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With all the bad press carbs have been getting lately (they
can be easily stored as fat, and "higher-fat, lower-carb"
diets are the cure-all for the insulin-insensitive), let me
just say here and now that the demise of carbohydrates is
premature at best. Carbohydrates are still the No. 1 fuel
source for high-intensity exercise, and ingesting carbs during
exercise can definitely help your workout!
Right now, there's little doubt that exercise
lasting more than a couple of hours is limited primarily
by carbohydrate depletion and dehydration. If you ingest
a carb source during prolonged exercise, you'll delay
fatigue and enhance performance. But what about high-intensity,
intermittent exercise, such as sprinting, soccer, football
or resistance training? Most of us don't lift weights
for more than two hours, and our fatigue isn't entirely
due to glycogen depletion or dehydration so can consuming
a drink containing sugar help?
Investigators at the University of South Carolina, Columbia,
tested the effects of carbohydrate feedings during intense
intermittent cycling (sprint cycling) designed to induce
fatigue within 40-60 minutes. In a double-blind protocol,
physically active but untrained men and women ingested
either a placebo or an 18%-carbohydrate solution (approximately
47 grams) immediately before exercise and a 6%-carbohydrate
solution (approximately 16 grams) every 20 minutes during
exercise. The volume of fluid ingested was 4 ml per 2.2
pounds |
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| (1 kg) of bodyweight; the exercise bout
consisted of one minute of high-intensity cycling with
a three-minute rest between bouts. Subjects performed
this "sprint cycling" regimen until they could
no longer maintain the same revolutions per minute. |
For the carb group, plasma levels of glucose and insulin
were higher 30 minutes after the commencement of exercise
and until fatigue. The ratings of perceived exertion, which
generally describes how hard the exercise feels to the subject,
were less in the carb group. But more importantly, the average
time to exhaustion was much longer in the carb group; in fact,
they exercised approximately 50% longer (about 90 minutes
vs. roughly 60 minutes) than the placebo group.
Thus, again, the benefits of ingesting carhs aren't limited
to marathoners but are also quite important for us anaerobic
guys and gals. If you looking for that extra edge or energy
boost, it may be worthwhile to sip one of the various sports
drinks available. Some guys like to dilute a non-carbonated
soft drink in half; this probably works just as well as a
sports drink. The only type sugar you might want to stay away
from while you exercise is fructose or fruit sugar. For some
people, fructose may cause stomach upset probably doesn't
offer any advantages in performance arena either.
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