How to Build Muscle on a Low-Carb Diet
There are two old myths about building muscle: you must eat carbs and stimulate insulin to build muscle. If you don’t eat low-carb diet, you’ll lose muscle and won’t have the strength to exercise. So it would help if you ate carbs to have the strength to exercise.
There are very few fitness trainers on the internet who support low-carb muscle building, and they would rather be covered in fat (high body fat) than go low-carb, much less fast. However, those who have experienced it will tell you that with a low-carbon diet, you can do normal strength training. Low carbon diet, will not lose muscle? You can also build muscle normally.
For those who have just started a low-carb diet, you may feel a drop in muscle mass because the glycogen in your muscles is depleted and the water level in your muscles will drop, which will cause your muscles to shrink temporarily. This temporary shrinkage of the muscles will make many people think that they have dropped their muscles and feel that it is permanent. Slowly, the body adapts to the low carb, and after changing the mode of supply, you can get back into your normal muscle-building routine.
Low-carb Helps You Build Muscle In 4 Ways
For those who want to gain muscle through a low-carb diet, understanding the principles and mechanisms behind it can lead to both muscle gain and fat loss. With a low-carb diet, there are 4 possible mechanisms to help you gain muscle:
→ Adrenaline Stimulation
A super low-carb ketogenic diet may increase adrenaline levels for a short period. Low blood sugar stimulates adrenaline production, and skeletal muscle protein mass is also affected by adrenaline.
Some studies have found that epinephrine (Epi) has an acute and direct effect on muscle protein hydrolysis. A large amount of data has found that epinephrine inhibits protein hydrolysis in skeletal muscle.
→ Ketone bodies protect your muscles
The liver produces large amounts of ketone bodies during the Very Low Carb Diet (VLCARB), which travel to extrahepatic tissues (e.g., brain, muscle, etc.) to be used as fuel.
While ketone bodies have an inhibitory effect on muscle proteolysis, oxidation of muscle protein-derived amino acids is inhibited if the muscle has sufficient other oxidative substrates (e.g., fatty acids and ketone bodies).
Related studies have found that beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta-OHB, a major ketone body) reduces leucine oxidation and promotes protein synthesis. However, subjects had much lower concentrations of β-OHB in their blood during β-OHB infusion than during fasting. However, leucine incorporation in skeletal muscle showed a marked increase (5% to 17%).
→ Growth Hormone (GH) to improve muscle synthesis
Growth hormone plays a major role in the regulation of growth and development. Growth hormone is a protein anabolic hormone that stimulates muscle protein synthesis, while low blood sugar and insulin increase growth hormone secretion.
The following study analyzes how changes in dietary macronutrient intake affect protein metabolism. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effects of a low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet (LC/HP) on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and systemic protein hydrolysis.
The study implemented a 9-day dietary intervention with eight young, healthy volunteers. During this time, subjects ate a typical Western diet (60% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 10% protein) for 2 days. A 7-day isocaloric low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet, LC/HP (5% carbohydrates, 60% fat, 35% protein), was then immediately followed.
Primary monitoring: skeletal muscle fraction synthesis rate, and systemic protein hydrolysis [plasma leucine occurrence] after overnight fasting before and after 2 and 7 days of LC/HP.
It was found that skeletal muscle expression of IGF-I mRNA was increased approximately 2-fold with the 7-day very low-carbon diet/high-protein diet. The increased IGF-I expression in muscle suggests that dietary protein availability is also increased and that the very low-carb diet may substantially stimulate growth hormone levels to aid in muscle synthesis.
→ Increase in protein to help build muscle
As you can understand with this one, a low-carb diet will be relatively high in protein compared to a high-carb diet. High protein increases amino acid availability throughout the body to promote muscle synthesis. Theoretically, by increasing protein, you can reduce the loss of lean muscle mass while lowering your body fat percentage. Also, when you burn a lot of body fat to produce ketone bodies, it prevents the breakdown of muscle protein.
A study conducted at the University of Connecticut’s Storrs campus found that men on a low-carb, high-protein diet may increase muscle mass even without exercising. This may be because the branched-chain amino acid leucine interacts with the insulin signaling pathway to stimulate protein synthesis and help maintain muscle mass.
Leucine can regulate the oxidative utilization of glucose in skeletal muscle by stimulating glucose recirculation through the glucose-alanine cycle. These mechanisms turn on a protein-sparing mode that provides a steady supply of glucose to keep muscle loss at bay during periods of energy limitation.
How to Build Muscle with Low-Carb?
→ Increase calorie intake appropriately
Gaining muscle depends on several factors: the intensity of the exercise, the calorie content of the food, and, of course, the gender. When trying to build muscle, it is recommended to increase your calorie intake by 15%. If your maintenance calorie intake is 2,000 calories per day, then you should consume 2,300 calories per day to help build muscle.
→ Increase Quality Protein Intake
Protein is the building block of muscle, and muscle building requires more protein than your body naturally metabolizes and breaks down. A lot of data has found that to build muscle, 1.6-2.0 grams of protein per kilogram with high-intensity exercise is the ideal intake for muscle building.
It is recommended to get high-quality protein from animal foods such as beef, poultry, fish, and eggs, as well as whey and casein protein powders when low carb.
→ Tracking Carbohydrate Intake
In order to maintain a ketogenic state, most people need to limit their intake to less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day, and while this index may vary from person to person, the difference is not too great.
When you want to eat carbs, consume them before and after high-intensity exercise, and keep them low-carb at all other times. Beware of hidden carbs; many drinks and flavors may contain hidden carbs.
→ Increase Your Fat Intake
Fat is the main source of capacity supply, and with enough protein, the rest relies mainly on fat. A low-carb, high-protein, low-fat diet may leave you with more hunger problems, and excessive gluconeogenesis may also lead to high uric acid, which may hurt your kidneys in the long run.
→ Regular high-intensity resistance training
While a nutritious diet is important, high-intensity strength training, too, is key to building muscle. You can’t get away from strength-based workouts like squats, bench presses, pull-ups, and dips if you want to build muscle.
→ Consider supplements
While not required, some supplements can help build muscle. If you’re having trouble meeting your daily protein needs, you can use supplements like protein powder. Also, electrolyte supplementation, when you first start low carb, sodium, potassium, and magnesium levels can drop very quickly and reduce your exercise response.
This can be improved by eating more foods rich in these minerals, such as dark leafy greens, nuts, deep-sea fish, and avocados, or just taking a sugar-free electrolyte supplement.
→ Adequate sleep
Adequate sleep is the foundation of muscle building and athletic performance. Lack of sleep decreases protein synthesis and increases muscle degradation and loss, as well as hindering athletic performance, causing muscle damage and the possibility of certain problems associated with muscle atrophy, such as poliomyelitis and cachexia.