Have you ever heard the term carbohydrate loading and wondered what it was? No, for those of you who may have been snickering, it is not an anti-Atkins product that is being shipped to the grocery store near you. Athletes, in order to maximize and increase their body’s glycogen reserves, practice carbohydrate loading. They do this in order to extend their endurance or staying power.
For example, the runner who does ten miles is going to want to practice carbohydrate loading before he gets started. Otherwise, like a car that gets down to the fumes in the gas tank – your body can sputter and drop off. The runner may experience cramps or just severe fatigue. Either way, hitting the ten mile mark may prove impossible.
The need to maximize your energy applies to any sport or training session where you are going to be exerting yourself for more than an hour. It’s important to understand before you start loading up daily, that carbohydrate loading requires a very strict protocol. It begins by depleting the body down to just a 10% intake of carbohydrates for three days while working out still. Then for three days, you should switch to a low energy workout and pumping the carbs up hard.
This is a program for pumping yourself up for a distance race or other difficult physical activity.
For a standard workout, if you are performing activity for 60 minutes or more, considering carbing up beforehand. This doesn’t mean switching to a high carb breakfast every day, a sandwich or a bowl of cereal can provide you with sufficient carbohydrates to work with. Just watch your calorie intake. Ultimately, when you calorie up you should still burn more calories during a workout than you took in unless you are in a weight maintenance phase of a workout program.
Also, it’s important to understand that this is the reason why the Atkins diet is not exercise friendly. Severe depletion of your carbohydrate resources can make workouts far more difficult – your body will burn muscle for glycogen reserves and this can lead to muscle pain, damage and discomfort along with severe fatigue.
Remember, no matter what exercise and diet program you decide to engage in, it’s important to consult your physician beforehand.