Keto Swimmers Unite!

(Ross) #1

Let’s hear about your swimming experiences on a keto!

Where do you swim?
Do you belong to a Masters club or similar?
Did you “bonk” prior to going keto? Do you still “bonk”?
Notice any differences in speed or power in the pool or lake?

(Crippie) #2

I literally just posted about this the other day!

Link here:

(Crippie) #3

But to answer your other questions!

i swim at a local health club.

Not really. I do the masters team workout though. My schedule doesn’t work with the team, but they leave their workouts on the whiteboard near the pool so I follow that every day.

I am not sure what you mean by bonk

Definitely! As i mentioned in my post I linked. My top speed, and even my cruising speed seemed to be WAY lower starting this time. But my endurance was much higher than normally starting out fresh. I hope to build up the speed and get those times back down

(Ross) #4

Oh, to “bonk” is to go low blood sugar and get shaky and weak in the middle of a race or workout.
Before I went Keto/Banting, I used to have to eat energy bars prior to swimming to avoid bonking (which just made me fat). LOL

BTW, in my experiance the speed & power returns, and more. I’ve been swimming keto for 2.5 years now. Sprinting speed is there again (maybe a little faster…def not any slower.) plus, I find I can sustain speed better on 100 & 200 yard / meter splits in interval training. Energy is plentiful for longer open water swims as well.

Crippie, where are you in the country?

(Crippie) #5

I am in norther california!

Can’t wait to get back really back to it. I never had much bonking before, maybe i will now? I used to be a straight sprinter, so distance swimming was mostly out of the picture. Anything over a 100 I hated. My main race was the 100 butterfly, followed by the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 IM. And of course a few relays.

I would say the closest I ever got to a bonk would be a workout my coach called “the decent to hell” Here is that in a nutshell:

100 @ 2:00
100 @ 1:59
100 @ 1:58
etc. etc. until once you missed an interval you would rest the next one. So if I missed the 100 @ 1:30 I would rest the 1:29 Then you dropped it
75 @ 1:28
75 @ 1:27
And just keep doing that all the way down until you are sprinting 25s one right after the next.

I was last in pool straight sprinting 25s back to back when all the muscles in my legs cramped up and i had to be pulled from the water, was shaky and weak for sure.

#6

I’m in Manchester, UK and have been keto for just over 2 months now. I only started swimming regularly again at around the same time as I changed my diet.

As a bit of background, I’m a type 1 diabetic and use an insulin pump. Tightening up the control of my blood glucose levels was the main reason for going keto. It has worked well so far and I have already seen a significant improvement not only to bg but to overall energy levels as well.

I started off doing 1000m 3 days per week, and over a couple of weeks built this up to 1500-2000m, 4 or 5 times per week. I tend to find that after the first 5-10 lengths I get into a rhythm and don’t notice any real dip in energy from that point on. Often I feel like I have more energy and more strength as the distance increases.

I used to have to allow for dips in bg and take on additional carbs (glucose tabs/energy drinks) prior to swimming which could easily lead to highs or lows due to under or over estimation. I no longer need to do this and no longer get a dip in my bg, if anything there is a slight increase in my blood glucose level following my swim.

Today I went swimming 20 hours into a 36 hour fast and did 1250m (slightly less than usual as I was unsure of how the fasting would affect my bg). I started with a bg of 5.6 and finished with a bg of 5.7… Interestingly, I had even more energy than usual and the swim felt effortless and faster than normal.

It’s early days and I’ll see how things progress - but so far, so good!

(Ross) #7

@Crippie I love that workout! We’ve done something similar once or twice in our master group but not with that much detail. I like the idea of dropping the 25 at the point you don’t make the 100 time! I’ll suggest it to our coach!

(Ross) #8

@ChrisH187, I played with fasting and swimming over the summer and really liked the results. I found I had improved and more sustained energy and even felt better swimming with an empty stomach.

(Ross) #9

Where do you swim?

Fall/Winter/Spring: The local YWCA in Saint Paul, MN. (indoor 25 yard).

Summer: Mainly the St. Paul outdoor 50 M olympic pool. Some mornings and evenings I’ll swim at the city’s outdoor 25 yard pool too. 25 yard pools feel so short after swimming long course!

Do you belong to a Masters club or similar?

Yes, the masters group at our YWCA.
That reminds me, I need to renew my US Masters and WOWSA memberships!

Did you “bonk” prior to going keto? Do you still “bonk”?

I used to bonk prior to keto adaptation. I can’t even force myself to bonk now after a 24 hour fast.

Notice any differences in speed or power in the pool or lake?

I did notice loss of power/speed during the keto adaptation phase, but since then it’s been all positive. Sprinting speed has returned and I am more able to sustain repeated interval than when I was carb fueled.

(Crippie) #10

Its a good one! Takes almost two hours from start to finish though. But it includes its own warm up(at least for those in shape) as the 100s start of fairly easy at that pace, and then build up slowly. But you do need a warm down after(if you can move that is)

(Crippie) #11

So true, but I usually only have access to short course so that is my preferred, although my pool throughout high school was odd in that it was a 25 meter pool, not yards, so it was like a strange hybrid haha. Pool I am in now is 25 yards. The indoor pool at the health club I am at is only 20 yards so I avoid that, it is also like bath water, so I can’t stand it, puts me to sleep haha.

(Ross) #12

oh god…yes, the YWCA pool has been like bathwater too…swimming in 85 F water just makes me want to die!
The water aerobics women complain bitterly (and get very nasty) if the water is under 84 F! The obvious answer is if they really need the water that warm then they aren’t really exercising!

The brownfat discussion gave me an idea to post some flyers around the gym showing exposure to cool water increases fat burning… Manipulate them to complain that the pool is too warm! :wink:

(Crippie) #13

haha that is one way to do it! i imagine up north there that the outdoor pool is not an option in the colder times of the year?

(Ross) #14

Yeah, outdoor pools are our treasures that are only open Memorial thru Labor Day for the most part. With the way things have been warming up over the past decade, we could have them open for another month on either end but municipalities don’t seem to want to pay for staffing unfortunately. :frowning:

Have you ever checked out the UCSF outdoor pool? I think they have a 50 M? I wanted to last summer while out there on business but didn’t get the chance.

(Crippie) #15

I think I had a swim meet or two there back in high school (for my year round age group team), or at least in that area. but I have not been back there since then.

(Ross) #16

So, what sort of value do you all think we can add here with a keto swimming forum?

Workouts? Goal events? Good natured encouragement? :slight_smile:

(Crippie) #17

I would love that. I am always looking for more swimming workouts to try and encouragement.

#18

Sounds good to me :+1:

(Ruthanne Robertson) #19

Where do you swim?

School District Aquatic Center 25 yd pool. I swim before work usually in the pool by 6:15AM and stop at about 7:40AM. I have to be at work at 8:30.

Do you belong to a Masters club or similar?

I joined US Masters Swimming. MOVY is my local club

Did you “bonk” prior to going keto? Do you still “bonk”?

No bonking so far. I’ve had leg cramps a few weeks ago. That was solved with a saltwater potassium drink before and after swimming.

Notice any differences in speed or power in the pool or lake?

I can swim much longer/farther than I used to and my speed is improving daily. I don’t have anything before swimming except my electrolyte mix. I drink my BP Coffee after. Sometimes I’m hungry after a swim, but the water solves that and the coffee takes me to or through lunchtime. It’s great. I get such a high from swimming anymore. I show up at work in a great mood most days.

(Ross) #20

@Ruthanne_Robertson, welcome to our little Keto swimming club! If we get enough people maybe we’ll have to become some sort of virtual USMS swim group!

Your results sound very similar to my own. Used to bong before but not since adaptation. Oddly too, my leg craps have become much less frequent on keto it seems.