Carb Loading...

Valuable pre-event body fuel, or excuse to pig out?

Assuming the former, how to do it?

My two cents is it is more valuable to pre-event hydrate.  Just my own opinion, folks, don't hang me for my opinion.  Make sure you are drinking plenty of water 2-3 days before the event to help prevent being dehydrated and continue hydrating during the event (i'm assuming you are talking about a long run or bike event). 

I am not sure of the correct answer to your actual question.  I tend to believe that a blend of protein and slower burning carbs such as peanut butter or whole grain products are beneficial as a pre-event  fuel (the morning/day of the event, not a huge meal, just enough to get you going).  For example, peanut butter on a whole wheat English muffin, and/or a banana.

Good luck if you are asking this because you are actually planning on participating in an event!

excuse to pig out.

false reasoning.. don't do it.

you need to have a balanced diet no matter what event you are participating in.. yes athletes don't do well on low-carb/no-carb diets because you need that energy that comes from carbs to fuel your workouts for best performance, but you do not need to go overboard.. something like 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% fat will do just fine.

eating more carbs (especially if they are simple carbs) a day or two in advance is not really going to help you.. if anything eat a meal containing complex slow-burning carbs before your event to supply energy

and drink water before, after, and during your event to make sure you are adequatly hydrated, this is very important

Depends on the event really. I row for my college, and we're advised to have 1-4g of carbohydrate per kg body weight between 1 and 4 hours before a race (2km usually - so fairly high intensity low duration). Don't know how that would translate for a longer endurance race. But it is important to have the carbohydrate before a race because it is the most easily accessible energy source.

Equally important is having a high carb snack (1g/kg body weight) within 30minutes of finishing exercise, so as to replenish stores and help muscles heal.

Original Post by carmenxox:

excuse to pig out.

false reasoning.. don't do it.

you need to have a balanced diet no matter what event you are participating in.. yes athletes don't do well on low-carb/no-carb diets because you need that energy that comes from carbs to fuel your workouts for best performance, but you do not need to go overboard.. something like 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% fat will do just fine.

eating more carbs (especially if they are simple carbs) a day or two in advance is not really going to help you.. if anything eat a meal containing complex slow-burning carbs before your event to supply energy

and drink water before, after, and during your event to make sure you are adequatly hydrated, this is very important

 

 Yeah, that's what I suspect as well.  I sure wish it was the former though - Just to take the guilt off the cheat meal.

Melicious - it's not my 1st event, but I've just noticed I've tried (my understanding of) carb loading pre-event in the past, and not noticed any real benefit.  This one is MS150, and I think I'll skip the carb-loading and just eat regularly and stayed hydrated fueled throughout the ride.

This totally depends on the event - only endurance events (2 hrs or longer to finish) really benefit from carbo loading ... however there is more to carbo loading that just eating a big pasta dinner the night before an event.  Carbo loading is the idea is that you are forcing your body to store more available energy directly in your muscles (closely related to the previous poster who mentioned the post workout recovery meal, which also trains your body to store more energy in the muscles). True carbo loading however is gross - it's not like having a cheat meal. It's days before an event eating brown rice and chicken when you feel like if you eat anymore brown rice you'll jump off a bridge. The quality of what you're eating makes a difference, so eating a pizza and calling it carb loading is just kidding yourself. Eating high quality whole grain carbs until you're totally sick of them until you feel fat and slow at the begining of an endurance race is what you want.

Carb-loading for endurance events does have a scientific basis, so I wouldn't simply label it an excuse to pig out. Unused glucose from carbohydrates (it can also be derived from proteins when necessary) are stored in muscles and the liver in the form of glycogen, an easily accessible energy reserve. During a race, your muscles draw from their glycogen stores and when this is depleted (general rule is about 90 minutes, but it varies), you will hit the wall. There are plenty of studies that demonstrate carb-loading techniques which can force your body to increase glycogen stores. However, if you consume sports drinks or carb gels (with appropriate amounts of water to process it) during your race, the need for carb loading is significantly diminished.

The downsides are that heavy carb intake will increase water retention, making you heavier (this is particularly significant if you're an endurance runner). And the high carb intake required for very strict carb loading can irritate the stomach and intestines which clearly you don't want. If you are consuming carbohydrates during the race, you will probably be fine with tapering activity and a moderate carb increase beforehand.

I never studied the science or meal plans behind carb-loading.  But the night before an early running event the next day I would eat a decent sized pasta meal.  The morning of I would eat a banana and possibly one of those powerbar carbohydrate gel packs.  Of course staying well hydrated through-out the process.