If you’ve decided to adopt a low carb diet plan as you go about your weight loss program, there are some important adjustments that you’re going to need to make to your workouts as well.
Low carb diets do have a specific workout protocol you need to follow as they are the most restrictive diet out there in terms of what you can handle physically.
Let’s go over what you need to know.
Time The Carbs You Do Eat
The very first thing that you should be doing is making sure that you time your carbs well. Depending on the low carb diet approach you’re using, if you are going to be eating some carbs – say 40-50 grams per day, place the vast majority of these right around any workouts you’re doing.
This is going to provide your body with the fuel source it needs to get through intense workouts, which will help to boost the performance that you give and make the workouts more comfortable to do as well.
Intense exercise can only use glucose as a fuel source, so without those carbs, your workouts are going to be lacking in intensity.
Limit Intense Interval Cardio Training
The second thing that you must make sure you’re doing is not overdoing interval cardio training. Again, this type of training is going to rely as glucose as a primary fuel source and if you’re not eating many carbs in your program, you’re not giving your body this fuel it needs.
As such, you could start to burn up lean muscle mass if you aren’t careful. Not to mention the intervals are going to feel next to impossible to do, and likely bring about a high amount of muscle fatigue.
Keep Your Workout Volume Reasonable
Finally, the third thing to know when planning a workout program on a lower carb diet is that you must make sure to keep the total volume at a reasonable level.
Avoid doing too many reps and sets as this is what will really be very glycogen depleting, which will then make it harder for you to exercise in coming sessions. Unless you’re eating a high amount of carbs to replace that muscle glycogen, you’re going to be in for performance problems later on.
High volume workout programs demand a high carb diet plan to fuel them, so you must be taking this into account.
So there you have the primary points that you need to consider and remember at all times as you go about your workout program on the low carb diet. You definitely can still complete the necessary workouts you need to maintain your fitness level and see good muscle maintenance while dieting, you just need to understand how to make smart adjustments to the approach to accommodate the diet you’re using.