What would you say if someone told you that intermittent fasting keto bodybuilding was a possibility? That you could gain muscle while constantly eating high-fat foods and largely reducing the number of hours spent eating in a day. Before you dismiss the idea, check out this article to find out how this works.
Intermittent fasting and the keto diet are two things that have gained a lot of attraction in the weight loss and fitness communities in recent years. Before deciding which of these two would help in muscle gain, you must first understand what they are and how they work.
This is an eating pattern that revolves around periods of fasting and eating. In IF, people go through extended periods of fasting and have a few short hours (aka the feeding window) where they can eat (6).
However, it should be noted that I.F. is not a diet. In intermittent fasting, you can eat whatever you like during the feeding window, while in the fasting hours, you are only allowed to drink water, black coffee and tea. Despite this, it is advisable to eat within your allowed calorie intake and keep your food choices as healthy as possible.
This is a high fat, moderate-protein, and low-carb diet. On this diet, your calories should come from 55-60% of fats, 30-35% protein, and 5-10% carbs (7). People trying to lose fat love the keto diet since it puts your body in a ketosis state. Due to the lack of carbohydrates in your diet, the body turns to burn fats, turning them into ketones, which it uses as energy instead of glucose (9).
While people doing the keto diet do not consume a lot of protein, you should increase your protein intake if you are trying to gain and build muscle. However, eating too much protein can prevent ketosis. Amino acids in protein-rich foods can be converted to glucose, which the ketogenic diet tries to prevent (3).
A standard keto diet requires 20% of your cals coming from protein (8), however since you are trying to build muscle, try matching your protein intake to your overall weight; i.e. 1.0 gram of protein per kilogram of lean mass.
It should be noted that while many believe ketosis is only achieved via a keto diet, fasting and intermittent fasting can help you achieve ketosis too (10). When trying to build muscle, you can combine intermittent fasting and keto. These two factors will help you lose weight and fat.
You should also mind your calorie intake and keep working out by doing your cardio and lifting weights. Please note that intermittent fasting and the keto diet are not safe for everyone. Before doing either, or both, be sure to speak to a doctor or a dietitian.
Read More: How Long Is It Safe To Fast: Are Long Or Short-Term Fasts More Effective?
Here is an example of what a keto bodybuilding meal plan looks like. Note that the number of calories consumed differs from person to person, and thus, this is just a simple guide. You can tweak it to fit your daily energy intake for intermittent fasting keto bodybuilding goals.
6 large fried eggs, 45 g of bacon, 85 g of broccoli cooked in bacon grease
Calories: 740. Fats: 49 g, Proteins: 53 g, Carbs: 6 g
10 g coconut oil, 112 g of cooked chicken drumstick
Calories: 288. Fats: 18 g, Proteins: 21 g, Carbs: 0 g
1 cheese stick and 33 g of almond butter
Calories: 282. Fat: 20 g, Proteins: 13 g, Carbs: 7 g
224 g of salmon, 15 g coconut oil, 84 g cauliflower
Calories: 598. Fat: 25 g, Proteins: 59 g, Carbs: 4 g
1 scoop protein shake
Calories: 130. Fat: 1 g, Proteins: 25 g, Carbs: 2 g.
Total intake for the day: Calories: 2,038. Fat: 113 g, Proteins: 171 g, Carbs: 19 g
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The first and most important thing to do before making a workout plan is to determine your goals. Are you a beginner looking to start building muscle or working out for some time and want to gain bigger muscles?
If you are a beginner, here are some great bodybuilding tips (11) that can help you whether or not you are intermittent fasting and on a keto diet.
There are thousands of blogs and videos that offer advice on the best bodybuilding workouts for beginners, and this may be confusing. It could also lead you to cram multiple workouts in one session leading to overtraining. Keep your workout plan as simple as possible by concentrating on full-body exercises that target all your muscles.
When you do not eat well, your body lacks energy from calories and thus turns to burn muscle for energy, leading to muscle loss and messing up your bodybuilding progress.
Bodyweight exercises are fantastic, especially as a beginner; however, they can only take you so far. After a couple of weeks, invest in some light weights or use some household items such as soup cans and water bottles to add resistance.
This gives you a community that will motivate you whenever you are slacking off and feeling unmotivated.
Doing the same workouts over and over can cause a weight loss plateau and even weight gain. Switch out your dumbbells for kettlebells, add some barbells, battle ropes, or medicine balls.
Read More: HIIT Workouts With Weights: This Hardcore Strength-Boosting Routine Is Sure To Leave You Sore
Always remember to warm up before every workout. Warming up revs up your cardiovascular system by raising your body temperature and increasing blood flow to your muscles. They may also help reduce muscle soreness and lessen your risk of injury (1).
Here are some great examples of the best basic workouts to help you gain muscle on a keto diet while intermittent fasting (4).
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Before determining which intermittent fasting method is best for you, you need to first learn and understand the different types of I.F. (intermittent fasting). Here are the most popular fasting methods for weight loss and bodybuilding (10).
This intermittent fasting method has set fasting and eating windows. Fasting for 10 to 16 hours may cause the body to convert its fat storage into energy usable by our body, and will consequently release ketones into the bloodstream. When combined with keto, this helps the body get into ketosis even faster. Versions of the time-restricted eating are:
Of these three methods, the 14:10 and 16:8 routines are the most famous.
Also known as the fast diet, it involves eating normally for 5 days a week while restricting your calories to about 500 (women) to 600 (men) calories for two days a week. If you choose to do this intermittent fasting method, separate your fasting days. i.e., fast on Wednesday and Saturday.
This method involves fasting completely for 24 hours a day, once or twice a week. You fast either breakfast to breakfast, lunch to lunch, or dinner to dinner. Once the 24-hour period passes, you should return to your normal eating plan. This method is not as easy as it sounds and may cause mood swings, fatigue, or headaches.
This means fasting for 20 hours a day, leaving just a 4-hour window to eat at night. However, since this requires not eating for a lot of hours, you are allowed to eat a few raw fruits or veggies during the day.
This is another option for busy beginners who do not have enough time to slow down and eat. You may skip breakfast or lunch each day.
To know what method works best for you, try the skipping meals method first since it is not as restrictive as other methods. The time-restricted eating plan is also quite beginner-friendly. Instead of jumping straight into the popular 16:8 routine, try the 12:12 or 14:10 plans fast.
For you to successfully use I.F. to build muscle, here are some simple things that you can do:
While gaining muscle requires you to eat more calories than you normally would when losing or maintaining weight, you should still keep an eye out on how much you consume. Opt to eat 250 to 500 calories more than you usually do on a daily basis (2).
Sneaking in meals during the fasting hours will not only mess up your intermittent fasting plan but also counts to add to your calorie intake and might lead to weight gain.
Muscles grow at different rates depending on age, sex, genetics, and intensity of exercises (5). When you work out, muscles tend to tear, and once you stop and rest, they repair themselves and grow bigger. Bodyweight and resistance exercises, and strength and weight training will help build your muscles even while intermittent fasting.
As long as you eat enough nutrient-dense foods during your feeding window and work out hard enough (without overtraining), you can easily use intermittent fasting for bodybuilding.
Here are some things that you can do to ensure that you gain muscle while doing keto and intermittent fasting
It is easier to stick to a diet if you already have the meals at hand. Keto diets can be quite hard and confusing for beginners. Before embarking on this journey, pick a day when you meal prep, and that way, you always have keto-friendly meals at the ready, preventing you from breaking it. If eating the same things every day does not appeal to you, opt for food prep. Food prepping involves preparing all the nutrient-rich ingredients you would like to eat for the week; that way it is easier to grab them and make a new meal.
This prevents you from wasting time at the gym (or at home) deciding on what exercises you should be doing. With a program already in place, you wake up already knowing what to do.
While fasting, choose keto-friendly foods that are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. This helps keep your blood sugar levels steady and prevent nutrient deficiencies.
Drinking water, sugar-free coffee, and tea during the fasting period keep you from obsessing over food. Always drink at least 8 glasses of water daily!
This helps in keeping you from constantly thinking about food.
Intermittent fasting keto bodybuilding is possible. I.F. and a ketogenic diet both put you into ketosis, which will burn fat as a source of energy for your body. Despite this, working out and watching your calorie intake matter more than what and when you eat. Without exercise, your muscles would grow, and eating more than necessary would most likely make you gain weight.
That being said, you should consult your doctor or dietitian before starting intermittent fasting and keto for bodybuilding. Exhaustion, irritability, constipation, and endurance issues are just some side effects that you might experience. These side effects might be worse, depending on different factors like age, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and chronic illnesses.
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