Some might have heard of carbohydrate loading, but what is it exactly. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, it is defined a as a system of ingesting large quantities of carbohydrates before endurance activity that will last more than half an hour.

I have a friend that is into strength training and marathon runner, and spends at least two hours at the gym a couple of days a week.  My friend was explaining to me that they usually load up on carbohydrate dense foods in the morning before they go to the gym.  It is typical for marathoners to do carbohydrate loading.  This is done because this type of activity uses a high percentage of the body’s stores of glycogen.  If there is insufficient carbohydrate available and the glycogen stores are used up, a bottoming-out effect can occur.  By carbo-loading, the body can reinforce its glycogen stores, doubling its available energy stores.

A carbo-loading diet typically occurs over several days.  First comes four days of lowering glycogen stores by eating few carbohydrates and engaging in heavy exercise activities.  Then, the person recuperates for three days and ingests up to 10 grams of carbohydrates for each kilogram of body weight.

Traditional carbo-loading consisted of four days of exhaustive exercise and limited carbohydrates followed by three days of recuperation and maximal carbohydrate intake. This method can be hard on the body by adding extra stressors right before an endurance event, which can lead to increased injury risk and cause blood sugar levels to slip too low, causing fatigue and crankiness.  An alternate carbo-loading routine, aimed at increasing the bod’s stores of glycogen, was formulated in the early 1980’s.  The client ingests four grams of carbohydrate for every kilogram of body weight on the sixth, fifth, and fourth days before an endurance activity.

If you ever work with a client as a personal trainer, and they intend on doing more than an hour of intense exercise, ingesting carbohydrates during the training session may be advisable.  This would help keep available energy in reasonable range, prevent an exhaustion of glycogen stores from muscle tissue, and increase endurance and performance for up to an additional hour.  If the exercise or training requires endurance, hourly intake of carbohydrates is recommended.  The best recommendation would be through sports beverages; these not only replace fluids, but they also give a balanced stream of carbohydrates to the body without filling the stomach with the bulk that accompanies solid food consumption.

Ingesting carbohydrates after working out can have several benefits: It helps the body replenish glycogen stores that were depleted in training; ingesting carbohydrates after exercise also helps the body repair itself after strenuous workouts.  It is vital that carbohydrates to be ingested quickly after exercising to maximize benefits.  It is advisable to consume between 1 to 2 grams of carbohydrates for every kilogram of body weight within 30 minutes of completing a workout.

If you are working with a client who is looking to loose fat and gain lean muscle, carbohydrates should be the most plentiful aspect of the diet.  Carbohydrates intake should be mainly ingested by a good deal of dietary fiber in that 50 to 75 percent.

So, carb it up!