Carbohydrate loading
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In sports, carbohydrate loading, commonly referred to as carbo-loading or carb-loading, is a strategy employed by endurance athletes such as marathon runners to maximize the storage of glycogen in the muscles.
Carbohydrate loading is generally recommended for endurance events lasting longer than 90 minutes.[citation needed] For many endurance athletes the food of choice for carbo-loading is pasta. Because of this, hundreds of marathons and triathlons have large pasta dinners the night before the race. This can only be done a couple times a year, such as for events, otherwise the body begins to adapt making carbo-loading useless.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Procedure
There are several periods of carbohydrate loading, since the original one has several possible modifications.
[edit] Without depletion
In the 1980s, research led to a modified carbo-loading regimen that eliminates the depletion phase, instead calling for increased carbohydrate intake (to about 70% of total calories) and decreased training for three days prior to the event.[1] Most athletes now follow this modified regimen, and it is recommended by many coaches, although there are some athletes who still follow the original carbo-loading regimen.
[edit] Short workout
A new carbo-loading regimen developed by scientists at the University of Western Australia calls for a normal diet with light training until the day before the race. On the day before the race, the athlete performs a very short, extremely high-intensity workout (such as a few minutes of sprinting) then consumes 12 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of lean mass over the next 24 hours. The regimen reportedly resulted in a 90% increase in glycogen storage.[1]
