Weeks 7 & 8 were a big testing point in our Ketogenic Diet for Strength Athletes experiment. We didn’t train, we competed! Foolishly, I signed up for two meets in back-to-back weeks. While it was going to be hard on the body, it made a good proving ground for nutrition performance and recovery. We both competed in a USAPL (powerlifting) meet in Week 7. In Week 8, I competed in Central Maine Strongman, one of the better-known Strongman meets in New England.
If you want to get caught up on how Keto affected our final meet prep, read Weeks 5 & 6, here!
If your curious about what is going on, check out our introduction post. That’s where we explained that Lindsay and I are embarking on an experimental Ketogenic Diet for Strength Athletes. Clay is interested in body recomposition (decrease body fat). Lindsay cares most about the reported increase in mental clarity.
Cutting (water) weight while on Keto:
One of the constants that goes with pretty much all strength competitions is a weigh-in. Sometimes it’s 24hrs before you step on the platform, sometimes it’s 2hrs. Either way, you have to make weight. For instance, I competed in the USAPL 231lbs weight class – if I weighed 232lbs I would be competing against athletes that were 30lbs heavier than me in the next weight class up. Lindsay competes in the 63kg, or 138lbs class and needed to drop 5lbs of water weight for the Saturday morning weigh in.
I can write a whole post on the lessons learned from weight cuts, but, it’s typical for someone to easily drop 5% of their body weight by manipulating water retention and fluid flushing. 10% is pretty aggressive, but Lindsay only needed to cut 4%, which we thought was quite do-able. However…
One of the reasons people love starting keto is because they quickly drop several pounds on the scale. This happens as water-soluble glycogen is pushed from the body. Basically, you’re cutting water weight by switching to a fat-burning machine. Unfortunately, you don’t have the same amount of water reserves when it comes to cutting water weight for a weigh-in.
Strength Athletes: Use this as a cautionary tale, if you are already at low body fat and under 200lbs, cutting water weight on keto is really hard! Lindsay missed weight by 0.8lbs and had to compete in the 72kg weight class. She ended up 3rd overall by Wilks Score but lost the chance to set a 63kg state record in the squat and win her class. When it came time to start dropping water Friday afternoon there was just nothing for her to lose. Her overnight float disappeared, and she knew Saturday morning she was not making weight.
Rehydration and adding glucose:
Lindsay might not have been able to make her weight class, but she CRUSHED our rehydration plan. One of the most significant problems with a 2-hour weigh-in is that the athlete has to rehydrate and be ready to perform at a high level in about 125 minutes. We bailed on “keto principles” for the meet and Lindsay made a coconut water and maple syrup rehydration-cocktail that did wonders. Usually, my opening squat feels pretty weak after a 2-hour weigh-in. Not this time. Seriously, I felt like I could’ve punted a first grader at least two towns away I felt so good.
My rehydration plan included 1 liter of the coconut water/maple syrup solution, 1 liter of water and 1 liter of a Nuun electrolyte mix (not a sugar-filled Gatorade). I also mixed in some fruits, bars, a PB&J, and a keto smoothie – which was the majority of my calories during the meet. I’ve never felt so good going into the openers of a meet. A nice change, for sure!
Mid-week recovery:
Having back-to-back meets for me made the mid-week recovery a huge priority. I followed my meal plan in principle – but not in quantity. I ate a TON the first few days after the powerlifting meet, and then dialed it back a bit for my Strongman weigh in. In general, I felt alright about recovery on a modified keto diet, but it wasn’t the end-all-be-all. It took a few days for all soreness to go away but the mental, or CNS, fatigue didn’t seem to dissipate until day 6 or 7. Out of everything I have experienced with a keto style diet, dialing in a good recovery program has been the hardest.
Clay’s Observations: Weeks 7 & 8
- Sticking to the plan now that the meets and social/schedule craziness are behind me.
- A few post-meet beers tasted GREAT, but I had little to no cravings for anything with bread (burgers, sandwiches, etc.)
- Social eating is by far the hardest part of this whole experiment/eating style.
Lindsay’s Observations: Weeks 7 & 8
- The frequent and random stomach pain was too much, decided to officially get off the plan after week 8 (more to come in next week’s post).
- Keto definitely affected the weight cut – didn’t drop water weight like I normally do.
- The constant stomach ache might be attributed to Keto, need to try eating like before to find out.
- Sad to be dropping out due to medical concerns because I otherwise like the effects of a very high-fat diet!
The Measurements: Weeks 7 & 8
Sooo… nothing to see here… move along…
We didn’t take measurements on the regular Friday nights of Week 7 and Week 8 because that was the night before the meets. Measurements would’ve been affected by dropping water for weigh-ins, and therefore we didn’t think it would be indicative of where the experiment is taking us. We’ll continue taking measurements for Weeks 9-12. At week 12 Lindsay is hoping to still be 143lbs at 15.5% body fat, and Clay is hoping to be 235lbs at 11.5% body fat.
Week 9 & 10 have us getting back to a normal training and eating cycle. We are both starting a high-volume 4-week training cycle, and it will be interesting to look at the effects of keto on high rep work and recovery.
NOTE: I am writing a weekly journal to document our experiences in a quasi-scientific manner throughout the next 12 weeks. The intent of this 12-week journal is to share personal experience, resources, and observations for people looking to start a keto diet (and we will attempt to share the best academic articles along the way too).