Felt unconscious on keto during workout

keto
(jag) #1

Yesterday I had eaten roughly 70 g of complex carbs, roughly working out on treadmills 12min, cross trainer 15mins, rower 10 mins, cycle for 15 mins, 24 pushups and supported pull ups roughly 10(roughly 1:30 -45 hr). Before start of another round of pull ups i totally got tired and unconscious, i had to take some help in laying down.
Its been my 4th Day of the start of keto Diet.

Please let me know whats went wrong?

Also if i had to do same workout tomorrow so if i increase my carbs up to 100g, considering the workout i do unmodified will it help me to move towards ketosis?

Thanks in advance.
-Jag

(Richard Morris) #2

Did you pass out, or just feel faint and have to sit down.

If the former then that’s something you should discuss with your doctor. I’d suggest they look into your blood pressure under exercise load and look into electrolyte supplementation.

If the latter, I had the same experience for the first couple of weeks. I used to cycle to the gym (15 min) and I’d be fine, and then about 10 mins in to a PT session (Cardio and light weight bearing like yours 2x a week, heavy lifting 2x a week) I would feel like someone had pulled my cord out of the socket and I had to sit down on a step for just 5 secs and then I was good to go for 5 mins before I’d get the sensation again.

In my case I was hypertentive before keto and normotensive after - so the problem was likely that I was drawing through my limited reserves of energy in my muscles and my transports to get more in weren’t keeping pace with demand. That got gradually better until I became better adapted to using fat for energy.

Here is Dr Phinney explaining this phenomena

(Allie) #3

You do realise that under 20g of carbs is the recommended amount to get into ketosis? If you’re consuming as many as 70g - 100g a day then it unlikely any of your symptoms will be connected to keto as the chance of you being in ketosis are very small.

Are you used to that amount of work in the gym? Is it possible you just pushed yourself too hard?

(Richard Morris) #4

Under 20g is likely to get EVERYONE into a state where they don’t have enough glucose so they need to make so much that they start making ketones. A few people may need less. Most people probably can get away with more.

Professor Noakes claims there are some people who can tolerate up to 200 a day but those are likely Tour de France cyclists on race day.

(What The Fast?!) #5

9 times out of 10, this is an electrolyte issue. Add way more salt to your diet. I used to get light headed just standing up from the couch - not to mention during burpeesnat the gym! Salt fixes this. If you feel that way before the gym, take a quarter teaspoon of salt right before.

(Allie) #6

Yes I know some people can get away with more, but isn’t it best advised to stay under 20g while trying to get adapted then gradually increase to find tolerance if required? If the OP isn’t used to the level of exercise detailed above then it would be enough to make them feel faint regardless of keto and on just day four, it’s a heck of a lot to try and push through even for someone who is accustomed to that level of work, let alone while trying to get into ketosis.

(Kimberley Demarest) #7

When I first started Keto, I had been working out for some time. Usually 4 times a week cycling, swimming and lifting. So I figured I could just continue my regular work out stuff. I am eating around 20-25 grams of carbs a day. Well, I got pretty dizzy swimming laps. Enough that for a few weeks in a row, I had to leave the pool early as it usually started about 30-40 minutes into the session. It was pretty awful. I have always had pretty low blood pressure, and even without Keto I would get dizzy if I sat up too quickly. So I suspected that electrolytes were the cause, more specifically salt. So I started drinking a lot of Smart Water before, during and after workouts which has no sugar or anything but does have electrolytes. Also I have increased the # of Epson Salt Baths I take per week, as you can soak up Magnesium through your skin. (It also helps with muscle tiredness) That along with eating more Real Salt and getting fat adapted fixed it and now I have no problems with getting dizzy. I do tend to have more headaches during the week, so probably need to do more tweaking in my electrolyte stuff. I have a bike ride coming up this weekend and will be in Ketosis for it. Normally, even without being in Ketosis, my muscles start cramping around mile 35-40 in heat. So I am going to try to really load up on electrolytes and eat more salt before, during and after the ride. Praying that I get no cramping and I can do the 60 mile ride I signed up for. :slight_smile: My last long ride while in Ketosis was May, and I did ok, we only did 40 miles and I ate about a bunch of olives every hour or so and loaded up on pickle juice at the food stops. I could feel my muscles starting to crap towards the end of the ride though. Anyone else have the regular cramping problems while cycling long distances on Keto? What was your fix?

(Richard Morris) #8

Yes I use a water bottle with table salt, Potassium citrate, and Magnesium citrate. Drink a little 10 mins before the ride and then drink to support hydration signals. I usually soak my feet in epsom salts after a long ride to stave off post ride foot cramps.

(jag) #9

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the help and advice everyone :pray::pray: , it really helped.
I did pass out not just dizzy, i was so so low in energy that it was hard for me to even focus on my trainer instruction around 110 mins.
I am used to train HIIT before 4/week but sice start of keto 1-2/week for 30mins, but yesterday was like 120 mins but mostly endurance slightly less then HIIT.
I had checked my weight before going to work out and after workout, i had lost around 600g in 2 hours. I think i ran out of water and energy though i made sure i had drank least 1 ltr of water yesterday.

Today

Since my 70g carbs can be depleted in my workout for 120 mins yesterday, i have tried taking 100g of carb yesterday and also took some salt and lime water without sugar today morning and had reduced 7 mins of my workout time. So I just wanted to make sure i dont pass out again.

compared to yesterday 600g i had lost around 100g of weight today, took lots of water in between.

I plan to follow this plan not sure if its kick me out of keto entirely or will i be able to retain in it, Just planning to play with the numbers suiting my activity atleast for my starting 1 month of gym gradually planning to decrease my crabs, since my instructor said me eat normal meals as loaded with carbs bit high with protein as i used to before but some way i dont like to turn back on my mission, so playing with the numbers. Please feel free for advice and suggestion on my plan.

Thanks,
-Jag

(Sonia A.) #10

The only way to find out your carb tolerance is to test your blood ketones. It’ll tell you if you’re still in ketosis after eating 70 or 100 g of carbs.

(Kimberley Demarest) #11

Thanks for responding! Also my husband and I have learned a ton from you and Carl! The Salt podcast was super helpful. We are actually driving to the bike ride now. It is always my quad muscle that cramps near my knee. Sometimes calf muscles too. We have Magnisum citrate and I found Potassium pills at our local grocery store (it says it is from Potassium Gluconate) is that close enough for this application?

(Richard Morris) #12

it’s not as bioavailable as Potassium Citrate, but it’s better than nothing.

(Kimberley Demarest) #13

I thought I would report back, as I didn’t have time to find Potassium Citrate. I took one pill of the Potassium Gluconate (99mg) as well as 1 tsp of the Magnesium Citrate and 1/2 tsp of Salt before the ride. Then salt in the form of olives during the ride. During the very slow ride (about 3.5 hours and 48 miles) I must have had at least 30 olives. One of the rest stops had pickles and pickle juice so I had some of that. I didn’t get to muscle spasms like I normally do so that was good. But my legs were definitely tired. If the route had been at all hilly, I probably would have had some muscle spasms. Even though it was only 80 Deg F for the riding temperature, I still was caked in salt crystals on my skin when I was done. I also drank about 90 oz of water during the ride. When we got home, I took a Epson salt Bath and my muscle tiredness reduced by 70% at least. The next day they weren’t tired at all. I am in Megan Ramos Dr. Fung’s IDM program so I will be talking to her about this later this week. I need to figure out how much of this salt I need to last for the entire ride without going to things like Gatorade. My husband and I rode in RAGBRAI twice. (6 day bike ride across the state of Iowa) and there were several days were in the 100 Dgg F range. I drank Gatorade pretty much the entire ride (Usually60-80 miles a day) and seemed to do ok. Any calculations/ research that someone can give would be a great help.

(Richard Morris) #14

Great news on Epsom salts reducing the pain by 3/4 … I would add a little more Magnesium citrate to your water bottles.

(Kimberley Demarest) #15

I will try that! Thanks!