While following the keto diet, it will most likely be
difficult to maintain the same levels of intensity in a workout. These workouts
may not work as well on the diet. The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet
that puts the body in a state of ketosis, which will burn fats as fuel and
lower blood sugar levels. The benefits are weight loss, boosted energy, and
improved metabolic health.

Studies have shown that the keto diet does not boost the
effectiveness of a workout. The ketogenic diet is not proven to be superior to
exercise, though it may affect an individual more than another.

What you
need to know

Keto diets may make it more difficult to boost performance
when exercising at high intensity. For example, an intense workout can be
fueled by carbohydrates stored in muscle cells. Fat is less calorically dense
than carbohydrates and can take longer to process. This means fat consumed
during keto leads to weight loss, but it is also a less efficient energy source.

One result of the keto diet is a decline in performance
during high-intensity workouts. A small study that followed 42 healthy adults
found that their capacity for endurance and strength dropped after six weeks on
the ketogenic diet. The data was published in February of 2017 by the journal
called Nutrition & Metabolism. Galpin says he wouldn’t recommend following
a keto diet to improve your performance. He says that the keto diet is not going to
be any good for physical performance than the normal diet.

Ketogenic diets may not be the best for short,
high-intensity workouts like weightlifting and Spinning. However, ketogenic
diets can help people burn more fat through aerobic workouts like running or
cycling. In the Journal of Physiology, a study was conducted on elite
competitive walkers to see if their diet had an effect on fat loss. The
athletes who followed a ketogenic diet were able to increase fat burning in the
body during training and experienced worse athletic performance.

One might
feel it isn’t working at first:

As your body adapts to the keto diet, it begins to train on
burning fat more than carbohydrates. When you have been on a keto diet for a
while, you may feel less energized when exercising. While athletes on a
high-fat diet may initially experience less energy, they can expect to see a
return in energy levels, especially during exercise.

The
Scientific Reason Why You’re Burning More Calories on Keto

In a study published in the BMJ, overweight adults who
reduced carbohydrates in their diet and replaced them with fat were able to
burn 250 more calories per day than those who ate high-carbohydrate and low-fat
diets. Fat is more calorie-rich than carbohydrates. One gram of fat contains 9
calories, whereas one gram of protein or carbohydrate each contains 4 calories
(according to the USDA). The body needs to burn more calories than it takes to lose
weight. The difference in a caloric burn over a day could result in weight gain
or weight loss if you’re keeping track of your diet.

The ketogenic
diet is considered better for maintaining muscle mass than adding muscle

Muscle mass helps to confer protection against the risk of
age-related bone loss, and assists with weight control. Whether or not a
ketogenic diet is good for you depends on what goal you are striving towards.
If you are trying to maintain muscle mass, keto could be perfect for you.
However, if you are trying to add muscle mass, low calories and protein levels
will cause more difficulty. If you’re on a diet, it will be harder to build
muscle. Your body has fewer carbohydrates available and it can’t store them in
the muscles like it would normally.

If one is
burning fat doesn’t mean they are losing fat

You will not lose weight or burn fat with a ketogenic diet unless
you are burning more calories than you are consuming. When a person is on a keto
diet, they burn more fat but they also store more fat, because they are taking
in more fatty foods than usual. To lose weight one needs to be in a caloric
deficit which means that the calorie intake should be low.

Health
benefits of keto:

Preliminary studies show promising results on the
effectiveness of keto, but most are in small populations. The keto diet has
been used therapeutically since the 1920s, and doctors are only aware of the
benefits of the diet. There is no evidence of other benefits, but it may help
with epilepsy. Ketogenic diets have been shown to reduce seizure occurrence in
patients who have trouble responding to traditional treatments. For some, it
can even stop seizures from happening at all.

One study found the keto diet may help adults with epilepsy.
Despite being less frequently recommended for this group, the diet reduced the
frequency of seizures and resulted in weight loss for some people. Apart from
weight loss, the keto diet may play a role in the treatment or prevention of
other diseases.

There have been limited studies about the ketogenic diet,
but one study concluded that people who followed a keto diet lost more weight
and body fat than those on a standard American diet.

Type 2 diabetes research published in September 2016 by the
Journal of Obesity and Eating Disorders found that the keto diet is an
effective treatment for type 2 diabetes. It also indicated that if you have
type 2 diabetes, a strict diet can lead to improvements in HbA1c levels
(although it also results in hypoglycemia ).

The ketogenic diet may be a mood stabilizer for those with
type 2 bipolar disorder, and earlier studies suggest that it is an even more
effective mood stabilizer than medication. According to the article
“Obesity” from Endocrine, those on the keto diet lost more weight and
inflammatory fat than those on a low-calorie diet.