EFFECT OF KETOGENIC DIET ON EXPLOSIVE STRENGTH PERFORMANCE IN ELITE ARTISTIC GYMNASTS

Introduction Despite the increasing use of low carbohydrates/ketogenic diets (KD) on weight control and management of metabolic syndrome (Westman et al., 2007) there are paucity of researches about effects of KD diets on sport performances (Phinney et al., 1983a, 1983b). KD diets maybe useful in sports with weight class divisions. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of KD on explosive strength performance, specifically in elite artistic gymnasts. Methods 8 male subjects (age 20.9 +/- 5.5 yrs) were recruited. Several physical and performance tests (body composition analysis, hanging straight leg raise, ground push up, parallel bars push up, pull up, squat jump, countermovem…