Status Updates From Ketogenic Bodybuilding: A N...

“Adversity is a great thing but it’s best to base your decisions on your strategy and the feedback your body and mind give you

195
“Know what tendencies you have. Understand how you approach and respond to stressful situations and develop your plan accordingly.”

195
“Strange things happen in a contest prep when you’re incredibly depleted and your metabolism is down regulated. The safety buffer between your physical body and your mind is much thinner.”

194
“I could write a motivational blanket statement that appeals to the masses but the problem with those is that they can be incredibly damaging if you lack the perspective necessary to apply them and be okay afterward.”

190
“Since fat is absorbed and assimilated so much slower than carbohydrates, it takes quite a bit longer to see its effects on your overall composition.”

That look is often achieved by a sight and temporary bump in sodium the evening before the show, followed by a steady consumption of sodium and a moderate intake of fluids on show day.”

“The more water we carry in our subcutaneous layer, the softer and less vascular we look.”

“Phase 4: you’ll only use foods that you know your body responds well to; this is it the time to introduce new variables. Choose foods that are easily broken down and absorbed.”

“A good conservative approach to calculating our initial refeed amount is to increase our caloric intake by about 30% of what we are currently consuming.”

“If powdered forms of potassium leads to GI upset, this liquid version used in smaller dosages may be the way to go.

“An excellent place to start is around 4,000mg sodium (10g salt) and 2,000 potassium.”

“We must track our sodium, potassium, and water consumption throughout the entirety of this phase to truly get those baseline numbers dialed in.”

Phase 4 total caloric intake is individualized…it will likely be sub-2000 calories for most men and sub-1500 calories for most females

“Refeeds are not effective if implemented too soon…You need to be incredibly lean to truly take advantage of refeed benefits

171
“Ketogenic caloric refeeds are included during the final stages of our prep (phase 4) somewhere between the last 2-6 weeks.

“Many people experience increased energy with exogenous ketone supplementation but I feel it’s often just a result of increased electrolyte consumption.”

Potassium citrate and chloride

“Implement cardio with a minimum effective dose mentality— the least you can do to elicit a positive response the better. Cardio will be one of the levers you can pull as changes from nutrition alone become less pronounced.”

“As you continue to train, you’ll notice fewer changes in overall size but more significant changes in muscle maturity. How your muscles look and function will continue to improve.”

“A deload week involves lifting at significantly reduced intensity and volume so your body can fully recover from the progressive overload you’ve been subjecting it to.”

“All your training and nutritional manipulations should be based on how you look and feel and what your body composition stats show you.”

“I generally do not recommend untracked, intuitive training during a prep unless you have quite a bit of experience under your belt and are incredibly in tune with your body.”

“We are stronger on the eccentric portion of the repetition than we are on the concentric. This provides a unique opportunity to train past our natural muscle failure.”

“Drop sets is act of dropping the weight after you’ve reached muscle failure at a given weight and continuing with more repetitions at the lighter weight.”