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Alex
I provide nutrition coaching for endurance athletes to improve performance and body composition through a simple and flexible eating style.
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The fueling guide bundle serves as your one-stop-shop for strategies to fueling before, during and after your workouts.
Carb loading is an important strategy for endurance athletes to use to ensure they’re adequately fueled before a big race.
This strategy involves consuming a higher amount of carbs than perhaps normal, a few days leading up to your main event.
Some research shows as much as a 2-3% increase in performance following a high carbohydrate intake.
Here is a brief breakdown and guide to carb loading, providing you with tips on implementing it into your current nutrition plan and a sample day with over 500+ grams of carbs. I also go over some of the most common mistakes I see athletes make when carb-loading and which foods are the best to choose.
So let’s get to it.
If you haven’t already, make sure to head over to my services page to see my current nutrition coaching offers for runners and triathletes!
Eating carb-rich foods prior to race day can help maximize your glycogen stores, which is your source of stored energy.
On the flip side, inadequate glycogen stores on race day can lead to unnecessary fatigue and decreased endurance.
To avoid this, many endurance athletes use carb loading to increase the amount of glycogen stored in their muscles and liver.
These extra glycogen stores can convert into increased stamina and endurance for your upcoming race or big training session.
Here is a carb loading testimonial from one of my endurance athlete clients,
“I’m a believer! The people I train with all thought I was crazy when I said how many carbs I was eating. Well, after a 2.4 mile swim and 80 mile bike ride, guess who was doing circles around everyone on the bike! They were bonked while I was having a dance party on my bike. I felt amazing the whole time! Best 80 mile ride ever!!! And then when everyone went home, I decided to run 3 miles and honestly could have run longer. I’m in disbelief! I didn’t know carb loading that much could feel this good!”
You want to start loading up on carbs 1-3 days before race day, so plan ahead!
Aim for 3-5 grams of carbohydrates per 1-pound bodyweight.
ex. if you weigh 150 lbs, aim for 450+ grams of carbs each day
If you measure in kilograms of body weight, multiply by 2.2 to get your body weight in pounds. Then multiply that number by 3-5 grams of carbs.
ex. if you weigh 68 kilograms, aim for 450+ grams of carbs each day
Divide your total number of carbs into your typical meal pattern i.e. 3 meals a day + 3 snacks and aim for that # of carbs at each meal.
While any food that contains carbohydrates will add to your daily carb load, there are certain foods that may give you more bang for your buck. In general, a majority of your carbs will come from grains, fruits, vegetables, and some dairy products.
Grains such as rice, bread, pasta, cereal, oats, etc. are great because they are high in dietary fiber and other beneficial nutrients. Additionally, grains are typically easy for your body to digest and absorb, replenishing your muscle glycogen stores quickly and efficiently before your endurance event.
A variety of fruits and vegetables are also great to include in your high-carbohydrate diet. Utilize fresh, canned, dried, and frozen options to make it as easy for you as possible to hit that number of carbs.
Another carb-loading strategy, if necessary, is to choose foods that are lower in fat. High-fat foods are high in calories and fill you up quickly. Choosing low-fat foods leaves more room in your diet for carbohydrates.
If you need inspiration on what to stock in your endurance athlete pantry, check out this blog post!
There are two types of grains, refined grains, and whole grains. Refined grains are grains that have been milled and processed so they no longer contain the bran and germ. Whole grains, on the other hand, still have the entire kernel.
It is typically recommended to eat a diet full of primarily whole grains, and in most instances, I would agree with this statement. However, when it comes to carbo loading before a long-distance event, there is a bit more to consider.
Refined grains contain less fiber than whole grains so they go through your digestive tract slower. This allows your body to absorb it and increase your blood glucose more quickly. Which can be very beneficial for an athlete’s glycogen stores leading up to race week.
High-fiber foods can also make you feel more full, so you eat less of them. When having to hit very large numbers of carbs a day (400+ grams), this is not very ideal. I typically recommend a mix of whole grains and refined grains while carb loading, with an emphasis on low-fiber foods as the endurance event gets closer.
After reading this post, you may be wondering what athletes would benefit from carb loading and if you fit into that category!
In general, it is a nutritional strategy recommended for athletes who are either performing for a prolonged period of time (>90 minutes) or using short, intense bursts of energy. It is most commonly used with endurance athletes such as long-distance runners, triathletes, swimmers, and cyclists.
The Canadian Academy of Sports Nutrition recommended a rule of thumb, “any activity that uses the aerobic system for more than 25% of the time requires carb loading“.
Here is another client testimonial showing the benefits of carb loading for performance,
“Carbo-loading is AMAZINGGGG! I ran my 13 milers 45 sec to a minute per mile faster than I intended and had plenty of energy left to push up the hills that were crushing me last week at the same point in my run. Like, I just felt good the whole time. Wow, I feel INCREDIBLE!”
Don’t worry, carb loading is not as complex and scary as it may seem at first. Here are a few common carb-loading mistakes to watch out for!
Carb loading is not just a huge pasta dinner the night before. It’s harder than it looks to actually hit those large carb numbers! By the second half of the day, you’ll feel full and tired of eating if you aren’t strategic about it.
Here is a sample plan that will provide over 500+ grams of carbohydrates in one day.
For my best pancake recipe, check out this post here!
Here’s a recipe for no-bake protein energy bites.
Total carbs for the day: 500+
Here are some bonus tips on how you can increase your carbs throughout the day.
Carb loading is just one nutritional strategy you can use to maximize your performance on race day.
Interested in learning more about how to use nutrition to optimize your ability as an endurance athlete? Use this link to learn about my nutrition services and let’s chat!
Alex
I provide nutrition coaching for endurance athletes to improve performance and body composition through a simple and flexible eating style.
Hi, I'm
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