Glycogen replenishment for enhanced endurance -
There are a number of ways in which endurance athletes can manipulate their training and diet to create adaptations in the body that help to maximise the storage of glycogen in the muscles.
The usefulness of these strategies needs to be weighed up against the ability of the athlete to perform at their best, both physically and mentally, in the absence of carbohydrates.
Certain training techniques can help athletes increase their lactate threshold to improve performance while endurance training increases the capacity for muscle to store glycogen. During events lasting between 1 and 2.
The best way to consume your carbohydrate during a triathlon is a sports drink on the bike 6g carb per ml and gels if you need them during the run. Ultra-endurance events lasting more than 2. As well as sports drinks and gels, athletes will likely need to explore the use of energy bars, chews and other products high in carbohydrates.
Any food or supplement must be tested before an event to ensure gastrointestinal GI compliance, palatability and ease of use. Drinks and gels should offer a combination of glucose to fructose to maximise carbohydrate oxidation glycogen replenishment and reduce the risk of gut discomfort.
While increasing carbohydrate intake may help to improve performance there's a practical consideration of how much an athlete can take on board without experiencing GI distress. Any increase in carbohydrate should be done slowly and testing for carbohydrate tolerance may be useful.
Immediately after an event, muscle cells which have sustained a significant depletion in glycogen become metabolically prepped for rapid replenishment, as the glycogen used during exercise switches on its synthesis during recovery. The following are guidelines for the pre-event meal: The meal should be eaten hours before an event.
It should provide grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight. To avoid stomach upset, the carbohydrate content of meals should be reduced the closer the meals are to the event. Adding small amounts of protein can aid in regulating energy levels by slowing down carbohydrate absorption, delivering the carbohydrates to the working muscles at a more consistent rate over time.
Pay attention to salty cravings. TABLE 2 IMAGE TEXT: SUGGESTED MEALS FOR PRE-EVENT EATING. TABLE 2 IMAGE TEXT CONTINUED: SUGGESTED MEALS FOR PRE-EVENT EATING continued.
TABLE 2 IMAGE TEXT CONTINUED:. Eating at All Day Events:. One hour or less between events or heats: Stick with carbohydrates that are in liquid form, such as sports drinks.
If something solid needs to be eaten, try fruits like oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, pears, applesauce, or bananas. Two to three hours between events or heats: Foods containing carbohydrates and some protein can be eaten, as there is enough time to digest them before competition.
Try eating granola bars with jerky, hot or cold cereal with nonfat milk, or english muffins along with fruit like bananas, apples, oranges, peaches, or pears. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids, like water or a sports drink, for hydration, electrolyte replacement, and restoration of glycogen stores.
Avoid drinks that contain caffeine, carbonation, and other stimulants. Four or more hours between events or heats: With four or more hours between events or heats, an athlete may want a meal, which should be composed primarily of carbohydrates. The following meal examples for this situation are appropriate: A turkey sandwich on two slices of whole wheat bread, Greek yogurt with fruit, and water or a sports fluid replacement drink; or Spaghetti with lean meatballs, bread, salad with dressing, and water or a sports fluid replacement drink.
During Exercise: Consuming carbohydrates during exercise lasting longer than 60 minutes ensures that the muscles receive adequate amounts of energy, especially during the later stages of the competition or workout. One gulp is about 2 ounces. Water is needed to aid in absorption of the carbohydrate.
Drinks with a concentration greater than 10 percent are often associated with abdominal cramps, nausea, and diarrhea. For high intensity activities, sports drinks and gels containing multiple forms of sugar can increase absorption and delivery of carbohydrates. TABLE 3 IMAGE TEXT: COOLER FLUIDS. After Exercise.
Athletes who may benefit from recovery nutrition include those who are competing in tournament play or have multiple competitions over the course of one or several days, have skipped meals throughout the day, did not consume enough calories, and want to improve strength and power.
The recommendation is Refueling may be enhanced by consuming small amounts of carbohydrate more frequently every minutes for up to four hours. Add a small amount ~20 grams of protein to the first feeding to stimulate muscle repair and rebuilding.
Table 5 and 6 list recovery tips and examples of recovery snacks. TABLE 5 IMAGE TEXT: POST-EXERCISE RECOVERY TIPS To refill energy in the muscle with trainings less than eight hours apart, eat as soon as possible after exercise and then every minutes for up to four hours.
Choose higher-carbohydrate foods such as bagels, pasta, fruits, yogurts, cereal with low-fat milk, peanut butter, sports drinks, granola bars, french toast, sub sandwiches, baked potatoes with chili, smoothie made with fruit, fruit juice, yogurt, and frozen yogurt.
Include protein to aid in muscle recovery and promote muscle growth. Consume Be sure to rehydrate as well. TABLE 6 IMAGE TEXT: RECOVERY SNACK IDEAS Cereal with milk Fruit and nonfat yogurt Pita and hummus Trail mix Chocolate milk lowfat Banana with peanut butter.
The findings of this study were supported by second study in which a carbohydrate intake of kcal resulted in complete resynthesis of glycogen within 24 hours. There also appears to be a two-hour optimal window immediately after the cessation of exercise for the administration of carbohydrates.
Simple carbohydrates appear to be the preferred replacement during this replenishment period. Administration of.
There is also some evidence that even smaller loads 28 grams every 15 minutes may induce even greater repletion rates. Therefore, at least 20 hours are required to recover muscle glycogen stores, even when the diet is optimal.
So, athletes working out two times per day should complete one workout at a diminished workload to relieve the reliance on glycogen reserves. The principle of glycogen resynthesis and supercompensation has great practical implications, not only in athletics, but also within industry for workers who consistently undergo depletion of glycogen stores due to prolonged bouts of exertion, or extended lifting tasks which would be glycolytic in nature; due to the duration, and also the myofibrillar ischemia induced by static contractions.
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A diet rich Glycogen replenishment for enhanced endurance carbohydrates increases both endurance and endkrance high-intensity performance because of the extra geplenishment of enhancsd in the muscles and liver, called glycogen. It is Blood sugar crashes symptoms documented that athletes need to replenish carbohydrate stores in Glycoyen body, especially during periods of intense training or competition. Consuming carbohydrates during workouts lasting over one hour can also benefit performance and delay onset of fatigue. Studies have shown that athletes who participate in intermittent sports, such as basketball and soccer, should also focus on consuming more carbohydrates during training and competition. This is not surprising since it is well-known that carbohydrates, when compared to protein and dietary fat, are the most efficiently broken down and metabolized form of energy for the body.Glycogen replenishment for enhanced endurance -
And on top of that heavy demand, your muscle glycogen needs to be repleted ASAP — evolutionarily-speaking, your body never knows if and when you need to keep going, so it defaults to filling up muscle glycogen as fast as possible.
Both processes pull from the same pool of resources: the carbs you feed yourself. How do your muscles keep up with all this enormous extra energy demand? A very large amount of human research on post-exercise glycogen repletion has been published, and the results show that — done properly — rapid muscle glycogen replenishment improves recovery and makes your next exercise bout easier with less diminution of performance, if any.
Recommendations are entrenched, universally-agreed, and should be standard practice for exercise over two hours in duration, even if you have been fueling and staying hydrated throughout the exercise event.
The importance of getting carbohydrates into your muscles as soon as possible after exercise is finished cannot be reinforced enough.
Your intense, long-duration exercise has already set the wheels in motion for repair and recovery, and soon the wave of molecular signaling throughout your body will take over and control glucose for those processes rather than for replenishing muscle glycogen.
Having replenished muscle glycogen gives your muscles the energy to enhance and accelerate the entire recovery process compared to not having enough glycogen, which slows the process. Just like your gut cells move GLUT4 receptors to their gut-facing surface in order to absorb more glucose during exercise, your muscles use the same trick to grab more glucose when glycogen levels drop during exercise.
This GLUT4 translocation is furiously increased in the minutes after exercise for a duration of minutes Jentjens , and represents the first stage of rapidly replenishing your muscle glycogen.
The translocation of glucose receptors is triggered by low muscle glycogen levels, which are typical near the end of an exhaustive, long-duration exercise bout. By translocating glucose receptors, depleted muscles become glucose sponges, taking up as much as they can without needing insulin.
This is the second step of replenishing your muscle glycogen, and — like the first — it requires, simply, carbs. But how much? Much research has clearly shown that the highest muscle glycogen synthesis rates are achieved by CHO intakes of 0.
This is close to what you should be doing hourly during exercise, but to satisfy the First Step of muscle glycogen replenishment, it also needs to be done by 30 minutes after you finish, during the glycogen window.
n practice, 60 grams of glucose is easily accomplished in the first 30 minutes without GI intolerances. Liquid drinks are the best way to get glucose to hungry muscles in the first 30 minutes.
A second serving can be ingested at an hour, but even better is to eat a high-carbohydrate meal. Sucrose table sugar and fructose are also able to replenish muscle glycogen, but not any better than pure glucose itself, and pure fructose even delays muscle glycogen repletion by shunting some glucose to replenish liver glycogen, which necessarily cuts into the supply going to those desperate, depleted muscles.
Short glucose polymers like the maltodextrins in EFS , EFS-PRO , and Liquid Shot are similar to glucose for glycogen repletion, but because glucose itself is still hanging around your bloodstream when Step Two kicks in, insulin works better with glucose. So ultimately, glucose was our destination all along.
The metabolic signaling milieu of muscles simply favors glucose in the Glycogen Two Step. Ever the capable dance partner, Ultragen follows the considerable research and successful practice findings by supplying 60 grams of glucose per serving.
If you are truly glycogen-depleted, the surge of glucose can be felt quickly as a decrease in fatigue. Your brain also runs on glucose and is revived too, helping your post-exercise mood — and reducing the risk of an intense Saturday morning session blowing half your weekend off the rails.
Fortunately, hydration is also satisfied if you use liquid drinks like Ultragen. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and there is a long chain of events for muscle glycogen repletion and exercise recovery.
After long-duration, strenuous, exhausting exercise, starting recovery immediately — immediately! Maximizing glucose intake after exercise with consistent and continued intakes of carbohydrates can replete muscle glycogen to normal in 24 hours.
Furthermore, results for recovery and overall health are also better with starting recovery quickly. Well said. For about the last 15 years, Ultragen has been my go to. Ultragen allows me to play hard in the mountains on weekends AND still be of some use to my family, instead of laying on the floor all day.
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Athletes Articles Films. Replenishing muscle glycogen for maximal, faster recovery. By Dr. CARBS AND RECOVERY After a very long, grueling endurance workout, race, or event, you need to bounce back as quickly as possible to keep your exercise capacity at full strength. THE MUSCLE GLYCOGEN TWO-STEP Just like your gut cells move GLUT4 receptors to their gut-facing surface in order to absorb more glucose during exercise, your muscles use the same trick to grab more glucose when glycogen levels drop during exercise.
ANYTHING ELSE TO HELP CARBS GET INTO POST-EXERCISE STARVED MUSCLES? SUMMARY After long-duration, strenuous, exhausting exercise, starting recovery immediately — immediately! References for Glycogen Window for Recovery Blom PC, Hostmark AT, Vaage O, Kardel KR, Maehlum S.
Effect of different post-exercise sugar diets on the rate of muscle glycogen synthesis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Bongiovanni T, Genovesi F, Nemmer M, Carling C, Aberti G, Howatson G.
Nutritional interventions for reducing the signs and symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage and accelerate recovery in athletes: current knowledge, practical application and future perspectives. Eur J Appl Physiol. Bonilla DA, Perez-Idarraga A, Odriozola-Martinez A, Kreider RB.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. Bosch A, Smit KM. Nutrition for endurance and ultra-endurance training, Ch 13 in Sport and Exercise Nutrition , Lanham-New SA, Stear SJ, Shirrefs SM, Collins SL, Eds. Bucci LR. Nutritional ergogenic aids — macronutrients, Ch 2 in Nutrients as Ergogenic Aids for Sports and Exercise , CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, , pp.
Buonocore D, Negro M, Arcelli E, Marzatico F. Anti-inflammatory dietary interventions and supplements to improve performance during athletic training.
J Am Coll Nutr. Burke LM, Kiens B, Ivy JL. Carbohydrates and fat for training and recovery, Ch 2 in Food, Nutrition and Sports Performance II. The International Olympic Committee Consensus on Sports Nutrition , Maughan RJ, Burke LM, Coyle EF, Eds.
Burke LM. Fueling strategies to optimize performance: training high or training low? Scand J Med Sci Sports. Nutrition for post-exercise recovery. Aust J Sci Med Sport. Costa RJS, Knechtle B, Tarnopolsky M, Hoffman MD. Nutrition for ultramarathon running: trial, track, and road.
Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. Costill DL. Carbohydrate for athletic training and performance. Bol Assoc Med P R. Carbohydrate nutrition before, during and after exercise. Fed Proc. Gonzalez JT, Fuchs CJ, Betts JA, van Loon LJC. Glucose plus fructose ingestion for post-exercise recovery — greater than the sum of its parts?
Harty PS, Cottet ML, Malloy JK, Kerksick CM. Nutritional and supplementation strategies Sports Med Open. Hashiwaki J. Effects of post-race nutritional intervention on delayed-onset muscle soreness and return to activity in Ironman triathletes.
Hoppel F, Calabria E, Pesta D, Kantner-Rumplmair W, Gnaiger E, Burtscher M. At the beginning of all types of exercise and for the entire duration of high intensity exercise, muscle glycogen serves as the primary metabolic energy substrate 1Powers and Howley, Because muscle glycogen concentration influences endurance performance 2 Conlee, and may also affect maximum power output 3 Heigenhauser, Sutton and Jones, , manipulating glycogen stores is a potentially important consideration for a wide variety of athletes.
In Ahlborg and colleagues 4 began to demonstrate the relationship between diet and muscle glycogen concentrations. Figure 3 below demonstrates the results of the study. When subjects consumed a low carbohydrate diet glycogen concentrations decreased then rebounded to double baseline concentration on a high carbohydrate diet.
This effect increased glycogen storage ability following glycogen depletion when consuming a high carbohydrate diet is referred to as glycogen supercompensation. Glycogen supercompensation is different than glycogen compensation. Glycogen compensation is a normal response to exercise and refers to the process of replacing muscle glycogen to normal levels following exercise.
Supercompensation occurs when glycogen concentrations are replaced to supra-physiological levels much greater than normal. Since the glucose that is produced from muscle glycogen does not leave the muscle cell, glycogen is only depleted in muscles that are exercised 6 Hultman, The amount and type of carbohydrate ingestion that will maximize glycogen resynthesis has been the subject of numerous research studies.
Costil et al. Blom et al 8 showed that glycogen resynthesis was maximal when subjects consumed 25 grams of glucose per hour. Keizer et al. Based on these studies it appears that 25 grams of carbohydrates per hour grams per day is sufficient for a maximal rate of glycogen resynthesis.
A study by Roberts et al. The simple sugar fructose the primary sugar found in fruits is effective at replenishing liver but not muscle glycogen This is because muscle tissue lacks the enzyme necessary to convert fructose to glucose. Therefore fruit is a bad carbohydrate choice for carbohydrate loading or supercompensation.
One of the earliest studies on the effects of muscle glycogen on endurance was conducted in by Ahlborg and colleagues 4. In this now classic study, he demonstrated a correlation between initial muscle glycogen concentration in the vastus lateralis muscle of the quadriceps and exercise endurance using a continuous bicycle ergometer protocol.
Since this study there have been numerous studies validating this effect see Conlee, for a review. In another classic study Bergstrom and associates 12 studied the effects of altering carbohydrate consumption for 3 days on exercise to exhaustion.
The researchers had the same subjects consume a mixed diet, a high low carbohydrate diet, and a high carbohydrate diet for three days.
After each three-day period glycogen concentrations were measured and the subjects exercised to exhaustion on a bicycle ergometer. The results are summarized in Figure 3. and performance Performance is also plotted on the y axis in minutes.
from only 3 days of dietary manipulations. The order of the treatments was mixed diet, followed by high fat high protein and finally high carbohydrate. Not only did the high carbohydrate diet replace the carbohydrate stores that were depleted by the high fat high protein diet, but it actually increased glycogen concentrations over baseline levels.
Bergstrom and colleagues concluded that the ability to sustain prolonged exercise depends on muscle glycogen concentration. The myriad of studies that followed firmly established the theory that sustaining performance in endurance events lasting longer than one hour is strongly dependent upon maintaining glycogen concentrations and that fatigue during these events is probably due to glycogen depletion 2.
Although glycogen depletion does not cause fatigue during high power events 13 , glycogen depletion has been shown to reduce the ability to produce a high power output.
A standard power test involves pedaling as fast as possible against a fixed resistance for 30 seconds. Conlee 4 speculates that this reduction in power output occurs because some fibers are no longer capable of contributing because they are almost completely devoid of glycogen.
Since there are fewer fibers available to contribute, power output is reduced. Since every gram of glycogen is stored with approximately 3 grams of water 13 a doubling of glycogen stores due to glycogen supercompensation is likely to increase the apparent size of muscles.
Since exercise upregulates the bodys ability to store glycogen and bodybuilders have more muscle mass than the average person, we might expect that a bodybuilder stores considerably more than the grams of glycogen mentioned earlier as an average value for normal adults.
For the sake of argument lets assume that a bodybuilder is storing grams not an unreasonable amount of muscle glycogen. By carbohydrate depletion and supercompensation to twice that level again, not unreasonable it would be possible to add grams of glycogen plus grams of water to the bodybuilders muscle tissue.
This amounts to a 7. Therefore a bodybuilder can potentially gain a significant amount of apparent mass with successful glycogen supercompensation.
Beginning a typical 3-day depletion, 3 day loading supercompensation cycle just prior to a competition may not be the best strategy for an endurance athlete. This is because glycogen depletion requires vigorous exercise and most endurance athletes refrain from vigorous exercise during the final week prior to a competition to ensure adequate recovery.
Fortunately glycogen levels stay elevated for at least 3 days following a glycogen supercompensation cycle 5. This allows the athlete to start the cycle 9 days prior to competition and still allow 6 days of recovery before the event.
A typical glycogen supercompensation cycle would look something like this:. The vigorous exercise should use the same muscles that are going to be used during the competition since it is these muscles that will be depleted and supercompensated.
In other words, if you are a runner you carbohydrate deplete by running. If you are a cyclist you carbohydrate deplete by cycling.
Most of the carbohydrate consumption on day 1 of the high carbohydrate phase should be simple sugars and intake should not exceed 25 grams per hour or 75 grams every three hours.
Carbohydrates should be consumed at least every three hours so that continual glycogen synthesis is occurring. If, as Conlee speculated 4 , some muscle fibers are completely glycogen depleted by high power performances and subsequently are incapable of contributing, one might speculate that power athletes could benefit by glycogen supercompensation.
For many athletes, however, actual performance during competition would not be enhanced by supraphysiological levels of glycogen.
For weightlifters, for example, performance is related to the ability to produce force and not the ability to maintain force output over time. Although glycogen loading can delay the reduction in force output during repeated maximal contractions 14 , no study to date has shown that maximal force production can be enhanced by supraphysiological concentrations of glycogen.
The same logic applies to jumpers and throwers. For high power events lasting less than 10 seconds m sprint the majority of the energy comes from stored Adenosine Triphosphate and Creatine Phosphate with little contribution from carbohydrates Brooks and Fahey For high power events lasting longer than 2 minutes performance is limited by the cardiovascular system Based on these facts and the Heighenhauser study mentioned earlier 30 seconds of maximal pedaling , one might speculate that glycogen supercompensation might be useful for high power events lasting between 10 seconds and two minutes.
However, there is an important distinction between power tests and other 30 second events like a m dash. In a power test power peaks early because subjects are pedaling maximally from the start. During all but the shortest sprinting events there is some degree of pacing.
It is not known if pacing would affect the relationship of glycogen to fatigue during these events. In addition, no study to date has shown an actual increase in performance in sprinting events either bike, run or swim sprints due to glycogen supercompensation.
Also, in some power events, like weightlifting and sprinting, extra bodyweight can be a liability. Although they should maintain an adequate carbohydrate intake to prevent a decrement in performance, there is no strong evidence to suggest that power athletes would benefit from glycogen supercompensation prior to competition.
Since training can involve repeated high power performances repeated sprints, or sets one might speculate that glycogen supercompensation might be an effective training aid.
While training performance might benefit from high concentrations of muscle glycogen, athletes cannot glycogen deplete and supercompensate prior to every training session.
An apparent increase in muscle mass is certainly a bonus for bodybuilders. Therefore, successfully glycogen supercompensating can certainly be a worthwhile process for these athletes.
Since bodybuilders have much more muscle mass than the average person, larger carbohydrate intakes are likely to be required to maximize glycogen synthesis.
Since we are trying to maximize glycogen supercompensation in all muscles, we must glycogen deplete all muscles. This is accomplished by performing high repetition, high volume workouts for all body parts while on a low carbohydrate diet prior to glycogen loading.
A typical regimen might look like this:. The bodybuilder should be training the entire body over the three-day period with a large volume of high repetition exercises to enhance glycogen depletion.
It is the total volume of work that will determine the degree of glycogen depletion so rest between sets should be adequate to allow a large volume of work to be performed. Bodybuilders should avoid lifting very heavy as high force eccentric contractions have been shown to interfere with glycogen synthesis 15 probably due to muscle microdamage.
Additionally Doyle et al. Although the bodybuilder might not normally train three days in a row, it is recommended in this case.
This prevents the bodybuilder from having to remain on a low carbohydrate diet for more than three days. Determining the amount of carbohydrates that should be consumed will require some trial and error but the research literature might provide some clues.
A study by Pascoe et al. If you know the molecular weight of glucose and can convert mmol to grams and if we assume that each gram of glycogen is stored with 3 grams of water this would give us a value of approximately.
If we match carbohydrate intake to the glycogen synthesis rate this would equal 43 grams per hour for a pound bodybuilder kg and a total of approximately g Calories from carbohydrates in a 24 hour period.
Glycogen replenishment is very rapid for six hours after high intensity exercise 11 and glycogen concentrations can return to baseline levels within this six hour period if adequate carbohydrates are consumed supercompensation occurs in the days that follow. Therefore providing a bolus as Ivy suggested might speed up the process relative to consuming a predetermined number of grams every 3 hours.
On day 1 most of the carbohydrates should be in the form of simple sugars to enhance glycogen uptake. The degree of glycogen supercompensation can be estimated by the amount of weight gain. Recall that each gram of glycogen is stored with 3 grams of water. If a bodybuilder gained grams 3.
In summary, glycogen supercompensation can be a valuable performance-enhancing tool for bodybuilders and endurance athletes.
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