Feeling Weak (Muscle loss, primarily abdomen muscles)

newbies
(chiria) #1

Hi,

I am new to the ketogenic diet, about to finish the first month now.

Everything goes well, I have lost almost 2 kgs so far and I am aiming for losing another 3 kgs. However, I feel a significant difference in my endurance/workout performance, i.e., jogging (I used to run daily with 7’30"/ km phase and now decrease to 8’30"/km), weight training (I feel much weaker doing both reps and weights). In addition to that I notice that I am also losing muscle, I feel my triceps and thigh become loose and my abdomen muscle also very weak, I can’t do sit-ups and push-ups properly.

I wonder if it is because of the potassium and magnesium deficiency? Or I am still experiencing the so-called Keto-Flu (but I am not experiencing headache/fatigue)?

Please do share your story if you experienced the same issues and if you found the solution to these issues.

Thank you so much.

(Allie) #2

It’s normal, you’re still in the adaptation phase of keto so your body doesn’t yet know how to properly use fat for fuel. Add salt to everything, drink only to thirst (many mistakenly believe they have to drink gallons of water), and be patient with yourself.

You’re asking your body to change the way it has fuelled every function of your body for most of your life, that doesn’t happen overnight.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

Until you find your performance coming back, don’t overdo the exercise. Your body is stressed enough right now from the change in diet. Once you feel your endurance coming back, then you can return to your routine. Please note that, while endurance returns to (and sometimes exceeds) previous levels around 6-8 weeks after beginning a ketogenic diet, explosive performance takes longer to return.

I don’t believe anyone knows how long it actually takes, but a recently-released study of fat-adapted athletes who had been eating a ketogenic diet for at least two years showed that their glycogen levels were indistinguishable from those of glucose-burning athletes, so explosive performance definitely returns sometime before two years of eating a keto diet. Sorry I can’t be more specific than that at the moment.

#4

You haven’t lost any muscle mass in that time, but now you’re running with near no glycogen stores in your muscles, so as far as their fuel source, your muscles are running on fumes. They’ll be physically smaller from less water in them and you’ll definitely feel it in your workouts both in less power, and the higher rep stuff will burn you out faster.

The plus is it does get better, but honestly we never perform the same way on fat (as far as muscle endurance goes) the way we do with glycogen in the tanks. I ate standard keto for almost 3yrs and although I got stronger it was really at a pretty pathetic speed. I no longer eat keto the normal way at least and strategically have carbs when they benefit me in the gym and the difference has been night and day. I’ve read studies and heard anecdotal stuff that we wind up with the same amount of glycogen after a while, I can’t vouche for how they figured that out, what I do know is that out of a lot of lifters I know plus my own experience with some of us keto and some just normal LCHF, we all do much better with the carbs in there. Really just gotta prioritize what works for you and how to simultaneously hit your goals.

#5

The details are in the FASTER study:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026049515003340

Conclusion:
Compared to highly trained ultra-endurance athletes consuming an HC diet, long-term keto-adaptation results in extraordinarily high rates of fat oxidation, whereas muscle glycogen utilization and repletion patterns during and after a 3 hour run are similar.

(chiria) #6

Hi, thank you for the reply.

Yes, I am drinking gallons of water, approx 4 litres in a day. Will that be a problem or give any effects to the muscle and endurance?

(chiria) #7

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, I try to do exercise every other day to reduce the pain and muscle sore.

(chiria) #8

Thank you for explaining @lfod14, it eases my concerns. Also, thank you so much for sharing the link @Mavro, it’s very useful information indeed!

(Allie) #9

I wouldn’t have said four litres is a massive amount, I do that easily, just don’t force it thinking you need more water as you’ll flush out the electrolytes your body is trying to rebalance.