It's a question I receive on a weekly basis, "Do I need to exercise while on a ketogenic diet?" The answer should seem quite simple and logical. Diet and exercise are crucial to our overall heath and well-being. Regardless of the type of diet you're on, exercise should play an integral role to help keep you healthy. However, if you're on a diet to lose weight, exercise isn't necessarily essential. Do I think anyone should focus specifically on diet and not on exercise? No, unless someone is physically unable to participate in any form of exercise. I recommend that everyone participate in some type of exercise regimen for overall health purposes.
Why do I think diet and exercise are important, regardless of what type of diet someone is on? Let me answer the question with an analogy. Think of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For all intents and purposes, we'll assume it's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that's approved for the diet you're currently following. Generally, the ingredients for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would require bread, peanut butter, and jelly. If we consider the bread as your overall health, the peanut butter to be diet, and the jelly to be exercise, it becomes a little easier to understand. We know it's possible to make a sandwich without the jelly or without the peanut butter, but it doesn't taste the same; this concept also applies to diet and exercise. You may, eventually, end up with your desired outcome by following specifically only diet or only exercise, but it may not turn out the way you had planned. Diet and exercise are two major components of an overall healthy lifestyle.
Exercise on a Ketogenic Diet
Following an exercise regimen while on a ketogenic diet may not be the same as any other diet. The lack of carbohydrates may cause the body to fatigue much quicker while participating in an active lifestyle, especially in the very beginning, when switching over to a ketogenic diet from a standard American diet. Initially, I faced the same issue and felt fatigue set in at a much more rapid pace. Over time, I was able to overcome the impact of decreasing my carbohydrates as my body utilized ketones for energy.
Adjustments to Your Exercise Regimen
Something you may notice as you switch from a standard American diet to a ketogenic diet is that your endurance, stamina, or both may be impacted. The exercises you may have found to be relatively easy while on a standard American diet could become more challenging to complete. In addition, recovery could take longer while on a ketogenic diet. It's quite normal to experience any of these obstacles, especially in the very beginning while adjusting your diet.
Throughout my own ketogenic diet journey, I experienced both a decrease in endurance and stamina as I modified my macronutrient intake. If you've seen my YouTube videos, you'll know that I share the modifications of my workout regimen as I make changes to my diet. I've found it's crucial to modify my workouts as I change my diet to avoid feeling completely burned out. Once the feeling of being burned out occurs, it can be difficult to get back in the gym as the body will need time to recover.
My Discoveries Throughout the Journey
The primary issue I've found is that the type of cardiovascular exercises I participate in are not the same as what they once were. I used to focus on HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, which involves exercising at a rapid pace for a short period of time followed by a slower pace for a short period of time and continuing the cycle for up to 20 minutes. I quickly learned that my body became burned out when coupling HIIT with a typical bodybuilding workout and I didn't feel as satisfied with my workouts. In an attempt to maintain HIIT with my workout, I switched from starting with HIIT first and my workout second to my workout first and HIIT second. Ultimately, I decided to remove HIIT completely because it became too taxing on my body no matter what I tried and I resorted to a low-intensity, steady pace of fasted cardio in the morning.
My workouts have changed steadily throughout the journey and much more drastically since I recently modified my ketogenic diet. I learned that I would need an extra day of rest and it became necessary to cut back on the amount of time I spent working out in the gym. I was used to being in the gym six days a week for two and a half hours with 20 minutes being dedicated to post-workout cardio. I had to cut back to spending five days a week in the gym for an hour lifting and completing 25 minutes of fasted cardio in the morning. I could tell my body felt much better after making the change.
Since changing my workout regimen and decreasing the amount of time spent in the gym, I've had to become more aware of the amount of time I spend while working out. Overall, the number of exercises has decreased, the amount of rest time between sets has decreased, the amount of weight I lift has decreased, and the number of repetitions for each set has increased. I like to experiment with different sets, repetitions, rest periods, and weight ranges to determine how well my body responds. Generally, I stick with a plan for at least two weeks and make adjustments after that point.
Additionally, I found that the amount of carbohydrates may be higher for people following a much more active lifestyle on a ketogenic diet. Depending on the types of activities someone participates in will be a good indication of whether they require a higher amount of carbohydrates. For example, someone following an intense CrossFit workout may have different carbohydrate requirements than a marathon runner. I have incorporated some higher carbohydrate days into my ketogenic diet throughout the month and notice a positive impact in my workouts. I like to keep my carbohydrate intake quite low during the week and increase it one day on the weekend.
What Should You Do?
I have found that incorporating both diet and exercise not only has helped me reach my goals much more quickly, but also resulted in an overall healthier lifestyle. As I have explained many times in my videos on my YouTube channel, I encourage everyone to see what works for them. If I had the ability to provide a generic diet and exercise plan for everyone, I would because I want to help others be happier, healthier, and become the best versions of themselves. Unfortunately, that's not how our bodies work and we're all genetically different. For example, some people respond well to ketogenic diets, while others simply don't. I encourage people to try a new diet or exercise routine for at least two weeks and determine from that point whether changes need to be made. Our bodies require time to adjust and only allowing three days for a new routine to be effective, for example, may not necessarily provide the feedback needed to determine if changes are required.