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Carb-loading: Boost Your Endurance During High-intensity Workout
When people are discussing long-duration, high-energy activities such as running, swimming, cycling or playing hockey, the topic of carbohydrates or carb loading often comes up. No matter what your sport, if you are planning on exercising or competing for more than 90 minutes, carb-loading may improve your performance.By Jon Jackson Talk to the Author.
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Carb-loading: Boost Your Endurance During High-intensity Workout
When people are discussing long-duration, high-energy activities such as running, swimming, cycling or playing hockey, the topic of carbohydrates or carb loading often comes up. No matter what your sport, if you are planning on exercising or competing for more than 90 minutes, carb-loading may improve your performance.
Carbohydrates are your body’s primary source of fuel for high-energy activities. And, while carbs can be found in whole grains, vegetables and legumes along with sugars, sweets, fruit and dairy products, during digestion the body converts the carbs – no matter what the source – into sugar. The sugar enters your bloodstream and is transferred to individual cells for energy. But, your body may not immediately need all the sugar you ingest so it will store the extra sugar in your liver and in the muscle cells in the form of glycogen.
Glycogen Stores
Glycogen stores are continually being used and replenished based on your energy output and needs and the higher the immediate intensity of an activity, the greater the use of glycogen. Normally your body only stores a small amount of glycogen in muscles and it’s usually enough for everyday energy exertion. But, if you start exercising at a high intensity for 60 to 90 minutes, your muscles run out of glycogen and it causes a loss in stamina and performance.
Carbohydrate loading – which involves a calculated increase in carbohydrate consumption with a calculated decrease in exertion – isn’t for every athlete but may benefit those competing in a high-intensity aerobic event. Long-distance running, long-distance swimming, soccer and triathlons are activities that would warrant carb loading but recreational biking or swimming are not.
Enhance Your Performance With Carbs
Carb loading works best when you follow a carb-rich diet (about 3 grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day) throughout your training because your body learns to more effectively use carbs during this time. Then, during the week before your event you should:
- Reduce exercise: To avoid depleting glycogen stores in your muscles, cut the amount of exercise you do in half. To avoid muscle stiffness, do this gradually by decreasing the amount you exercise over two to three weeks prior to the event. You should rest completely a day or two before the event.
- Load up on carbs:Increase your carb intake to 60% to 70% of the calories you eat. This does not mean increasing your total calories but rather changing the percentage of those calories that come from carbs, fats and proteins which essentially involves changing the foods that you’re eating. This may involve cutting back on foods that are higher in fat to make room for carb-rich selections. Fats should make up 15% to 20% of your diet and 10% to 15% of your calories should come from protein.
You’ll know you have properly carb loaded if you gain 2-4 pounds (which is mostly water weight) because for each ounce of stored glycogen, you also store about three ounces of water.
Rapid Carb Loading Prior to the Event
There are a select few athletes who are barely willing to take a day off and prefer not to taper their exercise for two to three weeks prior to their event. For these intense athletes, researchers suggest consuming 5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight over the course of the day before the event by eating carb-rich foods, beverages, juices and sports gels. Research has shown that by following this protocol, some athletes are able to achieve levels of glycogen as high as those reached by athletes who carb-loaded for 3-6 days.
Remember that even if you are loading up on carbs in your meals and snacks, you still need to consume additional carbs before, during and after exercise to maintain blood sugar levels. This can easily be achieved by drinking 5-8 ounces of a carbohydrate-containing sports drink every 15 minutes while you’re exercising.
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