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The carbohydrate-loading
technique was developed by a Swedish exercise
physiologist, Eric Hultman, as a means by
which athletes could store more carbohydrates
(glycogen) in the muscle tissue than normal.
It has been
determined through research that carbohydrate,
in form of glycogen, is stored in the muscle
at 1.75 grams per 100 grams of muscle.
After the
first three days of the depletion phase
of the carbohydrate-loading technique, the
glycogen levels in the body drop down to
approximately ½ gram per 100 grams
of muscle. The best part comes upon completion
of the three-day carbing-up phase.
Glycogen capacities
in the muscle have now increased to as much
as 3-5 grams per 100 grams of muscle. This
is a marked increase of 70-185 percent above
normal.
This means
that athletes will have a glucose/glycogen
saturation for their chosen athletic event,
be it a marathon or some other endurance
sport.
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HOW CARBOHYDRATE LOADING WORKS
Begin the carbohydrate-loading
technique six days prior to the event.
The Carb Depletion Phase: Days
1, 2, and 3
Depletion of the
carbohydrates stored in the muscle is efficiently
accomplished by high-intensity/high-volume exercise
activity and carefully controlled nutrition.
You can choose from
many training routines to accomplish carbohydrate
depletion. If you're training in the off-season
and desire to participate in an endurance sport,
you might perform high-volume training. 10-12
sets per muscle group, 8-15 reps per set, and
4-5 sets per exercise. If you're a powerlifter,
you may decide to use training loads of 84-88
percent of 1-rep maximum for numerous sets of
6-8 reps in the 3 powerlifts and some additional
assistance exercises, using 80 percent of a 1-rep
maximum in the chosen exercise for a few sets
of 12-14 repetitions.
Basically, you will
want to perform workouts that will burn up glycogen
as energy substrate at a rate of 10-20 calories
per minute over a daily 2-hour time period. Each
major body part should be worked for approximately
45 minutes. The key to assuring yourself of total
carbohydrate completion is to work each body part
as hard and fast as possible. Therefore, you will
not work all the body parts in one workout but
will find it of more benefit to use a split routine
in which you work one or two body parts to the
absolute maximum.
On the next two
days (2 and 3), your workouts should be light
to moderate in intensity due to the depletion
in existing strength levels.
Controlled eating
is very important to the success of both the depletion
and carbing-up phases of carbohydrate loading.
During the three-day depletion phase, you should
eat a very high protein diet. In other words,
eliminate most of your carbohydrate sources except
for 50 grams (200 calories) daily, which is vital
for proper brain functioning. The brain demands
50 or so grams of glucose per day, and this is
quite in line with the conversion of carbohydrate
(glycogen), which converts to blood glucose at
a rate of 2 grams (8 calories) per hour. Your
selection of foods should come from complete proteins,
which contain no saturated fats.
It is interesting
to note that for every gram of glycogen you burn
up, three grams of water accompany it. More than
likely you will notice a drop in your existing
body weight, but be assured that it is probably
water weight. You should schedule five to six
feedings per day, and these feedings should be
three to four hours apart.
A note on the 50-grams-per-day
carbohydrate requirement is necessary. Rather
than eating all your carbohydrates (50 grams)
at one meal, it is better to eat 25 grams with
an early morning protein feeing and the remaining
25 grams during a late afternoon or evening protein
meal.
Carbohydrate or
glycogen depletion in the muscle can't really
be monitored accurately. You can only hope that
a regimen of hard and fast training will accomplish
it. However, you can monitor the blood glucose
by using chemically treated papers called keto
sticks. These papers are dipped or placed in a
urine sample you have taken; the deeper the shade
of purple, the less glucose you have in your blood.
The Carbing-Up Phase: Days 4,5,
and 6
During these last
three days of the carbohydrate-loading technique,
all exercise activity should cease to allow maximal
carbohydrate saturation within the muscle cells.
An important point to remember here is that you
will have to decrease your daily caloric intake
because your energy requirements are now lower
due to the termination of the workout sessions.
Take in only enough
calories to meet your estimated daily caloric
expenditure. You are not interested in gaining
muscle weight or losing body fat, but rather in
maintaining your current body weight. The opposite
of what you experienced in the depletion phase
regarding fluctuations in body weight will occur
during this phase: you may find yourself a few
pounds heavier. This is generally the result of
a water retention problem stemming from the massive
amounts of carbohydrates you've consumed (with
three parts water attaching to one part carbohydrate).
This problem will alleviate itself after the scheduled
athletic event.
During these three
carb-up days, eat loads of complex carbohydrates
along with some complete proteins and unsaturated
fats. Your daily ratio of these nutrients should
be as follows: carbs, 70 percent; proteins 25
percent; fats, 5 percent.
Note that there
are some differences between how a man should
approach the carbing-up phase and how a woman
should do so. Some women can totally carb up in
a 24-hour period, whereas a 200-pound man will
need all 3 days, or 72 hours, in which to accomplish
this critical phase of carbohydrate-loading. With
this in mind, it would be a good idea to practice
the carbohydrate-loading technique once or twice
during the year just to see how your body reacts
to it, rather than trying it for the very first
time before an important athletic event and experiencing
some disappointments.
Another noted difference
in the approach to carbing up for men and women
has to do with simple sugars. When a man takes
in 20 percent or more of this daily calories in
the form of simple sugars, the liver immediately
converts the simple sugars to triglycerides or
fat. This does not generally happen in women.
Testosterone levels are responsible in part for
this. The normal male produces 2.5-10 mg a day.
This fact alone should make it clear why a woman
can't develop large muscle mass under normal conditions.
Eat simple (but
only in the percentage listed earlier in this
chapter) and complex carbs. Avoid those carbs
that are super-high in fiber. Moderation is the
key here. Avoid fats except for the daily allowance
percentage. Load up on apples, melons, strawberries,
whole wheat pancakes, pasta, potatoes, rice, grains,
waffles, etc.
Spread your meals
out as mentioned for the depletion phase. This
is carbohydrate loading at its optimum. For several
reasons, you should not attempt carb loading more
than three to four times a year:
1. During the first
three days there is a loss of fiber content due
to the lack of fibrous complex carbohydrates,
which in turn causes diarrhea to occur occasionally.
2. During the depletion
phase of carbohydrate loading, there are some
radical changes in ratio quotas of the carbs and
proteins, and this has a diuretic effect (promoting
the discharge of urine) on the body. As a result,
your body becomes deficient in mineral potassium.
3. There is a slight
increase in the triglycerides (fat) stored in
the body due to the rather sudden loss of carbohydrate
stores, which are in part necessary for intercellular
fat metabolizing.
4. When not enough
carbohydrate (glycogen) is stored in the muscles
and liver, protein from the muscles is converted
to an energy source. In order to convert the protein
into an energy source, the nitrogen is stripped
from the protein molecules. The remaining carbon
and oxygen molecules combine to create an energy
source much like that of the carbohydrate.
The problem arises
with the excess nitrogen previously stripped from
the protein molecules. The isolated nitrogen molecules
from a toxic ammonia compound, which is rejected
by the liver into the bloodstream. This rather
toxic compound travels through the bloodstream
and eventually is filtered through the kidneys.
The end result, of course, is an overworked liver
and kidney, and this is simply not healthy when
carried to an extreme.
The Day of the Athletic Event
1. Don't miss a
scheduled meal on this day. Keep in mind that
four to five hours should elapse between your
final meal and the scheduled competition. This
will allow for maximum digestion of the foods.
2. Avoid overeating
or excess calorie consumption during these meals.
Eat only enough to stave off that precompetition
feeling of general weakness.
3. Eat only complex
carbohydrates, and these should be of the lowest
fiber content.
4. No protein or
fat sources are allowed on this day, and this
includes a time frame of 12 hours prior to the
scheduled event.
POWERLIFTERS BEWARE
This type of diet
is not recommended for powerlifters. It works
quite adequately for those in endurance sports
but not for powerlifters. This diet would present
a problem in any sport in which you are entering
a certain weight division. For example, to lose
10 pounds you would have to begin five meals prior
to the event; to lose 6-8 pounds, you would have
to begin three meals prior; to lose 4 pounds,
you would start two meals before; to lose 2 pounds
you would begin the evening before. Obviously,
when demands of this nature are required, effective
carbohydrate-loading techniques are not always
possible.
Dennis B. Weis is
a Ketchikan, Alaska based power-bodybuilder. He
is the co-author of 3 critically acclaimed books;
Mass!, Raw Muscle and Anabolic Muscle Mass. He
is also a frequent hard-hitting uncompromising
freelance writer for many of the mainstream bodybuilding
and fitness magazines published worldwide.
Contact Information:
Email: yukonherc@kpunet.net
Website: http://www.dennisbweis.com
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