Carb Loading - THE WESTERN AUSTRALIA METHOD
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MinimalistShoeAddict
Posts: 1,946 Member
Does anyone have an opinion on this? I may try it on Saturday prior to my Sunday 25k race:
Basically the goal is to condense the (previously much longer) loading phase into a 24 hour period following a very short period of high intensity exercise the day before the event.
http://beta.active.com/nutrition/articles/the-evolving-art-of-carbo-loading?page=2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12048325
PURPOSE:
One limitation shared by all published carbohydrate-loading regimens is that 2-6 d are required for the attainment of supranormal muscle glycogen levels. Because high rates of glycogen resynthesis are reported during recovery from exercise of near-maximal intensity and that these rates could in theory allow muscle to attain supranormal glycogen levels in less than 24 h, the purpose of this study was to examine whether a combination of a short bout of high-intensity exercise with 1 d of a high-carbohydrate intake offers the basis for an improved carbohydrate-loading regimen.
METHODS:
Seven endurance-trained athletes cycled for 150 s at 130% VO2peak followed by 30 s of all-out cycling. During the following 24 h, each subject was asked to ingest 12 g.kg-1 of lean body mass (the equivalent of 10.3 g.kg-1 body mass) of high-carbohydrate foods with a high glycemic index.
RESULTS:
Muscle glycogen increased from preloading levels (+/- SE) of 109.1 +/- 8.2 to 198.2 +/- 13.1 mmol.kg-1 wet weight within only 24 h, these levels being comparable to or higher than those reported by others over a 2- to 6-d regimen. Densitometric analysis of muscle sections stained with periodic acid-Schiff not only corroborated these findings but also indicated that after 24 h of high-carbohydrate intake, glycogen stores reached similar levels in Type I, IIa, and IIb muscle fibers.
CONCLUSION:
This study shows that a combination of a short-term bout of high-intensity exercise followed by a high-carbohydrate intake enables athletes to attain supranormal muscle glycogen levels within only 24 h.
Basically the goal is to condense the (previously much longer) loading phase into a 24 hour period following a very short period of high intensity exercise the day before the event.
http://beta.active.com/nutrition/articles/the-evolving-art-of-carbo-loading?page=2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12048325
PURPOSE:
One limitation shared by all published carbohydrate-loading regimens is that 2-6 d are required for the attainment of supranormal muscle glycogen levels. Because high rates of glycogen resynthesis are reported during recovery from exercise of near-maximal intensity and that these rates could in theory allow muscle to attain supranormal glycogen levels in less than 24 h, the purpose of this study was to examine whether a combination of a short bout of high-intensity exercise with 1 d of a high-carbohydrate intake offers the basis for an improved carbohydrate-loading regimen.
METHODS:
Seven endurance-trained athletes cycled for 150 s at 130% VO2peak followed by 30 s of all-out cycling. During the following 24 h, each subject was asked to ingest 12 g.kg-1 of lean body mass (the equivalent of 10.3 g.kg-1 body mass) of high-carbohydrate foods with a high glycemic index.
RESULTS:
Muscle glycogen increased from preloading levels (+/- SE) of 109.1 +/- 8.2 to 198.2 +/- 13.1 mmol.kg-1 wet weight within only 24 h, these levels being comparable to or higher than those reported by others over a 2- to 6-d regimen. Densitometric analysis of muscle sections stained with periodic acid-Schiff not only corroborated these findings but also indicated that after 24 h of high-carbohydrate intake, glycogen stores reached similar levels in Type I, IIa, and IIb muscle fibers.
CONCLUSION:
This study shows that a combination of a short-term bout of high-intensity exercise followed by a high-carbohydrate intake enables athletes to attain supranormal muscle glycogen levels within only 24 h.
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Replies
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I liked this layman's summary in the first article:In an experiment, the researchers asked athletes to perform a short-duration, high-intensity workout consisting of two and a half minutes at 130 percent of VO2max (about one-mile race pace) followed by a 30-second sprint. During the next 24 hours, the athletes consumed 12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of lean muscle mass. This resulted in a 90-percent increase in muscle glycogen storage.
90% !!!
Wow - that is pretty serious. I was pretty excited by that until I got to the end:I would like to note finally that carbo-loading in general has been shown to enhance race performance only when athletes consume little or no carbohydrate during the race itself. If you do use a sports drink or sports gels to fuel your race effort--as you should--prior carbo-loading probably will have no effect.
That is confusing. I am not sure what the author means by performance. If it's time, then the loading still makes sense for endurance. That is a bigger concern for me because I am slow. My longest run so far is 12 miles (just a few nights ago; I am training for a half in October) and it took me 2:09. My concern is that a half at my pace will probably come pretty close to depleting glycogen stores so "glycogen supercompensation" (term used in article) appeals to me.0 -
The carb loading makes sense. Carbs for energy and protein for muscle repair. I know that when I load up on food the day before, my runs are easier and faster. When I do not manage to eat that much I don't run as effortlessly.0
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I think what he's saying is that, if you fuel during the race, you don't really need to carb load before hand.0
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I tried upping carbs all of yesterday and for an early breakfast this morning and then ate lighter but high protein today. I ran 10 miles tonight and did fine; felt like I had more than enough energy left for another 5 miles, so I think I will repeat that when I run my first half next month. If it's a false positive and is just giving me unfounded confidence, I am okay with that... :bigsmile:0
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In case anyone is curious I tested this protocol on Saturday prior to my Sunday 25k race.
My total intake included 2,998 calories with 687 grams of carbs, 21 grams of fat, 22 grams of protein and only 7 grams of fiber following a 3 minute workout:
Run at 1 mile pace for 2.5 minutes followed by an all out sprint of 30 seconds.
Energy wise I felt great for my entire race and plan to repeat something similar prior to my first marathon next month. I know a 25k race (about 15.5 miles) is not the same as a marathon, so I plan to repeat the experiment once more prior to a 20 mile training run this coming weekend.0 -
I tried upping carbs all of yesterday and for an early breakfast this morning and then ate lighter but high protein today. I ran 10 miles tonight and did fine; felt like I had more than enough energy left for another 5 miles, so I think I will repeat that when I run my first half next month. If it's a false positive and is just giving me unfounded confidence, I am okay with that... :bigsmile:
Maybe I'll try that because after 8.5 miles, I'm just slogging.0 -
One thing I didn't do was truly intense exercise during that day. I did a few minutes of vigorous calisthenics, but I did not sprint; I have had a bad history of tendon flare ups when I sprint.I tried upping carbs all of yesterday and for an early breakfast this morning and then ate lighter but high protein today. I ran 10 miles tonight and did fine; felt like I had more than enough energy left for another 5 miles, so I think I will repeat that when I run my first half next month. If it's a false positive and is just giving me unfounded confidence, I am okay with that... :bigsmile:
Maybe I'll try that because after 8.5 miles, I'm just slogging.0 -
In case anyone is curious I tested this protocol on Saturday prior to my Sunday 25k race.
My total intake included 2,998 calories with 687 grams of carbs, 21 grams of fat, 22 grams of protein and only 7 grams of fiber following a 3 minute workout:
Run at 1 mile pace for 2.5 minutes followed by an all out sprint of 30 seconds.
Energy wise I felt great for my entire race and plan to repeat something similar prior to my first marathon next month. I know a 25k race (about 15.5 miles) is not the same as a marathon, so I plan to repeat the experiment once more prior to a 20 mile training run this coming weekend.
This worked well for me prior to both my 25k race and last 20 mile training run. I will be repeating the same protocol before my Sunday marathon!
The only adjustment I will make this time around is to raise my protein intake a little more.0 -
In case anyone is curious I tested this protocol on Saturday prior to my Sunday 25k race.
My total intake included 2,998 calories with 687 grams of carbs, 21 grams of fat, 22 grams of protein and only 7 grams of fiber following a 3 minute workout:
Run at 1 mile pace for 2.5 minutes followed by an all out sprint of 30 seconds.
Energy wise I felt great for my entire race and plan to repeat something similar prior to my first marathon next month. I know a 25k race (about 15.5 miles) is not the same as a marathon, so I plan to repeat the experiment once more prior to a 20 mile training run this coming weekend.
This worked well for me prior to both my 25k race and last 20 mile training run. I will be repeating the same protocol before my Sunday marathon!
The only adjustment I will make this time around is to raise my protein intake a little more.
The carb loading protocol worked for me (before 25k race) last time so I am repeating it. However this time I am using the new "extreme" carb loading with (high levels of) caffeine method (8mg/kg bodyweight of caffeine straight after the exercise bout and then again in 2 hours). I tolerate caffeine very well so am not concerned.
caffeine = Caff
carbohydrate = CHO
"subjects consumed either CHO [4 g/kg body mass (BM)] or the same amount of CHO + Caff (8 mg/kg BM) during 4 h of passive recovery"
"Accordingly, the overall rate of resynthesis for the 4-h recovery period was 66% higher in Caff compared with CHO (57.7 +/- 18.5 vs. 38.0 +/- 7.7 mmol x kg dw(-1) x h(-1), P < 0.05)........We provide the first evidence that in trained subjects coingestion of large amounts of Caff (8 mg/kg BM) with CHO has an additive effect on rates of postexercise muscle glycogen accumulation compared with consumption of CHO alone."
At my body weight (61kg) this means 488mg of caffeive right after the 3 minute of near maximal-intensity exercise and another 488mg of caffeine 2 hours later
Sources below
1. Bussau VA, et al. Carbohydrate loading in human muscle: an improved 1 day protocol. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2002;87(3):290-5.
2. Fairchild TJ, et al. Rapid carbohydrate loading after a short bout of near maximal-intensity exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise. 2002;34(6):980-6.
3. Pederson DJ, et al. High rates of muscle glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise when carbohydrate is coingested with caffeine. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2008;105(1):7-13.0
