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Eating sufficient carbohydrates also helps to build muscle mass and prevent muscle loss. Carbohydrate loading increases muscle glycogen stores, giving individuals more energy at their disposal to use during exercise. When applied to training appropriately, carbohydrate loading can be effective for athletes to go for longer without experiencing fatigue. What Are The Benefits Of Carbohydrate Loading? Therefore, endurance events such as marathon and ultra-running, long distance cycling and triathlon, are all events which would benefit from carbohydrate loading. It has been reported that performance benefits from carbohydrate loading are most likely to occur in events lasting longer than 90 minutes (8). Increasing carbohydrate intake through dietary sources increases muscle glycogen stores and enhances performance by delaying the onset of fatigue (1, 2, 4, 5). Carbohydrate loading involves increasing carbohydrate intake around 1-4 days before an endurance event.Ĭarbohydrate loading was first developed by Scandinavian researchers in the late 1960s and involved either a 3- or 6-day exercise and diet manipulation (1, 2). What Is Carbohydrate Loading?Ĭarbohydrate loading, also known as glycogen loading or glycogen supercompensation, is a performance-enhancement strategy, most commonly used by endurance athletes before a competition or event (3). Therefore, if you are exercising for over an hour it is important to consume carbohydrate sources during exercise. Exercising beyond this, without sufficient fuel, energy levels drop and fatigue sets in. Performing high intensity exercise will utilise glycogen stores at an even quicker rate. Your body can only store enough glycogen to sustain around 90 minutes of moderate intensity exercise.
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However, there is limited glycogen storage capacity within our bodies, so it is important these stores are topped up with adequate carbohydrate before training and replenished after exercise. They are stored in the body as glycogen (12). They are the most important fuel source for athletes as they provide the fuel to perform high intensity exercise. Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy.