Impact of Keto diet on your Exercise Performance

We have discussed in detail about Keto in our earlier blogs. Ketosis is a state when your body shifts to using fat as a primary source of fuel for expending energy.When you come into fat burning state( low level of carbs in the body), glycogen stores starts depleting & rate of beta-oxidation increases thereby allowing mobilisation of fatty acids from the fat tissues.

There is no doubt that Ketosis can have weight loss benefits however some exercises become challenging when you are on Ketosis. Low intensity steady state workouts tend to be minimally impacted when you are following the Keto diet. When your body replaces carbohydrates with fat as primary source of  fuel, your body experiences health benefits such as minimal sugar level spikes/swings  weight loss & boosted energy. However, Ketosis carries its share of pitfalls when it comes to performance. We are discussing some of them below:

1. Ketosis is not that effective for high intensity workout:  Majority of high intensity workouts require a short & intense burst of energy which is generally powered by carbs you consume. These carbohydrates are stored in muscle cells. This muscle glycogen becomes the primary source of fuel when our body is engaged in any activity that requires intense movement such as weight training & sprinting. When you are on a keto diet, you are burning fat instead of carb. As a fuel source, fat is not as easily burned as does carbs. Therefore ketosis limits your high intensity workout performance however it will not impact low intensity workout much. We would not recommend Keto to improve performance.
2. Ketosis boosts fat burn: Although Keto is not the right approach when it comes to high intensity workout, it is far more effective for fat burn who like to do steady state cardio exercise such as cycling & jogging. Athletes who are on a Ketogenic diet were able to burn more fat during training than those following a standard diet. However, they did showed bad athletic performance when compared to those following standard diet
3. Body burns quicker calories on Ketosis: It is important to note that your body has fat stores which vary  from person to person. Overweight & obese folks have high fat stores while lean built has less. If you follow a high carb diet, you will end up burning only carbs that you have consumed. In order to burn fat, you need to shift your primary source of fuel to fat. Once you jump into Ketosis, your body starts burning fat which ultimately leads to weight loss. In a study, when overweight adults replace carbs with fats for a period of 6 months, they were  able to  burn 250 more calories per day as compared to those having a high carb & low fat diet.  Besides, fats are calorie dense. Since  a gram of fat contains 9 calories as compared to carbs which have 4 calories per gram, the difference in calorie burn per day can add up to total weight loss 
4. Keto is beneficial for maintaining muscle mass ( not building muscle): Maintaining & building muscles slows down your ageing & protects against age related bone loss. Muscle mass helps you to burn more calories even when you are not exercising. We have discussed this in our book in detail. If you do workout to maintain your muscle mass, keto might be helpful.However if you want to build muscle, low amount of calories( through carbs) & protein you take each day when you are following ketosis makes it tough for you. It is much more difficult to add muscle while on a Keto. The basic reason is when you consume less carbs, your muscle cell have less glycogen which slows down the muscle growth process.