Fueling Daily Performance
Antwan Harris
Sports Performance Coach | NSCA Strength and Conditioning Professional | College Professor
Fueling Daily Performance
Coach Harris
Understanding Carbs
Carbohydrates are compounds consisting of three types of atoms: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Carbohydrates serve four important functions in various tissues:
·????They are a metabolic energy fuel source for nerve cells and red blood cells.
Carb sources literally provide the circulatory and nervous system fuel to ensure nerves, hormones, and blood flow remain at an optimum level.?
·????They are a metabolic energy fuel source for skeletal muscle, especially exercising muscle.
Due to the internal and external processes of our body we ensure our working muscles are fueled during exercise.
·????As carbohydrates are metabolized, they serve as a carbon primer for fat entry into the Krebs cycle.
As a result,?consuming carbohydrates helps your cells harness chemical energy, helping to drive your metabolism.
·????They spare protein from use as an energy source during exercise and intense training.
When there are carbs present within the body I.E the liver or muscle stores your body will deplete these sources first prior to the breakdown of lean muscle tissue.
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Carbs & Exercise
Fatigue during prolonged aerobic-type exercise is caused primarily from depleted carbohydrate stores in the exercising muscle (Rauch et al. 2005). I tend to direct the student-athletes to our dietician for in-depth conversations regarding their personal nutritional needs. With that said, depending on your body type, your sport, and the season you’re in will play a large factor in your carbohydrate ingestion.
Aerobic?endurance athletes refer to this as?‘hitting the wall’.?Some of the signals or symptoms of?‘hitting the wall’ include dizziness, a perception of fatigue, and decreased motivation.?
As a rule of thumb, I generally explain to my athletes that, “If you are experiencing this in practice or in the middle of a game you have under fueled.”
The glycogen stores prior to endurance training are a determinant as to how effective the athlete will be within the training session. However, in general terms, an aerobic endurance athlete’s?carbohydrate consumption should account for approximately 55% to 65% of the total caloric intake (McArdle, Katch, and Katch 2009).
Breakdown: The usage of?carbohydrates during prolonged exercise performance longer the 2 minutes and an intermittent pattern (Wind Sprints, Agility Drills, or Repeat High Intensity Efforts) are closely related.
The off and on of drills allows some hydrogen ions to clear so that muscles can buffer the lactic acid, and this of course alleviates detrimental aspects that effect performing drills or completing practice. The muscle glycogen aids the production of ATP over the duration of various sets or rounds of exercise.
KEY POINT:?Because pre-exercise muscle glycogen levels are similar in aerobic and anaerobic athletes, daily carbohydrate consumption should account for 55% to 65% of caloric intake for anaerobic athletes as well. Specifically, anaerobic athletes training or competing on a regular basis should ingest 5 to 7 g of carbohydrate per kilogram body weight a day.
Fun Fact
Carbohydrate ingestion (particularly high-glycemic types) dramatically increases endogenous insulin secretion. The hormone insulin enhances the anabolic stimulus that resistance exercise produces. Specifically, insulin acts as a powerful anabolic hormone in previously exercised muscle in multiple ways, including:
·???????promoting the synthesis of protein,
·???????decreasing protein breakdown,
·???????Stimulating glucose uptake, and
·???????Stimulating glycogen storage (Biolo et al. 1999; Tipton et al. 2001)