Endurance on low carb
 

Are there any famous endurance sportsmen such as marathon runners, who are on a low carb diet?

Doubtful, but I'm not certain. The reasoning for my answer is this: athletes need stores of glycogen in their muscles for bursts of energy and lo-carb plans are specifically designed to get rid of the glycogen stores, it's highly unlikely that you'll find any "real" athletes that really bust their butts doing a lo-carb WOL. There are books available on this topic; I paged through one at my local library just last week and this is the basic summary of the "why athletes should not do lo-carb diets" section. Maybe you will find better answers there.

Hope that helps. :)

I disagree. I'm a distance runner and have completed several races, including marathons, while doing low carb. It's completely possible and healthy with the necessary modifications. I suggest checking out the Active Low-Carbers forum here in the high intensity exercise threads. There are several endurance athletes present on the boards that would be more than willing to share their experience. Several of the threads deal with "bonking" or "hitting the wall" early while doing low carb, but that happens to most endurance athlete regardless of diet.

I've run over fifteen miles several times on Induction level carbs and have completed two marathons in OWL. It's entirely possible to commit to this WOL and be an athlete. There are many myths out there perpetuated by people that AREN'T actually athletes saying that athletes should not do low carb. Are they running marathons? No. Do they know how their body feels after intense, lengthy exercise on very low carb? Nope. Who are they to comment?

I encourage you to read the literature that's out there and experiment with your diet while training (if you plan on it). The advanced exercise threads on this forum are a great place to start!

Amory

I'm pretty certain I read that Lance Armstrong uses a low carb diet.

Good article by low carb proponent Barry Groves on athletic diet, with reference to endurance athletes:

http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/athletic_diet.html


As a side note, I weight train very intensely, and my last 2 and a half years have been on low carb (75g and less per day).

My performance has increased at a very steady pace, so my diet does not seem to have had any harmful effects.

I have read of endurance athletes doing well on low-carb. Even a study on cyclist that had better performance on high-fat vs. high-carb. I however cannot run more than 3-4 miles while doing low-carb. I can walk forever but my running suffers without some carbs.

I have no doubt, that you can run marathons on a low carb diet. I've been on a low carb diet for 1 1/2 year and I don't think, that my endurance has decreased.

There's also a very good scientific paper about ketogenic diets and physical performance:
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/1/1/2


The problem is, most people won't believe in the superiority of low carb diets, as long as all professional athlets follow a high carb diet.

It's really strange, that nobody can tell just a single name of a professional athlet following a low carb diet. As far as I know, Lance Armstrong was not on a low carb diet, he was probably just better doped than the others :-)

Hey, same here. I feel like crap after about 3 miles running (just dizzy and weak). I was trying to figure out if it was normal because it wasn't a problem before LC. I've only allowed myself, on a high carb day, 26g of carbs because my weight loss has been abysmally slow despite my efforts otherwise.

I imagine that if my carbs were higher, I could possibly run better, but then I probably won't lose any weight. But if I run then I'm burning more...

What a catch 22. Oy vey.

Slow Burn by Stu Mittleman is all about low-carb although the term doesn't appear in the book. His take is by controlling heart rate, you make the body burn fat. He goes for distance over speed. The back page mentions his 3000 mile run from San Diego to NYC. I'm guessing that with time the body get better at using fat or energy. But fat burns in a carb flame. The trick is finding the least amount of carb your body needs. I've done 50 mile races on very low carb. I ran slowly but I was running.

I'm good for 15 miles on zero carbs. After that, I need to start adding in Gu. I ran 18 miles last weekend on only 2 packs of Gu that I slammed down at 13 miles. It can be done, but I think I've reached my "outer limit" on mileage on low carb. Plus, I'm slow anyway - 10-minute miles for a 15-mile run. Not exactly elite-level stuff. But I'm happy with it.

My weight training has definitely been easier on low carb. And muscle definition is miles above what it was on a high-carb plan. The money shot on low-carb appears to be in weight training. I've had phenomenal results, and my weight loss was quick, easy, and gives me amazing definition. Shit, having abs at 47? I'll take it.

He's on the potato and pasta train according to his coach who bashes LC.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8514206/
I cycle now as well as I ever did on LC, but I don't race anymore so I can't relate to that. It would seem if you need to be as light and powerful as possible then LC is the only direct way-- the other is the bulking and cutting most people use.

:lol: :lol: For most people, that's a runaway train ending in a wreck.

I can see lowcarb eating while training but for racing you need fast energy, therefore you need power bars or something that's carb-dense. I feel a heady rush on my runs if I've pigged out on potatoes. I feel like I'm flying when really I'm just running at a faster pace than I typically run at..

Yeah, I looked it up. I'm certain I was reading about an athlete, but now I can't figure out who.

Perhap... and it's just a hypothesis, that the problem with using carbohydrates as fuel is that it burns too quick. If the athlete was completely keto-adapted, theoretically, he/she should have better endurance.

I'm not a long distance runner but I do 1.5-2 hours of martial arts 4 times a week and my energy level doesn't suffer during class. In fact, most times I'm bouncing off the walls at the end. I also do weights on 2 other days with one day off.

I'm on the zero-carb diet btw.