“A thorough review conducted in 1997 found that carb-loading does not aid performance in short events, but over prolonged efforts of at least 75 minutes performance may be improved by two to three per cent,” says Stellingwerff. You might think you eat plenty of carbs in your normal diet, so what’s the point? How great are the performance gains you stand to make from effective carb-loading? What does this level of carb consumption look like in terms of actual food and drink during the ‘load’?Ī 70kg cyclist would require 600-700g carbs each day, and a sample day’s diet could look like this: a large bowl of porridge (60g carbs), large banana (25g), and glass of orange juice (25g) for breakfast two teacakes with jam (45g) and a sports drink (40g) as a mid-morning snack two sandwiches (four slices of bread) with filling of your choice (50g), frosted cinnamon bun (35g), can of lemonade (25g) for lunch banana smoothie (20g) and a cereal bar (30g) as an afternoon snack a large bowl of pasta with sauce (80g), three slices of garlic bread (50g) for dinner, with two glasses of cordial (35g) and as an evening snack, two English muffins, toasted, with jam (70g), and a 500ml sports drink (40g) - adding up to 630g (equivalent to 9g/kg/day). Following this carb-rich diet for two to three days prior to the event should not leave you feeling bloated or uncomfortable - but it’s worth experimenting with different high-carb foods to find out which work best for you. Ten grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight may seem like a gut-busting amount, but as Stellingwerff points out, “Many elite athletes routinely consume 8g/kg/day, so the increase is not dramatic.”īear in mind, some of these additional carbs can be consumed in liquid form - fruit juices, smoothies, sweetened tea, etc there’s no need to chomp through bowl after bowl of porridge, rice and pasta. “We now know that, with a normal training taper and increased carb intake to around 10g/kg/day, an athlete is able to carb-load in as little as 36-48 hours pre-race,” explains Trent Stellingwerff, a physiologist at the Canadian Sport Institute. Getting the balance of your diet right is key, including the quantity of carbohydrates
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