The Charge of Carbohydrates before a competition

The load of carbohydrates is more than eating a lot of pasta the night before the competition, and it moves away from eating only carbohydrates during the week of the competition

 

 

Our collaborator Victory Endurance gives us some tips on how to do carbohydrate loading before a race

 

The concept of carbohydrate loading It is very popular among aerobic endurance athletes, and among triathletes. The load of carbohydrates is more than eating a lot of pasta the night before the competition, and it moves away from eating only carbohydrates during the whole week of the competition. Keep in mind that this week the training decreases, and therefore also the energy required, and the necessary carbohydrates. Thus, it is important that the consumption of carbohydrates is linked to energy expenditure to avoid unnecessary weight gain in this last week.

Carbohydrates are stored in the form of glycogen in the liver and muscles, and to tackle a 1/2 Ironman, we will need to consume 10 to 12 g of Carbohydrates per kg of body weight, In the 48 hours before the start of the race. What carbohydrates ?, all those called complex (that is, not candy) like the pasta (the best), potatoes (not fried), rice y pan.

Remember:

- There is a direct relationship between pre-competition glycogen stores and time to fatigue, so this aspect is very important.

- The ability to store glycogen in muscles and liver has a limit; When exceeding the maximum storage capacity, all carbohydrates that we take will be transformed into fat.  

- Glycogen is stored together with water, so it is normal that when our deposits are full of glycogen our body weight will increase.

An ideal proportion to eat in the days before the competition, is 600 gr of carbohydrates, 125 gr proteins and 60 gr of fat, more or less. 
 

For some years, the dissociated regimen was recommended to further increase glycogen stores. This consisted of carrying out a previous depletion of glycogen stores (eg, 3h running at a moderate pace for a runner) 7 days before a marathon; later during the following 3 days, the athlete continued training (what he could) but only ingested proteins and fats; and in the following 3 days, I stopped training, and took especially carbohydrates. This is effective, but it has side effects and intolerance for many people. Therefore, today, what It is recommended to lower the training level (basically since Tuesday we will not do much, and increase the consumption of carbohydrates as I have indicated before, especially the latest 48 h.

 

Total Recovery

With Total Recovery de Victory Endurance  you get to maximize recovery after an intense training session, replenish glycogen stores and improve muscle recovery. 

 

Dr. José López Chicharro
Professor of Physiology of the UCM Exercise. 
Specialist in Sports Medicine.

 

Photo: nutriresponse.com

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