Weight training during induction?

[lowell]

My boys and I are doing Atkins together. My older son is preparing for football, and needs to hit the wieghts, and I just can't wait to pump up for summer . Is there any reason whatsoever that we should not be heavy lifting while on low carbs?

[J.R.]

I'm lifting, but not with the same gusto that I've done in the past while trying to build muscle. I'll probably ramp up as I slim down, but right now I'm more concerned with getting 30 - 40 minutes of cardio in beforehand.

I think you'll notice a difference in your bursts, you might not be able to lift as much as you think you could (the amount really isn't important anyway), but you can certainly follow your routine.

All of this is anecdotal. I just did it without asking. No problems so far.

[Georgiana]

Nope. As long as one has weight to lose, the body will use fat to get the energy it needs.

I don't know how old your son is or what his stats are... If he feels tired, he can solve the problem by having a fat & protein snack before and after exercising. It takes the body a little longer to get ATP from fat than from carbohydrates, so he has to "refuel" at the right time. He should probably also move to OWL after the first two weeks and add foods back to his diet. I assume he is a "regular exerciser" (as defined in DANDR), which means his CCLL should be in the 60-90 net carbs range. So he can eat this many net carbs and still lose weight.

Same things apply to you, of course.

Happy weight lifting!

[lowell]

Anyone happen to know anything about Creatine? I've used it before as a recovery after lifting and liked the effects, but if I'm remembering correctly I had to mix it with fruit juice, which obviously can't be done on induction. Any idea if it would be contraindicated even if I mixed it with water?

[Slapshot]

Originally Posted by lowell

Anyone happen to know anything about Creatine? I've used it before as a recovery after lifting and liked the effects, but if I'm remembering correctly I had to mix it with fruit juice, which obviously can't be done on induction. Any idea if it would be contraindicated even if I mixed it with water?

Because creatine uses the juice/sugar that it's mixed with as a delivery system (for a desired insulin spike), you'll probably not see much results from the creatine with a low-carb delivery source. Also, I would think your stomach might be a little confused with unused creatine sitting there, so I'm not sure what kind of gastrointestinal reaction might occur.

Secondarily, my recollection from years ago is that creatine *itself* causes an insulin spike (obviously not good here), but I cannot be sure if that's from the juice delivery system or the creatine mix itself.