Any Low-Carb rowers out there?

[j1huegel]

I've switched to eating low-carb since January. I've dropped 45 pounds, getting into the "Normal" BMI about July. Then I found rowing in July, and have done about 1/2 million meters since then.

I have done a lot of research on how low-carb impacts athletic performance, and have adapted well. For example, I went for a 20 mile run last month, fueled on nothing but water. No bonk, no wall, no recovery issues. I did a 90-minute row in July, no issues.

I plan to do the nonathlon this fall. The marathon should be fun.

Anyone else out there living the low carb life and erging?

[jeremycfr]

I have done a low cal (which also means low carb) diet since April. Dropped 100 lbs and 17.5 inches and feel great. Under doctor's direction, I started adding calories back to my diet yesterday. The burn was almost triple that of my intake and he wanted to balance it before I started having other health issues. Now it is hard to make myself eat that much.

[davesh1]

Been low carb for 5 weeks now. Just now starting back to rower. Been running all summer, which has been very good. While running the past 5 wks i have not lacked for energy and feel like i could run all day. I plan on staying low carb for a while and will see how it goes with rowing. I am down 35 pounds since Jan. 1 and am real close to where i feel i should be. Going low carb may not be for everyone but it works great for my body.

[pjwerneck]

I feel a desperate hunger all the time as side effect from medication, and I've been dealing with it in many ways for the last 8 years. A low-carb high-protein diet is what works best for me. Following a doctor prescription I take a fiber supplement (glucomannan) that is supposed to make me feel less hungry before meals, but it doesn't work as expected. The thing that really worked for me as an appetite suppressant was whey protein supplements.

I've started rowing regularly only two months ago, but even before that, Crossfit, running and swimming, I always did fine with the low-carb diet.

[giftogab]

I have been on/off paleo for about two years. I am on again and love it. BTW...low carb and low cal are not the same thing. Calories just don't matter when fueling paleo. My Concept2 arrived today and cannot wait to start my workouts!

[hjs]

I have been on/off paleo for about two years. I am on again and love it. BTW...low carb and low cal are not the same thing. Calories just don't matter when fueling paleo. My Concept2 arrived today and cannot wait to start my workouts!

Indeed Low carbs does not mean low cal, although it often difficult to eat enough cal that way, unless you serious look at your fat intake and make sure that is high enough.

[giftogab]

I have been on/off paleo for about two years. I am on again and love it. BTW...low carb and low cal are not the same thing. Calories just don't matter when fueling paleo. My Concept2 arrived today and cannot wait to start my workouts!

Indeed Low carbs does not mean low cal, although it often difficult to eat enough cal that way, unless you serious look at your fat intake and make sure that is high enough.

Yes. Fat is key. Too many people buy into the lie many of us grew up with that FAT IS BAD. In fact, fat is essential or you will not lose weight properly. Avocado is my best friend!

[floatingbones]

I've switched to eating low-carb since January. I've dropped 45 pounds, getting into the "Normal" BMI about July. Then I found rowing in July, and have done about 1/2 million meters since then.

I have done a lot of research on how low-carb impacts athletic performance, and have adapted well. For example, I went for a 20 mile run last month, fueled on nothing but water. No bonk, no wall, no recovery issues. I did a 90-minute row in July, no issues.

Those are great weight loss numbers and a tremendous erg distance in a short amount of time.

I wanted to point out the Volek/Phinney books from the past 2 years. The 2012 book "The Art & Science of Low-Carb Performance" is information-dense while being highly accessible. Volek has noted he debated about having "beating the bonk" in the title. He is seriously challenging the 50-year tradition of carb loading before endurance races.

Ketogenic adaptation takes about 28 days. Once someone is ketogenically adapted, muscle cell mitochondria produce and release ketone bodies that can be used for the energy of all other cells in the body. I had never realized that neurons can be fueled by either glucose or ketone bodies; the metabolic shift of the nervous system energy away from carbs naturally conserves their usage.

Another interesting fact is that burning ketones produces more water and less CO2 than burning carbs. A keto-adapted individual will produce about 80% of the CO2 that someone burning carbs will do. Oxygen uptake is the same, but the reduced CO2 production will lessen respiration and heart rate. This is called "reduced ventilatory drive", and it's something that's little known -- even in athletic communities. I think that this performance improvement could be a critical factor for collegiate or Olympic rowers; I'd be very surprised if some teams haven't already started converting to low-carb diet. Volek notes some individual athletes who have shifted to low-carb in his presentations: Lindsay Vonn, Kobe Bryant, Marty Fish. He also notes the most awesome endurance athletes on the planet: sled dogs participating in the Iditarod race.

Volek notes the Generation UCAN product "superstarch" as an intriguing supplement for athletes. Superstarch is a starch, but it has an extremely high molecular weight and takes a long time (several hours) to pass from the gut to the bloodstream. The product almost entirely avoids the sugar spike of normal carbs while providing a long and slow source of blood carbohydrate. Generation UCAN has gotten a good response by the ultramarathoners. The product reportedly works well for both low-carb and high-carb diets (but you would want to ingest only the superstarch before endurance training or events).

Low-carb dieters must overcome the cultural demonization we have had about fats -- and especially saturated fats. Volek/Phinney cover this well in their low-carb performance book; they note that you will have to substantially increase your intake of both monounsaturated fats and saturated fats. Increasing intake of polyunsaturated fats -- especially omega 6 fats -- is a bad idea, since most of us are now getting too much of this fatty acid in our nutrition.

The tragic failure of uninformed people on low-carb diets is not increasing their intake of fats.

[jcastro20111]

Has anyone done a 2k test in Keto?

I just ordered "The Art & Science of Low-Carb Performance" and looking forward to reading it.

Being on keto 70% fat 20-25% P and 5-10% carb.

[hjs]

Has anyone done a 2k test in Keto?

I just ordered "The Art & Science of Low-Carb Performance" and looking forward to reading it.

Being on keto 70% fat 20-25% P and 5-10% carb.

I have raced in keto. Not this season, I lacked some top end lactic capacity, I hurted even more then it already does. Result was ok though.

[thecrashton]

My diet looks very close to yours Carlos in terms of the macros. While I eat white rice after big lifting sessions, most of the other carbs I get are from my veggies and sweet potatoes. I wouldn't say I'm "ketogenic" by any means but I am definitely considered low-carb (<100g per day - most days < 50g).

That said, I do 90% of my rowing in the mornings, fasted. Not carb loading the night before, nothing special. I've never felt that it was holding me back. I have been eating this way for many years and it was a huge part of me dropping from 325lbs to 220lbs over the course of about 1.5 years.

There are many benefits to low-carb/ketogenic, once your body gets used to it. I've done many 5 and 10k road races and now many erg test pieces completely fasted.

[jcastro20111]

I've been doing 2ks for time, and since going keto, I feel that my splits become unsustainable after 300-400m... which seem to make sense if my quads are glycogen depleted and my liver has very little to release.

Today I tried mixing some honey with liquid aminos between my warmup (at home/30min at around 17spm) and the 2k (1/2 hour later at the gym). I think the honey was too little too late.

If I wanted to drop out of keto, or at the very least increase my muscular glycogen, should I start the night before? Should I try 100-200gm of carbs to get my glycogen stores up to 50%ish percent? And then maybe some last minute dextrose based stuff 10 minutes before?

I do have some KetoCaNa, which I am thinking of having right before my next on

[hjs]

I've been doing 2ks for time, and since going keto, I feel that my splits become unsustainable after 300-400m... which seem to make sense if my quads are glycogen depleted and my liver has very little to release.

Today I tried mixing some honey with liquid aminos between my warmup (at home/30min at around 17spm) and the 2k (1/2 hour later at the gym). I think the honey was too little too late.

If I wanted to drop out of keto, or at the very least increase my muscular glycogen, should I start the night before? Should I try 100-200gm of carbs to get my glycogen stores up to 50%ish percent? And then maybe some last minute dextrose based stuff 10 minutes before?

I do have some KetoCaNa, which I am thinking of having right before my next on

I think you need to have glycogen in your muscle at forehand, to you need carbload the day before. Once the carbs are stored in your muscle they don,t interfere much with your bloodsugar levels. And where you used to being in keto you also get much quicker back again, after a carb load.
Don,t think you need carbs at forehand or in your liver, you need them right away in your muscle.

If you do a good bit of anaerobic work you proberly would do better with a few carb ups per week, this would hardly interfere with you state of ketosis. Despite what others may think. Doing a serious speed of weights sesh will burn most of the carbs right away.

[jcastro20111]

HJS,

Thanks.. that is what I was suspecting. Do you have a carb loading protocol to use while on Keto? I figure somewhere between 100-250grams of carbs the day before. Increasing the GI as the day progresses. And possibly some creatine might help with that.

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions.

Carlos

[hjs]

HJS,

Thanks.. that is what I was suspecting. Do you have a carb loading protocol to use while on Keto? I figure somewhere between 100-250grams of carbs the day before. Increasing the GI as the day progresses. And possibly some creatine might help with that.

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions.

Carlos

The problem I found, that when being in Keto, and trying to carb load, my stomach did not react well.
What you could try it, if you train on the day, eat a few pieces of fruit before, and during /after your training do the refeed/carbload. I would not be afraid with the amount, even 250 gram is only 1000 cal.
Also if you do the load in the evening it helps sleeping and you can go right back to normal the next day. Creatine would be ok, again a more higher dose. Drink also enough.
Try it out and see how it works for you.