To get things straight, I am still on ketogenic diet (15 months) and still enjoying it to the fullest. No cravings for sweet neither lack of strength or performance. The process of gaining muscles is often called “bulking” for those not familiar with lifting. There are other ways of gaining muscles, however we focus on efficiency, thus must consider health and safety. It is not about working hard but doing things right and then working hard. Otherwise, training 2h a week would have never been accomplished. You can refresh the benefits of ketogenic diet in reference section.
First of all, it is about your macros so remember to stay in ketosis. I usually go for 80-75 15-20 5-10 “fat-protein-carbs” ratio. I keep carbs as low as possible. I focus more on fats and protein because fat is the most important to stay in ketosis as it supplements carbs and protein is inevitable for muscle building. Although, too much protein turns into carbs which is bad. Remember its low carb diet even when bulking. Keep protein intake 1,6 -1,8g per kilogram of body weight.
The other aspect is that, if you have an active life for example more than 10,000 steps a day you might consider some extra carbs but do not overdo it. When I was going overboard I experienced getting out of ketosis which got me high-blood pressure. For that particular reason, I always consume blood pressure friendly foods like red beet. I keep carbs under 50g but when bulking I go between 50-70g while also being very active.
To be even more effective, when choosing your food list go for testosterone or growth hormone boosting foods that are also keto-friendly. As a result, you get more productive in lean bulking for achieving strength and performance peak. I also use as you know, herbal tea booster “the secret weapon” four times a week to give it more boost but always start slowly and be progressive about what you do. If you plan clean bulking start increasing your carbs every weak until you reach 700kcal extra so you keep it clean. If you go for dirty bulk you might end up fat and unmotivated.
The food list I keep is still the same when cutting and always ketogenic diet. I only add 2 more eggs for quality protein and fat which also promotes growth and testosterone along with peanuts with the same function. If going for extra carbs, normally add some oats for their strength and health benefits. I burn around 4000 kcal a day which means my bulking formula is something between 4,500 -4,700. When going for cheat meal, I do it after gym to make most out of it and it is meat, preferably beef for it is very anabolic nature. In the video below you can see my normal food list – sorry for the quality 😀 Good luck with gains!
References:
SET 4 WIN 