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Kettlebell Becoming athletic and less fat

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IMayAgainKnowChris said:
Anyone else feel like an amateur biochemist just from neurotic paleo/keto/carnivore podcast binging?
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I don't listen to diet-themed podcasts, which may be why I don't get neurotic about it.

But as a weight-class recreational strength athlete, understanding nutrition is part of the role, as it is for fighters, wrestlers, etc.

In the weightlifting world, nutrition has been extensively and scientifically studied (especially by old Soviet and modern Chinese mega programs) to the point where the boundaries for what doesn't work are pretty known, and there is a lot of wiggle room in the middle for what does work.

IWF even publishes guidelines:

 
watchnerd said:
My lifting platform performance sucks if I go full low carb / keto.

And I have reduced endurance to handle higher volumes of heavy resistance training.

If weight loss is your only goal, you might be right.

If losing fat while maintaining max athletic performance is your goal, I don't think I agree.
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It also depends on how adapted you are. While most people say it takes 3-4 weeks to get keto adapted, there's good evidence that "full" keto adaptation takes about 6 months, after which your performance should return to baseline levels (or even better, due to metabolic flexibility).

That being said, depending on your goals, that's not necessarily the best choice. For body recomp goals (which may or may not include overall bodyweight reduction), I think there's good evidence that the cyclic ketogenic diet might be more effective than straight keto, at least for those that find the keto diet effective.
 
patterner said:
It also depends on how adapted you are. While most people say it takes 3-4 weeks to get keto adapted, there's good evidence that "full" keto adaptation takes about 6 months, after which your performance should return to baseline levels (or even better, due to metabolic flexibility).
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In my experiment with keto I kept at it for 9 months and felt horrible and weak the entire time. That was over 10 years ago though and I'm a lot healthier now so if I were to try it again it might be different. No desire to try it again though
 
patterner said:
It also depends on how adapted you are. While most people say it takes 3-4 weeks to get keto adapted, there's good evidence that "full" keto adaptation takes about 6 months, after which your performance should return to baseline levels (or even better, due to metabolic flexibility).
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I don't know how many explosive strength athletes are willing to take a 6 month performance hit if they don't need to.

As for "even better performance":

I like metabolical flexibility and personally practice it, but, in non-endurance, explosive sports, metabolic flexibility isn't likely to increase performance -- the energy systems used by sprinters, long jumpers, weightlifters, shot putters, etc, are all anaerobic.

ATP replenishes in about 3 minutes, whereas a sprint or a snatch is <15 seconds.
 
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GeoffreyLevens said:
If you eat mostly Whole Foods from plants, no extracts or concentrates (oil, added sugar, flour products), there is zero need to get used to being hungry.
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If I'm in a 1000 calorie a day deficit, like I am now, eating quality food doesn't make it so I'm not hungry.

I might be *less hungry* than if I was eating sugary junk, but I still get hungry.
 
Why are you in 1000 calorie/day deficit? I guess if you need to bulk and cut for competition but I can't imagine any reason for me to do that.

If I was a non-professional i.e. my livelihood did not depend on it, I would just compete in my walking around weight class
 
GeoffreyLevens said:
Why are you in 1000 calorie/day deficit? I guess if you need to bulk and cut for competition but I can't imagine any reason for me to do that.

If I was a non-professional i.e. my livelihood did not depend on it, I would just compete in my walking around weight class
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Because American Open is on September 20:


I have to have a qualifying lift total for a given weight.

It's easier to drop 4 kg in weight than to add 7 kg to my lift total to meet the qualification total for my 'walking around' weight.

Also, 1000 calories per day deficit for me is only about a 30% deficit. My TDEE is in the 3000-4000 per day range.
 
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I can see your point though I wouldn't do it myself. I did to that in high school for wrestling, every year a radical weight cut and was miserable the entire time though I did win a lot of matches.
 
I don’t have weight classes to contend with, nor do I really compete for podium positions any longer, but being as light as possible certainly has its advantages for me... (within reason)
 
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