The Best way to gain muscle while on keto

Whats better than losing fat? How about losing fat and gaining a few lbs of muscle while you’re at it. Quite honestly the perfect combination of trimming down your belly size while gains a few inches on those biceps or gluten if that is your preference.

In order to approach this goal accordingly I’m an advocate of two things, heavy compound movements and of course being on the keto diet. In this article I’ll explain how I’ve done this over the past few months and lost unwanted body fat at the same time.

 

First things first, Diet!

Diet is number one in my opinion when it comes to changing your body composition, most people spend hours in the gym and fail to see their desired results for one reason and that is a poor diet.

You can’t outwork a bad diet. In rare occasions you’ll hear about an olympic athlete smashing 10,000 calories of mcdonalds a day and winning a few gold medals…hint hint.. Michael Phelps. But unless you’re spending 6 hours a day in a pool I would say your chances are about 1 in a 1000 when it comes to this approach.

Sure some people are genetically gifted and can eat terrible food while maintaining a decent body for their entire lives but that’s not true for the rest of us, myself included. It’s honestly a mute point as well, what’s the point of having a good body while destroying your organs and cognitive health in the process.

If you’ve read any of my other articles from The Scoop I’m sure you know I’m a huge advocate of the Keto Diet. I am an advocate because this is when I’ve seen my best results and my clients best results. I suggest a traditional keto diet with increased protein. Roughly about 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound you weigh, while also intaking lots of fats and ketones to keep your body energized and lean.

Here’s an example of my diet that has helped my achieve muscle mass increases while staying at a lean 225 lbs!

Meal 1 - Thin Bagels with Smoked Salmon (8 oz) and 3 whole eggs

Meal 2 - 8 oz of steak and one whole avocado

Meal 3 - 8 oz of chicken and one whole avocado

Meal 4 - 12 oz of salmon and 1 cup of mixed vegetables

Meal 5 - 8 oz of steak and 1 avocado

I also throw about two shakes in throughout the day as well, one post workout and one before I go to bed.

This diet keeps me in ketosis and keep my carbs close to 50 grams a day. If I’m feeling like I need some increased energy than I throw in some ketones as well, about 6-12 grams of exogenous ketones keeps me energized and burning fat. I’m actually drinking some right now why I write this article.

Now the second part of the equation, Heavy compound movements

The three main lifts I like to focus on are the squat, deadlift and bench press to increase and maintain muscle size and strength while on keto. If I’m trying to accomplish increased fat burning while working out I simply increase my workout time. Recently I have one from 1 hr to 2 hr workouts to accomplish this. Specifically lifting weights, you can do cardio as well but I just personally don’t like doing cardio, so I don’t.

Here is an example of my quad day which I focus on heavy squats, while doing this I have gone from a 495 squat for two reps to 585 squats for four reps in about 3 months.

Quad Day

Donkey raises - 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Squats - 6 sets of 4-6 reps each (moving up 90 lbs each set)

Quad extension - 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Leg press - 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Standing calf raises - 4 sets of 10-12 reps

This workout takes me about one hour to accomplish, If I’m looking to increase fat burning then I double the amount of sets that I do. All of my compound focused workouts look extremely similar to this and follow the same formula.

Conclusion

The proof is in the pudding well in this case I guess sugar free pudding because you are on the keto diet. I plan on doing this plan for my next bodybuilding show for better results than my previous shows. Give it a shot and let us know if it worked for you!