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So will carb-loading make me faster?īy filling your muscles to the brim with glycogen you should be able to ride for longer, and that means avoiding the dreaded bonk.
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These days it’s now accepted that the first part of the programme – the carb-depletion phase – is pure folly.Ī period of carb-loading two to three days prior to an event (combined with a tapered exercise regime) meanwhile, is now considered the best way to prepare for any race that lasts longer than 75 minutes. Not only did it interfere with exercise tapering – the now universally accepted practice of gradually reducing the amount of effort put into training in the run-up to a big event – but resulted in more worrying side-effects.Ĭyclists complained of feeling weak, irritable and tired while many failed to achieve high glycogen levels even after three days of having nothing but carbs poured back into their bodies. However, scientists soon realised that this regimen had a number of drawbacks. The theory was that by clearing out the body’s energy stories in this way, you could essentially trick it into storing much more energy than it would normally do once the glycogen tap was turned back on. Then three days before the race, riders would do the exact opposite – stop exercising altogether while flooding their bodies with carbs. It started with a regime of three days of heavy exercise coupled with a low-carb diet to strip the body of its existing glycogen stores.
#Carb loading full#
In its original incarnation the carb-loading technique consisted of a two-part programme that was carried out a full week before a race. Best budget cycling helmets: Safe on a budget So what exactly is carb loading?Ĭarb (or sometimes carbo) loading is simply the term used to describe stuffing your diet full of carbohydrates in order to maximise the glycogen stores in your muscles and liver.ĭevised in the 1960s, the technique works off the theory that with more glycogen available, the longer you’ll be able to exercise before fatigue sets in.