Getting off the couch the first few weeks into keto can help distract from those pesky cravings and keep your mind focused on achieving the prize. But it can be super hard especially when your body is still trying to get used to the 180 we’ve just pushed it through.
We’re ready to sweat it out. There’s always tons of workout plans and videos to turn to, but which one is going to utilize the biometrics of your new lifestyle? Which one will not leave you feeling like the workout crushed you into the dirt?
If you haven’t worked out in a long time, jumping into a workout routine full speed is going to be painful. Not impossible, but you’re going to hurt, a lot. Look, you do what you know you can handle, but let me share how your body is fueling those workouts and how they may affect your efforts in staying ketogenic.
Your body isn’t burning carbs for that fast boost in a workout that drives you in those hard hitting workouts. See, when you turn up the intensity and demand on your body it needs to find a way to sustain that demand, and well, the easy thing to turn to is carbs. And that’s in low demand in keto. Your body will let you know it’s not handling the high intensity workouts well by being fatigued and down right uncooperative. Your workout will be difficult to get through to say the least. So by high intensity, I mean workouts that kick your heart rate up high and require those intermittent breathers. Another name you’ll recognize is HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. Also defined as anaerobic exercise, this is fueled mostly by carbs. Not saying that you shouldn’t do these types of workouts, but just be aware of what your body is needing to get you through them. I suggest trying to stick to the aerobic or cardio type of workouts starting out. Get your body ready to handle the harder stuff down the road, the last thing you need is to injure yourself and be set back.
When your body burns fat it’s mostly done in aerobic exercise when your breathing heavy and steady. You need oxygen to convert the fat into fuel, which takes longer than if it was breaking down carbs. When it’s consumed the fat during exercise, it’s exhaled like exhaust. Cool huh. Literally melting fat into a vapor.
Cardio is just one side of the story. You do want to have some strength training mixed into your schedule, and here’s why. Your body consumes the energy it needs and muscles consume the most. By building more muscle mass, your body is going to increase the amount of fat it needs burn during exercise or even at a resting state. So don’t be afraid of those weights.
There is always more science behind it all than I can possibly fit into a blog post, but this is the essence of what happens with types of exercise on the keto diet. Please remember that when you exercise to stay hydrated! And keep up on those electrolytes.
