CHO in the Hours Before Competition

Question 1

Why should we consume CHO in the hours before competition?

Answer 1

Tops up glycogen stores.
Provides exogenous supple of blood glucose.
Necessary for most athletes.
Critical for athletes participating in the morning or athletes who have eaten poorly in past 24 hours due to low glucose/glycogen stores.

Question 2

Timing

Answer 2

3-4 hours before competition.
Must take into account digestion, absorption.
Encourages excretion
Reduces stomach contents.

Question 3

Amount

Answer 3

Depends on intensity of activity, duration of activity, what they have already eaten.
We want it to be enough to top up liver, muscle, and blood glycogen levels right before competition.
Muscle stores between 300-400g of glycogen.
Liver stores between 80-110g of glycogen.

Question 4

CHO Intake for Athletes

Answer 4

Low-intensity, long duration (>1 hr) activities = 5-7g/kg
Intermittent high-intensity moderate to long duration (>1 hr) activities = 6-8g/kg
Moderate-intensity ultralong duration (>4 hrs) = 8-12g/kg

Question 5

Why g/kg and not %?

Answer 5

Recommendations relative to body weight, g/kg avoids the problems associated with using a % of calories with low calorie diets and very high calorie diets.

Question 6

Type

Answer 6

Should be familiar or plain.
High CHO, low-moderate protein, low in fat and fiber to allow for quick digestion and absorption

Question 7

Experience tells us…

Answer 7

We need to experiment to find out what works best for an athlete.
Nervous athletes who can’t eat should experiment/practice in training, with high CHO products that are easy to digest.

Question 8

What about CHO in the hour before competition/immediately before exercise?

Answer 8

Seen as controversial because of insulin response.

Question 9

CHO Immediately Before Exercise

Answer 9

No change or increased performance with CHO ingestion in the hour before exercise.
Individual differences seem to play a role (practice is necessary).