Bodybuilding Forums

Hi, I am new to the forum and fairly new to the CKD diet. I have been on the diet for three weeks now and have already seen results and love the way it makes me feel.

Has anyone heard of or been using the Tabata protocol in conjunction with CKD diet? It is a very interesting for of intense cardio that only takes four minutes to do (excluding 4 min warm up and cool down).
I have been doing 30+ minute HIIT cardio workouts two or three days a week (P90X style) and am thinking of switching over to Tabata protocol for a while. Just curious if anyone has used this with ketogenic diet and results they had.
Thanks

Drew

Yes. When I was eating the ketogenic diet and doing Tabata, I did lose fat and retain muscle.

How can you do 30+ minutes of HIIT?! That's insane. Of course, if you're not doing it balls-out like in Tabata, I suppose it's possible. I don't know what P90X style is and a quick search didn't turn much up about the cardio portion. From what I did find, the sprint period is 1.5-3 times longer and the rest period is 12-18 times longer. That may have MUCH to do with how you're able to keep it up for 30 minutes.

Anyway, I would STRONGLY suggest that you take a little more time to adjust to a ketogenic diet before trying to add Tabatas. Because they will kick your ass. You will gulp air. You will taste blood. You might actually puke or pass out.

Note that I am not doing Tabatas right now. Take that for what it's worth. Of course, I have also stopped a ketogenic diet and gained 20 pounds (of muscle and fat both), so again, take my word for what it's worth. I find that it works if you can do it (I can't right now, for reasons other than willpower or belief in the eventual results ). Good luck.

Thanks for the reply, your absolutely right, P90X is not really HIIT, I should have said interval training. I have been doing P90X for a year and all of its workouts are considered to be interval based I think.

I have been experimenting with Tabata on my mountain bike, 20 sec full on, 10 sec rest for a duration of four minutes and it kicks my ass, but I'm not sure how great it would be for fat loss. I'll guess I'll find out!

I started doing Tabata on the elliptical a few weeks ago. I haven't been doing it with any consistency to know if it's benefiting me or not. I started out doing it 2-3 times/week and that went down to once/week. Not sure what's best.

It is definitely challenging. I usually want to quit half way through but will myself to continue. Once I'm done, I feel really accomplished. I haven't done any puking or passing out but I think I've been close (when I hadn't had anything to eat before going to the gym).

I've been hearing a lot about P90X. How is that working out for you?

vrsandersjr, P90X is a very well balanced and varied routine that covers every aspect of the body and I will plan on using variations of it for years to come. I believe a person can gain a lot of muscle from it and in time with the proper diet get nice n ripped. I added a lot of overall muscle with it, not huge muscle but a really good base all over, core and abs included. I didn't get 'ripped' in 90 days like they claim you could, but I think I could have if I had been following the ketogenic diet in conjunction with the workouts.
Before P90X I had been doing my own resistance training at home for years in some form of another. I was really tired of consistent workouts with never any noticeable changes. P90X gave me the structure to break through all the barriers I had when doing my own routine, and I think their 'muscle confusion' concept really does the trick to keep the results coming. I have followed tons of people's P90X results online as I went through the program and it seems like people really start getting hugely noticeable results after doing the whole 90 day routine several times or more.
Let me know if you have specific questions or how it works out for you if you try it.

vrsandersjr, I realized I probably should have included weight lost results etc, which is probably what you interested in reading, so here you go, in a 1yr approx time frame:

went from 220lb to 208lb
body fat from 15+% to 11%

So, not amazing results in a years time but I didn't have a lot of weight to lose from the start at 220lb because I am 6'2" and big boned. P90X is not actually touted as a weight loss program anyway, but if someone had a lot to lose I think they would certainly lose a lot following P90X for a few rounds. The main catch phrase I hear them use in selling the product is 'fat burns muscle' so their focus is to get people gaining more muscle and in the long run it will help the person burn fat off.

drdowell wrote: I hear them use in selling the product is 'fat burns muscle' so their focus is to get people gaining more muscle and in the long run it will help the person burn fat off.

That is true, but it only works if you aren't shoveling crap into your mouth at the same time. I'm really one to talk there... Maybe one day I'll get over my yearning to eat actual meals instead of just taking in foods in the combinations that will keep my brain chemistry even, give me enough protein, keep me satiated and allow me a small caloric deficit. I keep trying to force "quick", "interesting", and "convenient to my dining out lifestyle" in there too, and it will never ever happen. The one upside to my latest gain is that my bf% is roughly the same, so I do have more muscle now. I should be burning more calories. Oh well. It'll happen eventually.

Thanks for sharing Drew. I think I'll check it out at some point. The DVDs are carzy expensive though. It would be a nice change for a while. Looks like you made some incredible progress. I've still got quite a bit if weight to lose so the P90 along with eating healthy could help boost my loss.

I guess it does seem expensive, though I never really thought of it as such. There are so many people that easily spend way more than that with gym memberships, trainer consultants etc, which you don't need anymore with P90X. Seems to be me that it is saving me money, because for once I actually got results and I have 12 great workouts that I will be using at home for years to come. Years of saving on gym memberships and frustration from lack of results, sign me up.

Tony Horton, the guy that designed the workouts, has been a trainer for 20 or more years, he knows his stuff, it is like having a personal trainer in your living room helping you work out.