The keto diet is commonly used to help people lose weight, BUT it can also be used for building muscle, and that’s the aim of this article…

Keto Diet & Exercise Plan For Building Muscle…

First of all the keto diet gets a bad rap for muscle building, because it’s a low carb diet, and carbs are important for building muscle, they help increase muscle pumps during weight training sessions, and also supply the body with quick available energy.

I think cutting out carbs all together isn’t sensible, especially when it comes to building muscle, so I like to add a few carbs to the keto plan, BUT only on days when you lift weights. I typically recommend having 30-50g of carbs either pre training, or post training (personally I prefer pre training, although it depends on the person). 30-50g is enough carbs, and it won’t kick you out of ketosis – so don’t worry.

Muscle Building Keto Plan

I’d recommend only training 4x per week whilst trying to build muscle on a keto diet, and here’s a good diet that I’d recommend, although you may need to change the quantities to suit your current energy requirements…

Training Day 1 & 3

• Breakfast – 6 large eggs, cooked in 25g of butter (served with spinach)
• Snacks – 50g of nuts, 60g whey protein shake
• Lunch – 300g chicken, served with salad, and 20g of cheese
• Dinner – 300g sirloin steak, cooked in 15g olive oil, served with veg
• Pre Workout – 300g strawberries (yes 300g! – it’s only 30g of carbs!)

Training Day 2 & 4

• Breakfast – protein smoothie (blended) – 60g whey protein, 30g peanut butter, 300ml unsweetened almond milk, 25g dairy free ice cream, 5g honey
• Snacks – 50g of nuts, 60g whey protein shake
• Lunch – 300g turkey, served with salad, and 20g of cheese
• Dinner – 300g salmon, served with veg of your choice
• Pre Workout – 60g of Rice Krispies, mixed with 250ml unsweetened almond milk, and 25g of whey protein

Rest Days

• Breakfast – 200g of Greek yoghurt, served with 20g of almond nuts, 10g of honey
• Snacks – 50g of nuts, 60g whey protein shake
• Lunch – 300g of mince (15% fat), cook mince in 10g of butter, and mix in onions, peppers, spinach and chopped broccoli
• Dinner – 300g of cod (fried in 20g olive oil or butter) served with green veg

Keto exercise plan…

Here are 4 great workouts for building muscle, strength and size…

Workout 1

• Deadlift – 4 sets x 6-10 reps
• Squats – 4 sets x 6-10 reps
• Bench press – 4 sets x 6-10 reps

Workout 2

• Bulgarian squat – 4 sets x 10 reps (each leg)
• Incline DB press – 4 sets x 6-10 reps
• Incline DB row – 4 sets x 8-12 reps

Workout 3

• DB curl squat press – 4 sets x 10-15 reps
• Push Up – 4 sets x 20-30 reps
• DB lunges – 4 sets x 20 reps

Workout 4

• Sumo deadlift – 4 sets x 6-10 reps
• Close grip bench press – 4 sets x 6-10 reps
• DB sumo squat – 4 sets x 10-15 reps

Weekly Plan…

• Monday – Workout 1
• Tuesday – rest
• Wednesday – Workout 2
• Thursday – rest
• Friday – Workout 3
• Saturday – Workout 4
• Sunday – rest

Thanks for reading,

Nick 🙂