Carb Loading

Carbohydrate loading is a way of increasing glycogen stores in your body for endurance athletes (stored carbs inside the muscles). This allows you to exercise longer and with more intensity. It's a natural process that happens when you train for endurance but there are ways to increase the glycogen stores by "carb loading".

Exercising long distances depletes your glycogen levels. When you eat carbs after a work-out your body restores the glycogen. The more you repeat this process the larger your glycogen levels rise and the longer you can work out.

Carb loading was developed by a Swedish scientist named Gunvar Ahlborg in 1967. He found a way to manipulate your glycogen stores by first decreasing your carbohydrates for 3 days, then increasing carb intake for 4 days. This week long process has been tried and proven to raise glycogen levels above normal levels giving an endurance athlete the "edge".

Glycogen Depletion Stage: Moderate-to-high intensity exercise to deplete stores, coupled with low-to-moderate carbohydrate intakes (<55% of total calories)
Glycogen Loading Stage: Tapered exercise (low-intensity, short-duration), coupled with high carbohydrate intakes (>70% of total calories).

Reseach has shown varieties of carb loading protocols for as little as one day can show similar results. Here are some examples of carb loading protocols.

Traditional 7 Day Protocol

Glycogen depletion stage (3 days)
Transitional stage (day 4)
Carbohydrate loading stage (3 days)

3 Day Protocol

Glycogen depletion stage (1 day)
Carb loading stage (2 days)

Rapid One Day Protocol

Very intense workout (2-3 min at high intensity)
24 hour high carbohydrate (high glycemic) intake

Consistant endurance training will naturally increase your ability to store glycogen. It's the body's way of meeting the increasing demand of long workouts. Carb loading will only increase glycogen levels temporarily and is most widely used for competition. Every edge helps!

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