the other
suggestions in our article on bodybuilding, you will gain muscle.

In general, as long as you are eating enough protein and calories and working out at high-intensities with enough volume,
you will be able to build plenty of muscle. Plus, you can take your results one step further by experimenting with some
keto-friendly workout supplements.

Supplements for Improving Exercise Performance on the Ketogenic Diet

There are many di erent no-carb supplements that you can use to boost exercise performance while you are on keto.
Here is a list of some of the most e ective keto-friendly workout supplements that we know of:

Creatine
Creatine is one of the most well-studied supplements and
is safe and e ective in enhancing your body’s phosphagen
system. This makes creatine the ideal supplement for
explosive athletes and weightlifters.

Taking 5 grams per day of a cheap monohydrate powder is

the perfect supplementation strategy for anyone looking
to increase muscle mass, strength, and power.

Recommendations: Take 5 grams of creatine

monohydrate powder per day.

Medium Chain Triglycerides

(MCTs)
MCTs are a type of saturated fat that goes straight to the
liver after digestion.

In the liver, these fats tend to be converted into ketones

and sent to the cells in your body that need them for
energy. For this reason, MCTs are perfect for cardio
training and endurance athletes.

Recommendations: Supplement with 1-2 tablespoons of

MCT oil or MCT powder before your endurance-type
workouts for an extra energy boost.

Exogenous Ketones
Exogenous ketones like ketone salts and ketone esters can
help provide the body with an instant source of energy.
However, these supplements will lower your liver’s ketone
production, so it is best to consume these with MCTs to
boost ketone production within your body as well.

Just like MCTs, exogenous ketone supplementation is best

for cardio training and endurance athletes. Just make sure
that you are staying hydrated when you consume these
supplements because they have a mild diuretic e ect on
the body.

Recommendations: Try supplementing with a  BHB ketone

salt or ketone ester for an energy boost during workouts.
Take it with MCTs for even better results.

Ca eine
It is no surprise that ca eine has been found to improve
exercise performance given its stimulatory e ects.

However, you may not get the same boost after taking
ca eine consistently because of how quickly the body
adapts to habitual ca eine intake. Plus, ca eine increases
cortisol levels, which tends to decrease ketone production.

For these reasons, I’d suggest limiting your ca eine intake

and experimenting with other supplements on this list.

Taurine
Taurine is an organic acid that is known to improve
exercise performance. In fact, it has been found to
improve exercise performance more than ca eine.

In a recent study, researchers compared the e ects that

ca eine, ca eine+taurine, and taurine had on power and
fatigue during an all-out cycling sprint. Taurine
supplementation alone decreased fatigue and increased
power more than ca eine and ca eine+taurine.

These ndings have signi cant implications for keto

athletes and bodybuilders because this study tested the
energy system that is most compromised by carb
restriction.

Recommendations: The study mentioned above gave their participants 50 mg of taurine per kilogram of body weight. Use
this metric to nd your personalized dose and slowly decrease it to see if you can get the same e ects from taking less
taurine.

Beta-alanine
This compound is commonly found in pre-workout
supplements that give you a tingly sensation throughout
your body.

Many people report being able to perform one or two

more reps in the gym when training in sets of 8–15
repetitions after taking beta-alanine.

This suggests that this supplement is ideal for keto dieters

that rely on the glycolytic pathway (glucose) throughout
their training. Bodybuilders and high-intensity athletes will
bene t most from supplementing with beta-alanine.

Recommendations: With beta-alanine, timing doesn’t matter. Take 2–5 g of beta-alanine with 5 g of creatine every day for
best results. If the tingly sensation that beta-alanine gives you is too uncomfortable, then take 1 gram of beta-alanine 2-5
times throughout the day.

L-Citrulline
L-Citrulline is commonly used as a sports performance and
cardiovascular health supplement. Studies have found the
L-citrulline supplementation helps reduce fatigue and
improve endurance for both aerobic and anaerobic
prolonged exercise.

This makes it the ideal supplement for almost every

athlete, except for the athletes who rely solely on the
phosphagen system like golfers and powerlifters.

Recommendations: To enhance exercise endurance, take

6,000 – 8,000 mg of citrulline malate about an hour before
training.

Protein Powder
Although we recommend getting most of your protein
from whole food sources, protein powder is a great
supplement that can help you meet your protein needs
more easily.

Stick with complete protein powders like whey, casein,

collagen, or a mix of di erent plant protein powders. Don’t
waste your time with BCAA and EAA supplements as you
will get much more bene t from taking a complete protein
powder.

Recommendations: Add 20-40 grams of a complete

protein powder to your smoothies or take it after your
workouts to stimulate muscle protein synthesis without
taking you out of ketosis.

Alpha GPC
Choline is an essential component of your nervous system.
Every time a muscle moves within the body, choline is
needed to activate the neurotransmitter acetylcholine,
which sends chemical signals to muscles and makes them
mobile. One of the best ways to get enough choline is by
taking alpha GPC.

Studies have found that 600 mg of alpha GPC can enhance

power output and growth hormone secretion, which
suggests that this form of choline is likely a great
supplement for athletes and weightlifters to add to their
diet.

Recommendations: Take 600 mg of alpha GPC before

your workouts to increase strength and power.

Fish Oil
Fish oil, speci cally the omegas 3s fatty acids known as
DHA and EPA, help boost recovery and stimulate muscle
protein synthesis.

The American Heart Association recommends consuming

1g of EPA+DHA daily. This recommendation can be met by
taking a sh oil supplement or eating a 3-ounce serving of
sardines or salmon per day.

Furthermore, if the goal of supplementation is to reduce

soreness, then a 6g dose, spread over the course of a day,
will help.

Recommendations: Supplement with at least 1 gram of

DHA+EPA every day. Use Nordic Naturals Ultimate
Omega and eat wild-caught (not farm-raised) salmon and
sardines for the best results.

Keto Pre Workout

Many pre-workout supplements are keto-friendy, some of which are marketed directly to ketogenic dieters. These pre-
workout supplements will typically contain most of the compounds we talked about in the previous section.

The only problem with purchasing these supplements — as well as the supplements made speci cally for keto dieters — is
that they may not have the e ective dosages of the ingredients listed. So, even though some of these pre-workouts
supplements contain ingredients that have been proven to boost performance, this doesn’t mean that they are found in
high enough doses to evoke any bene ts.

For this reason, I recommend buying each individual ingredient and putting the ones you want to use in a pre-workout
keto-friendly smoothie. Taurine, l-citrulline, creatine, alpha GPC, and beta-alanine can all be added into a smoothie along
with some avored protein powder (20-40g of protein), MCTs, and/or exogenous ketones to make the perfect pre-workout
drink.  Keep in mind that you don’t need to add every supplement to your smoothie. Refer to the descriptions above to see
what supplement or supplements will provide the bene ts you want for the exercise you are doing.

Here are some example of keto-smoothies you can experiment with:

Blueberry Banana Bread McKeto Strawberry

Smoothie Milkshake
Before you say it, I know what Growing up as a kid, I had my fair
you're thinking: "But Craig, share of fast food takeout. Some
bananas are de nitely not allowed of them I still miss to this day and
on a ketogenic diet!" Don't worry try to recreate (a lot of...
g...

Cucumber Spinach Smoothie Blackberry Chocolate Shake

I've had a lot of people e-mail me You know those chocolate covered
and ask me about juicing (which is berries you nd in those specialty
a no-no). When they make the candy stores, or the ones that they
switch to a ke... serve up to you when you ...

Keto Tropical Smoothie

Come along and savor the last few
days of summer that are left with
me! Sit back, relax, and pour
yourself a fruity and refreshing...

Side Note: If you are following a targeted ketogenic diet or have a higher than average carb limit, then consider adding
beets to your pre-workout drink. Studies have shown that beets help reduce the ATP requirements of exercise, which
indirectly increases performance. Blend 200 grams of beetroot into your pre-workout drink for best results. Make sure you
include the carb content of the beets into you carb tracking for the day (200 grams of beetroot contains 19 grams of carbs
and 13.5 grams of net carbs).

Recommendations: Whether you buy a pre-workout supplement or make it yourself, make sure it contains enough of the
active ingredients to have a positive e ect. Also, watch out for added sugars, as they can be found in many pre-workout
supplements

Keto Post Workout

Studies have found that there is no need to slam protein
shakes after your workout to t your protein consumption
into a small “anabolic window.” Instead, there seems to be
a 4-6 hour anabolic window that occurs after we eat more
than 20 grams of complete protein. During this window of
time, muscle protein synthesis is increased, which can lead
to muscle growth.

For example, let’s say you had 40 grams of protein in your

pre-workout smoothie. The anabolic e ects of that protein
may be elevated for up to 6 hours after ingestion. For this
reason, it is best to focus on eating a minimum of 20-40
grams of protein every 4-6 hours to trigger muscle protein
synthesis throughout the day. To meet your daily protein
needs, you may need to consume a bit more protein per
meal.

If the amount of protein you have to eat per meal is keeping you from meeting your ketosis goals, then try consuming
more protein after your workout than at any other meal. After your workouts, your cells will require much less insulin to
create the same anabolic e ect. With lower insulin levels, your liver will be less likely to decrease the number of ketones it
produces.

Recommendations: Your top priority is to meet your daily protein goals. To optimize the muscle building e ect of the
protein without lowering your ketone levels, eat 20-40 grams of protein or more with every meal (every 4-6 hours) and
have your biggest protein meal after your workouts. To further boost recovery and muscle growth, take sh oil or eat fatty
sh with your post-workout meal.

Putting it All Together — Exercise and The Ketogenic Diet in Perfect

Harmony
Keto is not the ideal diet for high-intensity activities, but it is the ideal diet for weight loss, reversing many chronic diseases,
and improving our health in many ways.

To combine exercise and keto together, we must make changes to our diet and workout program to accommodate the
e ect that carbohydrate restriction has on physical performance. Keto athletes and competitors, in particular, need to
make sure they are eating the right amount of macronutrients, following the proper keto diet variation and taking the right
supplements to improve their performance while simultaneously experiencing the health bene ts of the ketogenic diet.

On the other hand, if you are just trying to add exercise and keto into your lifestyle to improve your health, then you have
more room to experiment with what is best for you. In general, I recommend lifting weights and doing some form of cardio
training every week. Ideally, this would mean doing cardio exercise 2-3 times per week and lifting weights 2-3 times per
week — never doing them both on the same day (for best results).

Although exercising in this way is not the key to losing weight, it will help you gain muscle and improve your cardiovascular
health will improve your health in many ways — from reducing insulin resistance, in ammation, stress, pain, and chronic
disease risk to improving memory, mood, sleep, and cognitive function.

By following the recommendations in this article and our beginner’s guide to the keto diet, you will be able to use
exercise and carbohydrate restriction to improve your health in every way.

P.S. Have a look at the Keto Academy, our foolproof 30-day keto meal plan. It has all the tools, information, and recipes
needed for you to succeed.

+ The food has been tested and optimized so you can lose weight and start feeling great!

Sources:

Long-term health bene ts of physical activity – a systematic review of longitudinal studies — BMC
Public Health
Health bene ts of physical activity: the evidence — NCBI
Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills — Harvard Medical School
Metabolic characteristics of keto-adapted ultra-endurance runners. — NCBI
Balance of carbohydrate and lipid utilization during exercise: the “crossover” concept. — NCBI
Rethinking fat as a fuel for endurance exercise. — NCBI
Capacity for moderate exercise in obese subjects after adaptation to a hypocaloric, ketogenic diet. —
NCBI
The human metabolic response to chronic ketosis without caloric restriction: preservation of
submaximal exercise capability with reduced carbohydrate oxidation. — NCBI
Fueling strategies to optimize performance: training high or training low? — NCBI
Alpha-GPC — Examine
Very-low-carbohydrate diets and preservation of muscle mass — NCBI
Ketogenic diet does not a ect strength performance in elite artistic gymnasts — BioMed Central
Resistance training in overweight women on a ketogenic diet conserved lean body mass while reducing
body fat — BioMed Central
Relatively high-protein or ‘low-carb’ energy-restricted diets for body weight loss and body weight
maintenance? — NCBI
E ects of dietary carbohydrate restriction with high protein intake on protein metabolism and the
somatotropic axis. — NCBI
The E ects of Ketogenic Dieting on Body Composition, Strength, Power, and Hormonal Pro les in
Resistance Training Males — Ovid Insights
Ketogenic diet bene ts body composition and well-being but not performance in a pilot case study of
New Zealand endurance athletes — Springer Link
Can Fat Fuel The Athlete — Chris Masterjohn PhD
E ects of variation in protein and carbohydrate intake on body mass and composition during energy
restriction: a meta-regression — The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Dietary protein – its role in satiety, energetics, weight loss and health — British Journal of Nutrition
International society of sports nutrition position stand: diets and body composition — Journal of the
International Society of Sports Nutrition
The Three Metabolic Energy Systems — IDEA Fit
The Science of Carbohydrate Loading — Marathon Training
E ects of di erent volume-equated resistance training loading strategies on muscular adaptations in
well-trained men. — NCBI
A Systematic Review of Dietary Protein during Caloric Restriction in Resistance Trained Lean Athletes: A
Case for Higher Intakes — Human Kinetics Journals
Fasting enhances growth hormone secretion and ampli es the complex rhythms of growth hormone
secretion in man. — NCBI
Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window? — Journal of the International
Society of Sports Nutrition
Low carbohydrate, high fat diet impairs exercise economy and negates the performance bene t from
intensi ed training in elite race walkers — The Journal of Physiology
The human metabolic response to chronic ketosis without caloric restriction: preservation of
submaximal exercise capability with reduced carbohydrate oxidation. — NCBI
Why you won’t lose weight with exercise alone — Science Daily
Can beets help you run faster? — Precision Nutrition

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