Carbohydrate Loading
The concept of not dipping into the body’s glycogen stores and loading up on carbohydrate food sources is known as carbohydrate loading. In this process, several days prior to a major competition, an athlete gradually increases their diet to contain a larger ratio of carbohydrates. This takes place in conjunction with reduced training and allows for a greater storage of muscle glycogen. Athletes most likely to use this are involved with endurance sports such as triathlon, marathon, adventure racing, or distance swimming.
Carbohydrate loading usually takes place over a week, or as little as twenty-four hours prior to competition. Carbohydrate loading allows the body to perform at your desired pace for a longer period of time and is especially useful for competitions lasting longer than ninety minutes.
Newer versions of carbohydrate loading do not include the depletion phase. This was a process used the week before carbohydrate loading in which food sources of carbohydrates were limited, coupled with hard training. The belief was that the muscles would then be “starving” for carbohydrates and the athlete able to store more glycogen during the carbohydrate loading phase. However, athletes often complained of training poorly during the depletion phase. It was demonstrated that this strategy was unnecessary.