mXN3L
a cope a day keeps the rope away
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A lot of people argue about what the most optimal diet for gymmaxxing is. Some say you shouldn’t eat carbs at all, while others say carbs are necessary for energy and performance. I wanted to make this small thread to break down a study that compared a ketogenic diet with a regular higher-carb western diet in natural bodybuilders, focusing on muscle growth, body fat, strength, and other important factors.
There was a study on 19 natural competitive bodybuilders who followed either a ketogenic diet or a higher-carb diet for 8 weeks while keeping their usual training. The main goal was to see how it affected body composition, muscle size, strength, and some blood markers.
Keto Burns Fat but Stalls Muscle Growth
The keto group lost a noticeable amount of body fat and kept their strength gains. Their lifts improved just like the normal western diet group. However, they did not gain much lean muscle. The normal diet group added more lean mass over the same period, so if your main goal is getting bigger, carbs are a must.
Strength Gains and benefits in a KD diet
Muscle strength increased in both groups similarly. This shows you can still get stronger on keto even if you aren’t adding a lot of muscle mass. Keto did improve some health markers more than the normal diet, like lowering blood sugar, insulin, and triglycerides, and reducing inflammation.
Keto or Carb: Which Works Better for Body Composition and Health?
KD can help lose fat while keeping muscle and strength. It does not build as much new muscle as a higher-carb diet but reduce inflammation and increased BDNF, which can support motivation and stress management during training. Depending on your goals and training, you should choose the diet that suits you specifically.
There was a study on 19 natural competitive bodybuilders who followed either a ketogenic diet or a higher-carb diet for 8 weeks while keeping their usual training. The main goal was to see how it affected body composition, muscle size, strength, and some blood markers.
Keto Burns Fat but Stalls Muscle Growth
The keto group lost a noticeable amount of body fat and kept their strength gains. Their lifts improved just like the normal western diet group. However, they did not gain much lean muscle. The normal diet group added more lean mass over the same period, so if your main goal is getting bigger, carbs are a must.
Strength Gains and benefits in a KD diet
Muscle strength increased in both groups similarly. This shows you can still get stronger on keto even if you aren’t adding a lot of muscle mass. Keto did improve some health markers more than the normal diet, like lowering blood sugar, insulin, and triglycerides, and reducing inflammation.
Keto or Carb: Which Works Better for Body Composition and Health?
KD can help lose fat while keeping muscle and strength. It does not build as much new muscle as a higher-carb diet but reduce inflammation and increased BDNF, which can support motivation and stress management during training. Depending on your goals and training, you should choose the diet that suits you specifically.
