choice rather than as a PERFORMANCE strategy,
together with a growing band of competitors.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH KETO
I came across a keto style of eating over 20 years
ago when I used the Atkins diet to strip about 10
kg of fat after I stopped playing rugby. This was
well before I was a nutritionist and I ate cheese
and bacon, sugar-free jelly and double cream. I
wasn’t eating too many veggies or avocados back
then, and coconut oil was not even a ‘thing’.
I dabbled with it a bit when I created an online
fat loss plan with Matt Lovell, but tended to use
higher carbs (approx 60-100g per day) rather than
strict keto (20-30g per day). About five years ago
we had an endurance seminar where a speaker
talked about fat adaption and how he was run-
ning 100km races on a couple of tins of sardines.
That opened my eyes a lot to the potential...Around three years ago, a client who became a
good friend of mine started telling me how he
had stripped fat, was lifting more and felt fantastic
on the keto diet, but I resisted his attempts to try
and ‘convert me’.Then, a family member was diagnosed with can-
cer and I investigated nutritional strategies and
the ketogenic diet popped up. I watched Te d
Talks by Dr Dom D’Agostino and William Li. I
heard Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss talking about
the ketogenic diet and exogenous ketones on
their podcasts, and a year or so later an Aussie
strength and movement coach I follow online
started talking about the exogenous ketones; it
was then that I decided to try them myself.Within 10 minutes of my first sachet I felt a big
surge in energy; so much so that I had to go and
train, so hopped on my bike and smashed out
some sprints. I got on the phone to my friend
and told him that I now knew what he was talking
about in terms of the benefits of keto. I was feel-
ing them now.Since that point, six months ago, I have eaten
a much higher fat and lower protein diet than I
used to. Protein shakes and bars are gone and
instead I’m eating chicken thighs with the skin on
and more avocados and olives (not all together).WHAT ARE EXOGENOUS KETONES
The ketone body Beta Hydroxy Butyrate (BHB)
has now been developed and patented under
licence from Dr Dom D’Agostino’s University of
South Florida and, over the last two years, ke-
tone salts have become commercially available
in supplement form.Some ketone salts guarantee to get you into ke-
tosis in under one hour so your body can benefit
from the ketones without having to restrict your
carbs. I’ve used these very successfully with a
number of BJJ athletes who have come to me
panicking in the last 10 days of a weight cut when
they haven’t got their sums correct.More serious athletes, who don’t have the time or
patience to stick to a full ketogenic diet, are using
supplemental ketones alongside carbohydrates
to help maintain an optimal weight between con-
tests, rather than the constant roller coaster of
adding and cutting weight. This will be an area
we hear more of over the next 12 months.Even if you decide not to try keto, I’d suggest that
eating a lot less carbs and more healthy fats as a
lifestyle choice will give you at least some of the
benefits I’ve talked about.HOW TO USE KETOGENIC DIET IN PRACTICAL
TERMS FOR BJJ:Ease yourself into it
Use extra salt
Drink plenty
Talk to others who are doing keto
Give it time
Experiment with carbs around hard sessions
Try exogenous ketonesGavin Allinson
BSc(Hons) CISSN
Brown belt under
Max Campos Oxford BJJ
http://www.GavinAllinson.com
Twitter @gavinallinson
Facebook.com/gavinallinson“OUR ANCESTORS WOULD
HAVE GONE FOR LONG
PERIODS BETWEEN MEALS,
PARTICULARLY BEFORE WE
STARTED FARMING. THE BODY
NEEDED TO FUNCTION WITHOUT
THE ENERGY PROVIDED BY
CARBOHYDRATES”