Exercise Question - Serious drain on energy

(Sam H) #1

Hi!!

Only been on Keto for 2 weeks. All heading right direction, sorting the it meal ideas and seeing that initial scales drop and of course survived the “Keto Flu”. But tonight I’ve hit my first real hiccup with feel unexpectedly drained.

I trained BJJ (martial arts) so the energy envoy ed varies greatly from class to class, some you may not break a sweat and some classes we drill until walking is a problem. I train anywhere from 1-3 times a week and from 1-3hrs depending on what sessions I attend. Today was 2 hours but involved 3 x 15minute “rolls” which is sparring for us ground people. The longer roll was specifically used so that the two opponents work on “keeping the fuel tank up” or “gassing out” your opponent…but basically everyone was gassed by the end,

So skip to recovery. Usually if I train to the point of feeling weak walking around, and often water does nothing!! I’d drop by a servo and smash a poweraid. Basically sugar right?? So what can I do to assist with a quick recovery?? I’ve eaten when I got home which was tasty but hasn’t really helped.

I just don’t want to do something which’ll impact my good work so far on Keto. Can I have any sugar or do I just need to accept recovery may be slower?? Some ppl seem to suggest salt to get sodium up?!

I need to sort this out because A. I love “rolling” and BJJ but also B. I’ve signed up to a 12hr “roll-a-Thon” to raise some money for lifeline…I’ve i want to go 12hrs. It’ll be a slower burn then the session tonight but I want to know how to address energy levels if I need to.

ANY help would be appreciated!!

P.s sorry for the long post.

#2

I’m not an expert in this - you might want to post a question with Coach Allan, who just started a thread to answer exercise questions - but I can tell you three things that pop out to me:

  1. salt supplementation really matters. Most of the weakness you feel is an imbalance of electrolytes rather than actual fuel (glycogen, fat). I’ve started putting a pinch of salt under my tongue when I go into a 90-minute hot yoga class, and then again at the end (sometimes during as well) and I swear it feels like I have an extra battery right there under my tongue. You can also make Keto-Ade (look it up for the recipe) which is an electrolyte drink (sodium, potassium, magnesium) without the sugar;

  2. Feeling week in your workouts as you’re adjusting to keto is completely normal. Fat adaptation for sports takes time - sometimes as long as 6 or 8 weeks, and some of the really exciting effects don’t show up for months. It’s an amazing process, because you’re actually making more mitochondria to be able to process the fatty acids;

  3. Robb Wolf does BJJ. He’s a huge advocate of keto but finds that he personally needs a bit higher carb for his training days. This is a very individual thing, and I wouldn’t recommend that for everyone, but if in 3 months you’re still not feeling great with training you might want to have a listen to some of his podcasts and see if there’s something that can help you. Since it’s pretty glycolitic, you probably end up in ketosis most of the time anyway.

A longer, slower session will actually favor someone who’s fat adapted. How soon is that?

(Sam H) #3

Thanks for the info! Saw salt as a suggestion but good to know the reasoning.

Big day is Sat, 24th Nov. not a lot of time for my body to adapt!! But I’ll be right. I’ve accidentally been telling everyone I’ll do the full 12hrs hahaha my big loud white belt mouth always gets me in trouble! Luckily you’re lying down most of the time in BJJ so Easy to rest! Haha

Ps Yoga…is incredibly hard.

#4

That’s a full month from now, so it will be 6 weeks keto for you by then. I bet you’ll be nicely adapted by then. Maybe not enough by pro-athlete standards, but still…

You might want to buy a copy of Phinney and Volek’s Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance. I’ve been in this space for a long time but I’m finally now reading that book and learning so much!

(Allan Misner) #5

I’ll second what Madeleine said. Full leto-adaptation can take months.

That said, getting electrolytes and water is critical. Also, when you’re as active as you are and if you’re not insulin resistance, you may have a higher carb tolerance. For that 12 hour event, you should be able to eat some fruit (apple, banana, orange) along the way to keep going.

I’d try fueling strategies during your training to see if you can nail down something that works and doesn’t knock you out of ketosis long.

(Sam H) #6

Thanks for the info!! I still feel like my body and I either don’t get along, don’t get me wrong - we’re mates BUT maybe English isn’t it’s primary language so trying my best to listen closely!!

I’ll see if I can add a little more carbs in on the bigger training days and I’ll read up in salt/electrolytes etc. as I haven’t quite covered the impact Keto has in that regard.

I’m thinking maybe on the day I’ll ensure I have both additional carbs and some, call it, more Keto related items so I can see what feels right.

I’ve no idea what I’ve gotten myself into!!

(Allan Misner) #7

You’ll figure it out. We’re all different, so we have to experiment to learn what works.

(Stu Shez ) #8

Hi Sammy, I also came to this section with a Ju Jitsu related question so thanks for posting this. I do traditional Japanese JJ so less ground work and more stand and bang. This Saturday I was wiped within the the first 30 mins - it was a particularly brutal pad circuit though.

I’m six weeks into keto but had been IFing for a year prior so I was hoping I’d have a jump start towards fat adaptation - I may not be and hence the wrecked after 30mins HIT situation. That said, I generally train fasted and have usually had a bit more capacity than recently.

Have you found introducing some pre-workout carbs has helped you? I don’t have any metabolic or carb-digestive issues that I’m aware of, and as such, I’m not too worried about having a few carbs if it’s going to supercharge my high intensity performance.

I’m at my goal weight of 215lbs, I’m not really a scale watcher but -20lb from six weeks ago - more importantly, it’s been almost all fat loss.

Also, did you notice any difference with pre-workout electrolytes?

TIA, Stu.