? About lifting on Atkins

[rollmuncher]

My brother is on the Atkins diet and he doesn't really eat any carbs, and he wants to start lifting again. My question is, With basically no carbs, will he be burning his muscle as fuel during his work out, or will he be using his fat stores for the energy? If he needs to eat carbs in order to lift, what is the minimum ammount he should eat? And when should he do so? Thanx guys, Mike

 

[IronLion]

he needs to eat carbs before and after a workout...the amount depends on his size and diet

 

[Mike_Rojas]

He'll have very little glycogen in his muscles.. he'll be able to do very few sets before he totally runs out of gas. He should eat some carbs pre and post workout IMO. It should be real easy for him to get back into ketosis. I would think he should have at least 50 grams before and after, but I'm no expert. Atkins is geared toward sedentary people, check out the CKD diet in the diet discussion board.

 

[The Red Dragon]

Yeah, CKD would be the most viable option for him. Atkin's is definately not for bodybuilders, lifting needs glycogen.

 

[IronIntensity]

CKD is the way to go if you are a bodybuilder. I have been on it since May 8 and it kicks ASS!!! Only one more month until I am completely ready for my show!! I never thought I could get this ripped, this quick without sacraficing muscle mass. If anything, I've gotten stronger and my workouts have been more intense.





INTENSITY

 

[bigstve12]

lifting on atkins will start to burn protein AKA muscle for energy..b/c the body perceives an underfed state, from a glycogen viewpoint.

 

[Shark01]

Theres a lot of BS on this thread

I've been on an Atkins diet for 13 months now (lost 130 lbs), and have all kinds of energy. After a couple a weeks, you body gets very efficient at burning fat as fuel. I'm lifting more now than in the past 20 years so I know that you don't have to ingest carbs before OR after a workout. If you need to lose more than 50 lbs, a CKD diet is the wrong idea.

 

[SofaGeorge]

Theres a lot of BS on this thread

I've been on an Atkins diet for 13 months now (lost 130 lbs), and have all kinds of energy. After a couple a weeks, you body gets very efficient at burning fat as fuel. I'm lifting more now than in the past 20 years so I know that you don't have to ingest carbs before OR after a workout. If you need to lose more than 50 lbs, a CKD diet is the wrong idea.

I low carb it often too. I've never had an energy problem following Atkins... low carb isn't the same as NO carb.

I do find, though, that it can be very important to carb up for certain days... like leg day... or when I am trying to hit a PR... but carbing up on a low carb diet can mean grabbing maybe 30 grams of carbs instead of 10. It doesn't take a lot.

There is a lot of mystery and riddle that still exists for me in relation to carbs. I've found in bulking I can eat all the protein in the world... but unless I add carbs to the mix I won't gain muscle.

 

[IronLion]

Theres a lot of BS on this thread

I've been on an Atkins diet for 13 months now (lost 130 lbs), and have all kinds of energy. After a couple a weeks, you body gets very efficient at burning fat as fuel. I'm lifting more now than in the past 20 years so I know that you don't have to ingest carbs before OR after a workout. If you need to lose more than 50 lbs, a CKD diet is the wrong idea.

think about it you have lost 130 pounds...of course you have energy

for the average person who is not obese like you were, they will need carbs pre and post workout if they want to get anything from the workout other than burned calories...

 

[rollmuncher]

Please keep the replies comin', this could get very interesting! Thanx guys! Mike