Since going Paleo my family has fallen even more in love with our grill. Paleo and grilling just work well together. The past couple of years I've even been stepping outside my grilling comfort zone more and more. Grilling things I'd never thought to have grilled before and trying new flavor combinations. I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with the results of most of my flavor experiments. In the past I'd never have thought to grill fruit, but it's amazing. Grilling fruit and adding it to traditionally savory dishes? Brilliant. Oh yes, and? New rule: every burger recipe for the rest of forever must contain grilled pineapple. OK, maybe more of a guideline. It's a seriously delicious combination though. This Smoky Grilled Pineapple Burger is always a crowd-pleaser at my house. It's not only Paleo, but Whole30, glutenfree, lower carb, and clean eating friendly. I promise you won't miss the bun! paleo, grilled pineapple burger, smoky...
Can you do keto and crossfit together? I've seen much debate about this since the rise in popularity of the ketogenic diet. Many contend hotly that a keto diet is NOT a good fit for crossfitters. While others seem to feel that being a fat-burner could actually be an asset to crossfitters.
Those adamant against mixing keto with crossfit seem to feel carbs are a must for the average cross-fitter. It seems they are convinced that being a sugar-burner is the only way to power through a crossfit workout.
In fact, many of the people that I have seen trying to do keto and crossfit at the same time are doing so at a much higher carb range, 50-100+ net carbs, than I would even consider "keto" (I wonder if they remain in ketosis, I know I wouldn't). Or they are doing a boost of carbs timed around their workouts. Again, often in amounts higher than what I consider keto.
I hear their arguments. Glycogen stores, intensity, blah, blah. But still, I wonder...
 |
| I really miss my tractor tire. Unfortunately, it didn't make the move from CO. |
It seems to me that keto and crossfit could be a fantastic match for someone like me. Someone very fat-adapted - I've been keto for over 2 years - who likes a good tough workout and has fat stores to spare. I'm not talking an elite crossfitter here (though some theorize there could be value in keto even for them, but that's beyond me). I'm talking just an average Jane doing crossfit to get stronger and more fit and maybe lose a bit of fat. My theory is that it could be a perfect fit in certain situations. Especially someone like me who's looking at neurological health as a top priority.
I'm seriously curious. You know me, that means an experiment!
Will I crash and burn? Will I seriously bonk during tough workouts? Will my energy levels take a dive? Will I feel fueled for a good workout? Will my workout performance feel seriously trashed? Or will I shred fat, get stronger, and feel great? Who knows, but I'm excited to see!
UPDATE...
KETO + CROSSFIT?
My little N=1 keto + crossfit experiment started with the Beginner workouts from Firebreather Fitness for the first 21 days as I worked on learning the basic moves of crossfit. I've called myself a crossfit dabbler for years, so I'd done some crossfit workouts here and there and a lot of crossfit-style workouts, but I wanted to start this out right and reinforce the basics. After two rounds of FF I transitioned to using the WOD's from the Crossfit Journal App at home. Modifying where needed for ability and equipment, though this fitness junkie has a lot of equipment.
I believe I have done enough of the workouts that I think I can speak to how well fueled one feels doing CrossFit on a keto diet of 20 TOTAL grams of carbs a day...
The verdict
I felt fine.Truly. No bonking, no out of gas feeling. Nothing like that. I even stopped taking my pre-workout when I ran out a couple of weeks in. I felt great in the workouts. Don't get me wrong, they are very tough workouts. And they felt like very tough workouts. But I was able to get through them and give it my all.
One aside on Crossfit in general (not keto related), in hindsight one thing I would recommend is joining a Crossfit gym. I think it would have been so much easier for me in learning everything and staying consistent with it.
Final answer? The verdict for me is that keto and CrossFit marry perfectly well together. I think we tend to think we need all of this technical exercise nutrition, supplements, timing, formulas...but do we really? Sometimes for us regular folks I think we way overthink things. I found no issues kicking butt at crossfit even at 20 grams total carbs a day.
Now, granted I am VERY fat adapted. Someone new to keto would likely want to keep it easy and allow good adaptation before jumping into Crossfit. Or if they're already doing Crossfit and trying keto may want to go a little easy until they get through the adaptation period. But I truly feel most average folks going to Crossfit would do just fine on keto. We all like to think we're Rich Froning, but guys...
So, that's my verdict. What do you think? Hit me up on Twitter and let's chat about it.
Workout related supplements I used: Creatine and my Keto Preworkout (though as I said I use this off and on). All are very low or no carb.
I did carnivore for a week and totally bonked during my crossfit workouts, oof. So bad. I did a 1,000 meter row for time and thought I was going to die. This was the first time I have noticed any issue on keto/low carb eating and crossfit. Though, I was basically zero carb. Now, I may have adapted and been fine if I'd stuck with carnivore longer, but I wasn't willing to try it.
3rd Update
I did Starting Strength on keto (that rocked) and NOW, (late 2022) I'm back to keto (though a bit higher protein than when I originally started) and crossfit and Loving it. My goal is to be able to do Murph Rx'd by Memorial Day 2023. I've always wanted to, but never been fit enough...
