ANYONE ZERO CARB AND STILL LIFT ?

memphis 77

New member
I am thinking of doin zero carb for life and wondering if there are any others here who are o carb and can lift on this ?
 
I've done it before, felt great. Your fats and proteins will have to be higher. It'll take a few weeks for your system to adjust. Experiment with reloads.
 
Are you aiming to do keto? What is your macro split? If you keep protein high and don't try to get into ketosis, you might end up struggling with low energy levels
 
And some people have a negative hormonal response to long term keto. Test can plunge without occasional carb refeeds. Even just every couple weeks can help.

Some do great though. Just something else to keep an eye on.
 
JDybya said:
And some people have a negative hormonal response to long term keto. Test can plunge without occasional carb refeeds. Even just every couple weeks can help.

Some do great though. Just something else to keep an eye on.
Click to expand...

thank u i will keep this in mind - i'm just fearful of putting on fat again with the refeed is this mainly done 2 boost test and leptin JD
 
no i have done keto in past , i just want 2 do a zero carb =eat meat drink water lifestyle and see if i can actually still lift and have good results
 
memphis 77 said:
thank u i will keep this in mind - i'm just fearful of putting on fat again with the refeed is this mainly done 2 boost test and leptin JD
Click to expand...

Many Psychological and physiological reasons. Check out Lyle McDonald's site. And his Ketogenic Diet book.
 
ok i will do - can i just ask when u did keto with refeeds were they 2 days out of week and clean refeeds ? -thanx again
 
memphis 77 said:
ok i will do - can i just ask when u did keto with refeeds were they 2 days out of week and clean refeeds ? -thanx again
Click to expand...

They're typically once per week, very high carb. They don't necessarily need to consist of 'clean' foods, and in most cases if you try to eat a very high amount of carbs in all clean foods you'll have a very difficult time hitting your macros for the refeed. Read up on the CKD diet, there's a lot of great info available.
 
I have been close to 0 carb for the last 4 months. Only trace carbs from green veggies. I have recently returned to the gym after about a 2 year hiatus for various reasons. I actually find it hard to get pumps and my muscles feel flat constantly.

I am thinking about doing a refeed every 2 weeks and then using one of the keto induce products to speed back into keto
 
It takes some experimentation. Every body is different. I did once per week. As clean as I could, low fat...about 1g/lb protein then carbs to hit about 150% of my maintenance calories. Fat was about 50g or so.

Another good book I suggest is The Metabolic Solution.
 
jcam222 said:
I have been close to 0 carb for the last 4 months. Only trace carbs from green veggies. I have recently returned to the gym after about a 2 year hiatus for various reasons. I actually find it hard to get pumps and my muscles feel flat constantly.

I am thinking about doing a refeed every 2 weeks and then using one of the keto induce products to speed back into keto
Click to expand...

i found the same problem my warm up weights are now my max it seems . I just have 2 be low carb indefinetly as i believe i ahve a carb intolerence for sure .
 
JDybya said:
It takes some experimentation. Every body is different. I did once per week. As clean as I could, low fat...about 1g/lb protein then carbs to hit about 150% of my maintenance calories. Fat was about 50g or so.

Another good book I suggest is The Metabolic Solution.
Click to expand...

thanx again JD - really apprecaite the help all the best sir
 
Yeah Ive done it multiple times, I become a major AssHat BUT it gets the job done. You just need to have a high amount of protein and some good fats in you

BUT it can be done.
 
I run zero carb and lift. You lose strength initially but get used to it. I've made strength gains on keto but they don't come easy, and don't even think about it in a caloric deficit.

On the flip side my endurance goes off the charts. News is just starting to leak that cyclists and high endurance athletes run hardcore keto, some even try to hide it.
 
Some interesting footnotes if nothing else...Invalid Link Removed
 
I am switching from 0 carb to TKD today. Starting slow. Used grape juice (24gms carbs) prior to workout. Made a HUGE difference in pumps and muscle fullness. Planning on doing 24 before and 24 after workout and maintaining normal zero carb diet the rest of the day.
 
Good luck on no carb for life... Of course you feel flat, there's literally no glucose or glycogen, low carb targeted keto would be better approach to maintain strength and fullness
 
jcam222 said:
I am switching from 0 carb to TKD today. Starting slow. Used grape juice (24gms carbs) prior to workout. Made a HUGE difference in pumps and muscle fullness. Planning on doing 24 before and 24 after workout and maintaining normal zero carb diet the rest of the day.
Click to expand...

If you're not in ketosis - which you probably won't be with that amount of carbs - then what is the reasoning behind zero carbs for the rest of the day? Just asking....
 
Tank999 said:
If you're not in ketosis - which you probably won't be with that amount of carbs - then what is the reasoning behind zero carbs for the rest of the day? Just asking....
Click to expand...

Depending on the carb count and how much glucose is used ketosis is still possible.
 
I am just using the 24 carbs in grape juice pre workout. Keto sticks at night still show a low amount of ketones. Even before adding juice in with less than 30 carbs per day I only show low ketones. Either way I prefer to limit carbs drastically as they trigger me to overeat.
 
Muscle will be less full. Expect lower intensity workouts and extremely hard gains. I'd recommend a cyclical ketogenic type diet if your heart is set on cutting carbs. How about less of an extreme> 100-150grams workout days and <30gr on non-workout days?
 
I am currently blogging about lifting whilst on a low carb diet, less than 30g of carbs per day (not quite 0 carbs). I am on day 5 now, the first couple of days I had mad headaches, but my lifting is ok and I am feeling full of energy now! We will see how it goes throughout the next weeks! I will also do a cycle of Spartan Lean to maximize fat loss in this time.
 
30 net carbs a day. Training 531 sucks but hypertrophy stuff isn't affected.
 
jackdblondguy said:
Hey guys, I'm on Day 2 of Keto. My goal is to hit roughly 2,200 calories for 167g of Protein, 50g or less of Carbs and 155g of Fat. How does that look?
Click to expand...

There are more factors than that. Is that gross or net carbs? What's your body weight, training regimen, age, etc.
 
jackdblondguy said:
Hey guys, I'm on Day 2 of Keto. My goal is to hit roughly 2,200 calories for 167g of Protein, 50g or less of Carbs and 155g of Fat. How does that look?
Click to expand...

If you're just starting keto, I would suggest getting carbs below 30g for the first week or two. Being more strict in the beginning will help your body make the shift to producing ketones quicker, and it will shorten the length of the "keto flu" you might feel. I always aim to <30g to make sure I get into ketosis quickly. Other than that, macros look good.

Are you doing CKD?
 
I attempted to cut out my main source of carbs (oats), it whipped me my out by 1:30 every day.
 
Its not like you cant slowly introduce carbs after you start at 20g a day or below. It is near impossible to cut all carbs out when you include the sucralose (splenda) many zero carb products contain or even the 1g of sugar eggs have. When your blood sugar gets low after about two weeks on keto you would benefit from adding a low GI impact fruit or two in before the workout or you may experience fatigue during workout/sluggishness.
 
The sugar free is just weird to me. While I do keep some handy for cravings, manufacturers and institutions claim they don't raise blood sugar. In theory certain sugar free substitutes do in fact break down into sucrose and dextrose among a few and should raise blood sugar but they don't. I've tested this with my blood glucose meter many times. There's reports that it can raise blood sugar in diabetics, but the meter doesn't even budge every time I test it.

Interesting information about long term keto most might not know about... Your blood sugar will automatically raise the longer you're in keto, this is normal. When I first start keto or come off a large carb load into keto my blood sugar is usually low 80's, healthy normal. Over the course of a month the blood sugar will raise to nearly 100. It tends to go up about a point a day. This will also cause you to fail a blood glucose test if you take one coming directly off keto because the elevated blood sugar can make you spike over 120 on the test. Retake the test after 3 days of carbs.

I forget all the mechanisms behind this, but it's essentially why carb cycling may be beneficial to reset things. However, super long term strict keto, I'm talking not a single cheat day for 6 months (almost impossible for me to do) might yield different results. There are some reports that deep keto may produce different or even higher performance results. Right now it's mostly related to endurance sports, but evidence it could produce power gains too.
 
Have done keto diets for various lentghs of time. 1 month, 2 month, 1 week, etc. Have lifted and trained all the same. It can be more challenging in the first few weeks. Trust me once your body is fat adapted, for me takes around a full month, its much much easier and i actually had more energy. Thing is mentally its tough because your always flat and if your trying to build muscle its a mindf$ck
 
jonny21 said:
Muscle will be less full. Expect lower intensity workouts and extremely hard gains. I'd recommend a cyclical ketogenic type diet if your heart is set on cutting carbs. How about less of an extreme> 100-150grams workout days and <30gr on non-workout days?
Click to expand...

I get great, lean gains on a CKD. Usually with a PED in play though.
 
Also, it's nearly impossible to go completely 0 carb, because there are trace carbs everywhere. Only way to get 0 carbs is to just eat protein.

I've done that once, but still did refeeds on the weekend.
 
Gutterpump said:
Also, it's nearly impossible to go completely 0 carb, because there are trace carbs everywhere. Only way to get 0 carbs is to just eat protein.

I've done that once, but still did refeeds on the weekend.
Click to expand...

My favorite way to do it is with salmon steak and eggs. Grass fed butter and coconut oil. Thats litterally it. No veggies, nothing. I do that for a week or two annd the results are crazy. Definitely not a long term thing, but a great tool
 
EMPIREMIND said:
My favorite way to do it is with salmon steak and eggs. Grass fed butter and coconut oil. Thats litterally it. No veggies, nothing. I do that for a week or two annd the results are crazy. Definitely not a long term thing, but a great tool
Click to expand...

Dude that sounds so tasty!! I'm about to start another cut (coming back from an injury) and going to kickstart it with this (along with lots of fiber pills though). Thanks.
 
Gutterpump said:
Dude that sounds so tasty!! I'm about to start another cut (coming back from an injury) and going to kickstart it with this (along with lots of fiber pills though). Thanks.
Click to expand...

Psyllium husks or fresh ground flax seed beat fiber pills......too many pills to get enough fiber to make a difference....just saying
 
EMPIREMIND said:
I based it off of vince gorondas steak and egg, then added in some mountaindog influence and some salmon and viola!
Click to expand...

Great references! You wanna see an old school description of a protein diet, do a search for john mccallum protein diet from the old keys to progress series - he had it down solid over 40 years ago!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top