Hi Guys,
I’m new to the keto diet and have been on the keto diet for 2 months now. I have maintained my strength but recently lost the pump I normally feel this week as I forgot to put sodium and also ran out of multi vitamins.
What is a good supplement to take and what food should I be eating more of?
I have recently purchased MCT oil, chicken broth and Endura electrolytes. I have noticed since taking those supplements i got my pump back on.
I would recommend you post this question over in the “Ketogenic Athlete” Facebook group, which is hosted by Danny Vega and Brian Williamson. It is the public forum for their related podcast.
Danny Vega is a huge lifter, and experiments with Nutrition, and can probably give you pretty good guidance.
You can find that group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theketogenicathlete/
Best wishes with your Keto and lifting journeys…
I use creatine fishoil lcarnatine tartate caffeine - check out Ketogains fb group for our supplement recommendations
The pump is a normal response from the sodium itself and good water intake. Strength training doesn’t necessarily bring a pump. The muscle fibers being worked are different and resting periods as well as energy needs vary.
Honestly I never get pumped from strength training. The moment I start hitting 6+ reps then I’ll see a pump.
To supplement strength training varies. L-Carnatine was a huge help in fat metabolism for energy. A simple fat bomb though does the trick for me in my coffee.
I use creatine and a pre workout which is mainly caffeine and put a scope of dextrose in as well 10 minutes before working out… Magnesium, Fish Oil and Curcumin at night
I have only been doing this for 4 months but I am still getting used to everything… I was really feeling flat with my strength workouts after about 1 month and really not getting a pump at all… I might have just been still adapting to the new lifestyle because the last little while I have been feeling amazing and I deadlifted more than I ever have yesterday… I could try and see how I go without dextrose but I don’t really need to lose weight or anything and pure dextrose is really easy for the body to use as energy (not like fructose)… I guess you could say I am following the targeted ketogenic diet… I have been doing 2 scoops lately or about 10 grams with a scoop of creatine… I also think I may have been used to fuelling my workouts before with frustration and a little bit of anger… Since I have gone keto I have been calm as a hindu cow and feel like a zen master.
Haha fair enough. Might stick a little longer to full keto then if I see I have plateud I might stick some dextrose in before my workout.
In my experience I’ve actually had better results backloading my carbs and refueling post-workout. I used about an ounce of honey and that gave me better recovery and my subsequent workouts were better.
Keto will deffinetly make you flatter as your muscles are just not holding on to as much water as before.
I just stick to protein (i love isopure as its 0 carbs), and a prework out when i need it. I also take a multi, zma, l-carnatine, cla, fish oil, lysine, and collagen.
At the end of the day a pump is just blood in your muscles not actual strength or gains.
I also suggest not taking creatine while eating keto as it can throw you out of ketosis.
??? I am curious about this statement, I do not believe this is correct. Or do you have a resource? I do t think creatine is very useful mind you but I don’t think it stops ketosis either.
I loved using around 3-5 grams of L-Citrulline with about 16 oz of water 30 minutes prior to lifting and found i had great pumps but not much difference in strength or endurance though also wasn’t keto at the time
Yes wondering where you got your I formation from, as far as I know most ketogenic athletes recommend to take creatine due to the lack of water retention.
I had first heard it from dr. Nalley on the keto talk podcast. Creatine can increase your fasting insulin levels which is something that most people are tying to lower and keep low.
I should clarify, Creatine is a great supplement to use it. It just depends what your goals are.
Here is a study they did on rats (albeit not humans) that shows the increase in fasting insulin
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/11912564/
Also if a lot of your protien is coming from red meat (big benefit of keto 
). You are probably already ingesting a lot of creatine.
Would be great to test it out on myself in future when I get the time but I still think it’s okay. Thanks for the info tho.
I use creatine (Kre-alkaline) and ubiquinol daily. Kimera coffee as a pre workout. I think recovery is very important on keto. I tend to over train so I have a free bottle of New Mood from Onnit. It helps me sleep when I need it.(https://www.onnit.com/offer/facebook/new-mood) I find to get the pump I used to get I have to change up my programming every few weeks. I use the free plans on Bodybuilding.com. But I’m thinking about purchasing the year long programs from mindpumpmedia.com. They’ve got a great podcast about fitness and they’ve tried keto and understand it’s benefits. I used to love supplements. But I’m finding I need them less on the ketogenic lifestyle. I also discovered that I can eat much more protein because of how much weight training I’m doing. I can get in 130-150 grams on training days without getting kicked out. I weigh 185lbs.