Evolved Sport and Nutrition
  • Home/ News
  • About
    • ESN Sports Nutritionists >
      • Ben
      • Emilie
      • Stephanie B
      • Vanessa
      • Ashlen
    • Partners
  • Services/ Store
  • Media
    • Blog
    • Podcast
  • Learning Center
    • Professional Learning Center >
      • The ESN Sports Nutrition Certificate >
        • ESN Learning Center - Sports Nutrition Certificate Level 1 >
          • Module 1 - Exercise Physiology and Metabolism
          • Module 2 - Determining Energy Needs in the Athlete
          • Module 3 - Macronutrient Needs in the Athlete
          • Module 4 - Hydration and Micronutrients for the Athlete
          • Module 5 - Sports Nutrition 101
          • Module 6 - Meal Planning for the Athlete
        • ESN Learning Center Sports Nutrition Certificate ​Level 2 >
          • Module 1 - Sports Supplements 101
          • Module 2 - Sports Supplements 102
          • Module 3 - Nutritional Strategies for Competition
          • Module 4 - Weight loss and Body Composition changes for the Ahlete
          • Module 5 - Disordered Eating in Athletes
          • Module 6 - Counselling Strategies for Athletes
        • ESN Learning Center - Sports Nutrition Certificate Level 3 >
          • Module 1 - Periodization for the Athlete
          • Module 2 - Nutrition Strategies to Optimize Recovery
          • Module 3 - Sports Nutrition for Children and Young Athletes
          • Module 4 - Sports Nutrition for the Aging Athlete
          • Module 5 - Nutritional Strategies for Injury Prevention and Concussions
          • Module 6 - Nutritional Strategies for the Travelling Athlete
          • Module 7 - Tournament Nutrition Strategies
    • ESN Athletic & Healthy Lifestyle Learning Center >
      • The ESN Marathon Runners Guide >
        • Module 1 - Macronutrients for Runners
        • Module 2 - Micronutrients for Runners
        • Module 3 - Nutritional Supplements for Runners
        • Module 4 - Fueling for Different Types of Runs
        • Module 5 - Injury and Illness Prevention
        • Module 6 - Carbohydrate Loading
        • Module 7 - Race Day Nutrition
        • Module 8 - Nutrition for the Master's Runner
  • Contact

Carbo-loading: You can, but should you?

6/4/2018

5 Comments

 
It’s a term that is familiar to athletes from many sports, and especially in the world of running. Yet the term “carbo-loading” is probably one of the most misunderstood nutrition strategies for marathon runners and other endurance athletes.  
Picture
For all ‘The Office’ fans out there…Carbo-loading Michael Scott style

With the Boston Marathon coming up in a little over a week, athletes may be beginning to ramp up their intake of carbohydrates to ensure they start the race with a full tank. And rightfully so. Your body can only store enough fuel or glycogen (storage form of carbohydrate) to sustain around 90 minutes of exercise. Beyond this, without taking in any fuel (gels, blocks, sports drinks), energy levels begin to drop and fatigue sets in. Boosting muscle and liver glycogen stores therefore can help to reduce fatigue and boost performance.

Early carbo-loading strategies includes a 3-4 day depletion phase where athletes undergo hard training and keep their carbohydrate intake low, followed by another 3-4 days of easy training and carbohydrate loading. With this strategy, it was found that muscle glycogen bounced back much more than just eating carbohydrate every day, it was “supercompensated”.

Fortunately, a few years later, it was discovered that a more moderate approach to carbo-loading could be adopted. The glycogen depletion phase is no longer necessary and provides no additional benefit to carbohydrate loading. Thank goodness, right? Light activity in the 2-3 days before your race (hello taper!!) along with a higher carbohydrate intake will have the same beneficial effect on performance.
This all sounds great, right? So why the ‘but should you?’ in the title? Well this is where it gets interesting!!

Studies have shown the the rate at which we break down glycogen to use as fuel during exercise is proportional to the amount of glycogen present in the muscle. Simply put, if you have extremely high glycogen stores you will break them down faster than when you have normal or high glycogen stores. So an hour or two into exercise, glycogen stores will be comparable whether you started with extremely high or just high glycogen stores.
So rather than aiming for extremely high glycogen stores before the start of the race, it’s enough to just ensure that they are sufficient.

As mentioned above, this can be accomplished in the 2-3 days before your race by eating carbohydrate rich foods while reducing training. But with decreased training comes decreased energy expenditure. So your higher carbohydrate intake should not be the result of eating more. Instead, it should be achieved by emphasizing carbohydrate sources and reducing fat intake.

With a lower energy expenditure, aiming for a carbohydrate intake of 5-7g/kg per day is enough, in most cases, to ensure that glycogen stores are sufficient. The type of carbohydrate consumed has little effect and both solid and liquid carbohydrates have the same effects. If you are an athlete that experiences GI issues, you should choose your carbohydrate sources a little more carefully and may benefit from a lower fibre intake.

Speaking to a registered sports dietitian is a great way to to find the perfect carbo-loading plan for you!

Writer: Stephanie MacNeill (RD)

Picture
5 Comments
resume services online link
15/4/2018 02:35:12 pm

We should pay a special attention to the use of the certain substances before each training. This affects our endurance during this process.

Reply
creatine loading link
3/1/2020 01:21:22 am

Many of the research used in creatine studies has been done on women. Those are listed below so if you hear that all the research about creatine has been on men

Reply
Lexynne link
27/4/2022 04:38:34 am

Awesome content. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing this information. Thanks for the great read.

Reply
안전놀이터 link
25/5/2022 03:35:23 am

To do so many challenges, I need to know a lot of things and start, so I think I can start my journey here

Reply
메이저토토사이트 link
18/7/2022 01:21:04 am

It's thrilling. It's a nice place like a vacation spot How did you come up with this idea? Respect and applause

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Fitness
    Nutrition
    Sports Nutrition
    Weight Loss
    Women's Health

    Archives

    November 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    December 2019
    January 2019
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home/ News
  • About
    • ESN Sports Nutritionists >
      • Ben
      • Emilie
      • Stephanie B
      • Vanessa
      • Ashlen
    • Partners
  • Services/ Store
  • Media
    • Blog
    • Podcast
  • Learning Center
    • Professional Learning Center >
      • The ESN Sports Nutrition Certificate >
        • ESN Learning Center - Sports Nutrition Certificate Level 1 >
          • Module 1 - Exercise Physiology and Metabolism
          • Module 2 - Determining Energy Needs in the Athlete
          • Module 3 - Macronutrient Needs in the Athlete
          • Module 4 - Hydration and Micronutrients for the Athlete
          • Module 5 - Sports Nutrition 101
          • Module 6 - Meal Planning for the Athlete
        • ESN Learning Center Sports Nutrition Certificate ​Level 2 >
          • Module 1 - Sports Supplements 101
          • Module 2 - Sports Supplements 102
          • Module 3 - Nutritional Strategies for Competition
          • Module 4 - Weight loss and Body Composition changes for the Ahlete
          • Module 5 - Disordered Eating in Athletes
          • Module 6 - Counselling Strategies for Athletes
        • ESN Learning Center - Sports Nutrition Certificate Level 3 >
          • Module 1 - Periodization for the Athlete
          • Module 2 - Nutrition Strategies to Optimize Recovery
          • Module 3 - Sports Nutrition for Children and Young Athletes
          • Module 4 - Sports Nutrition for the Aging Athlete
          • Module 5 - Nutritional Strategies for Injury Prevention and Concussions
          • Module 6 - Nutritional Strategies for the Travelling Athlete
          • Module 7 - Tournament Nutrition Strategies
    • ESN Athletic & Healthy Lifestyle Learning Center >
      • The ESN Marathon Runners Guide >
        • Module 1 - Macronutrients for Runners
        • Module 2 - Micronutrients for Runners
        • Module 3 - Nutritional Supplements for Runners
        • Module 4 - Fueling for Different Types of Runs
        • Module 5 - Injury and Illness Prevention
        • Module 6 - Carbohydrate Loading
        • Module 7 - Race Day Nutrition
        • Module 8 - Nutrition for the Master's Runner
  • Contact