Carbohydrate loading before a bikini fitness competition. What is carbohydrate loading for? From Dr. Mercola

Those on a low carb diet often use carbohydrate loading to increase their metabolic rate. Is it smart to eat more if you want to lose weight?

Represents sharp increase the amount of carbohydrates in the diet and, accordingly, its calorie content against the background of a low-carbohydrate or carbohydrate-free diet. This is a well-known technique used by representatives of fitness and bodybuilding. For athletes, loading can last from one day to several weeks or even months. It all depends on the individual program, goals, etc. From the diet of athletes, this technique has migrated to the lives of amateurs and just those who often go on diets. She is also called carbohydrate refeed. They pursue the same goals, they only use different methods. But more on that in the next article. First, about the goals.

1) increase in metabolic rate

With a calorie deficit or simply a lack of any food (for example, carbohydrates), processes change hormonal regulation and metabolism. Even if you are a supporter of fractional nutrition, which, a priori, increases the metabolic rate, any energy deficit is perceived by the body as stress and it tries its best to adapt to it. Sooner or later, but with a constant deficit, the body will still begin to reduce the metabolic rate. And by periodically using carbohydrate loading, you let the body know that you are not going to constantly “starve it” and the metabolic rate increases again.

2) normalization of the production of the hormone leptin

Leptin is a hormone that regulates energy balance in the body and controls appetite. When leptin levels rise, you feel full and therefore don't feel hungry.

On a low-carbohydrate diet, leptin production is reduced. Carb loading helps overcome this phenomenon.

3) decreased production of the hormone ghrelin

Ghrelin stimulates the appetite. That is, its action is opposite to that of leptin. The higher the ghrelin level, the greater the feeling of hunger. As you might have guessed, with a calorie deficit, this hormone begins to be produced in greater quantities.

4) removal of psychological stress

Not getting the necessary norm of carbohydrates, and even more so, not being able to eat your favorite foods, you become not only weak, but also irritable, and the risk of breaking loose from the chosen diet is very high. And if you periodically arrange such loading days for yourself, then the diet is easier to tolerate.

5) restoration of glycogen stores

After a carbohydrate load, muscle reserves are restored and strength and endurance reappear. That is why, after loading, workouts become highly productive and there is a high predisposition to growth. muscle mass.

Who Needs a Carb Load?

I did not include professional athletes in this list, since they have “carbohydrate loading” according to special rules and may differ significantly from those principles that a non-professional can and should use.

However, with all the advantages, the "boot" days, in my opinion, have one big disadvantage- many, starting to eat forbidden foods, can't stop. Loading turns into gluttony, the consequences of which can be very difficult to eliminate. Therefore, if you know that your will is not as strong as you would like, 🙂 better think twice before reaching for a piece of cake!

If you try to talk about it as briefly as possible, this is a diet based on the use of a large amount of lean meat, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts and healthy fats.

We have always said that it is worth keeping carbohydrate intake as low as possible, as they can raise blood sugar, insulin levels and create an opportunity for various diseases; and as a result, they negatively affect the performance in the hall.

Personally, I have already experienced the benefits of reducing the amount of carbohydrates in my diet, it helped me as a CrossFitter, but there are a number of athletes from other sports who, on the contrary, have to increase the amount of carbohydrates in order to increase performance.

Athletes who need great endurance - triathletes, runners, swimmers - are forced to load up on carbohydrates before competitions to be able to give their all for an extended period of time. And this fact led me to think - can loading carbohydrates be an effective strategy for a CrossFitter taking part in competitions?

And in general - the presence of the maximum amount of energy that will allow you to train several times a day should bear fruit. But what is carbohydrate loading? How does this happen? And will it work for a CrossFit competitor?

Carbohydrate loading is a strategy that involves changing how the digestive system works to raise the maximum level of carbohydrates stored in our body, such as glycogen (a carbohydrate stored in the muscles and liver), all of which allows us to produce more energy.

Muscle glycogen is the main source of energy used during medium and high intensity exercise, namely the depletion of glycogen stores during exercise and leads to bouts of fatigue.

The carbohydrate loading technique dates back to the late 1960s, when the Swedish physiologist Gunvar Ahlborg discovered a positive relationship between the amount of glycogen in the body and the endurance of athletes. Alborg developed a special program for athletes, the results of which directly depended on their endurance. First, there was a 3-4-day "phase of exhaustion", during which the athlete trained hard every day, but at the same time consumed little carbohydrate.

The stress from lack of glycogen from hard training and low carbohydrate intake triggered the body's adaptation mechanism, which led to the fact that it reduced the amount of carbohydrates that it “stored” as fat and increased the amount of carbohydrates that was sent to the muscles and liver converting to glycogen.

After the “exhaustion phase”, the “loading phase” began, which also lasted 3-4 days. At this time, the athlete trained on a lighter program and rested, and the diet consisted of a high-carbohydrate diet. The combination of these two phases has been shown to double the amount of stored glycogen and increase endurance in athletes during exercise that lasted more than 90 minutes.

Be that as it may, this method, especially the "exhaustion phase", has its drawbacks for athletes. Maintaining a 10% carbohydrate diet for 3-4 days (as required by the Alborg method) has Negative consequences, including lethargy, obsession, irritability and excitability, lack of concentration, and an increasing susceptibility to disease. Today this method became a little more thoughtful, so that carb loading became more amenable to adaptation to a particular athlete. In addition, it has already been proven that you can do without the "depletion phase", as athletes can increase the capacity of the "glycogen storage" without emptying it first.

How to load up on carbs

By latest research for 1-4 days, the athlete should switch to a light load mode during training. Following the basic rule, 1-2 days before the competition, the athlete should start taking 8-10 grams of carbohydrates for every 2 pounds (almost 1 kg) of the athlete's weight. You can look from the other side - just try to ensure that carbohydrates make up 70% of your diet these days.

So what foods should you lean on to load up on carbs? Of course, you should stay away from products containing a large number of"bad" fats, such as high-fat sauces, mayonnaise, cheese, butter and vegetable oils. Tortillas, oatmeal, bread, pancakes, waffles, bagels, yogurt, rice and pasta (pasta) are all options. light food for digestion.

Should I do this before a CrossFit competition?

It might be more correct to ask ourselves if carb-loading will improve performance. Unfortunately, it seems that this moment There are no scientific studies on the impact of carbohydrate loading on performance in CrossFit competitions. But there are studies related to this tactic in other sports focused primarily on endurance athletes.

Research published in the journal Sports Medicine shows that increasing starting muscle glycogen "makes it possible to delay the onset of fatigue by 20% in endurance events lasting more than 90 minutes." These studies also suggest that "increasing starting muscle glycogen before a moderate-intensity run or bike ride for 60-90 minutes does not confer any benefit."

If you dig deeper, you will find that the studies of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition» (IJSN - International Magazine on Sports Nutrition) point out that while carbohydrate loading may improve endurance and therefore certain performance, it does not increase the speed an athlete can maintain during high-intensity exercise (exercise that uses more than 70% of your V02 max ( V02 max is an individual value that shows the maximum aerobic capacity or the maximum possible oxygen consumption during intense exercise)), the duration of which is 2 hours or less.

In fact, starting glycogen capacity plays a role in longer races. A past 1995 IJSN study showed that muscle glycogen levels in carb-loaded athletes after 2 hours of cycling at 70% of their maximum VO2 did not decrease as much as those who did not use this technique.

Well, I hope I haven't blown your mind with all this scientific talk, and if you're still here, I'll summarize that the benefits of carbohydrate loading begin to appear after an hour and a half to two hours, depending on whose data you trust more. There is only one circle physical activities in which you can realize such an advantage.

And by advantage, I mean that you won't tire as quickly as you would in normal condition not loaded with carbohydrates beforehand. That is, you will be able to show a high level of physical performance for longer before the inevitable moment of its gradual decline comes.

Competitive period

So how does this apply to CrossFit competition? Of course, CrossFit routines (particularly during one-day competitions) test a variety of athlete abilities—not just endurance, which has been the subject of research.

There is almost no research on the effect of carbohydrates on power, strength, coordination, etc. And since CrossFit workouts usually don't last more than an hour, you won't be able to reap the benefits of not getting tired as quickly. Or can you? If you have to perform several complexes in one day, you will definitely be under physical load for more than 2 hours.

Let not at once, but in the sum it will come out just so much. Depending on the break between races, carb-loading can be a big help when you lose energy during a long day of competition, during which your endurance will definitely be put to the test.

Yes, perhaps none of the competitions will focus specifically on endurance, but do you dare to say that a day filled with WATERS is not in itself a test of your ability to recover and save energy?

Either way, carb-loading has its downsides to keep in mind. Every 1 gram of glycogen stored in the muscles is another 3 grams of water. This means that if you are fully loaded with carbohydrates, then your mass will rise by 2-3%.

This can make you feel heavier and sluggish early in the race, which isn't a problem in endurance exercise where athletes need to keep pace, but can be a problem in the shorter, more dynamic stages that CrossFit abounds in. Loading carbohydrates also requires the athlete to be able to stick to a diet, which can be difficult for some people. However, it's not as hard as trying not to pounce on any food when you're trying to load up on fast-digesting carbs.

In the end, it is an individual decision for the athlete whether the potential benefits of carbohydrate loading outweigh the disadvantages when we are talking about CrossFit competitions. But now that you have the knowledge, it seems to me that there is only one way to test it!

You will be interested

It is a universal source of energy for human body, and this is no coincidence. Getting into gastrointestinal tract, they quickly undergo enzymatic processing, and are absorbed into the blood.

Further, with the direct participation of the pancreatic hormone -, they are supplied to all tissues and organs. In the cells of our body, saccharides are oxidized, releasing energy that is used for life support needs.

This is a very simplified algorithm for saturating our body with energy. In fact, everything looks much more complicated, but to understand the essence of what is happening, this is quite enough. About what is the source life force, perhaps everyone knows, but few people know how it can be used to increase training potential.

This is a procedure called carbohydrate loading- unloading. I note that this technique should be used mainly by athletes, in the period before the competition. Those who simply want to lose some weight by exposing themselves physical activity can also use this technique.

Fundamentals of carbohydrate loading - unloading

This technique is based on the principle of stimulating the body to certain metabolic rearrangements, forcing it to use internal reserves, and increase production, primarily from adipose tissue.

The first period is carbohydrate unloading, during which the intake of saccharides with food should be excluded or at least very strongly limited. What will happen in our body?

Carbohydrate unloading

Lack of carbohydrate intake leads to a negative energy balance. The body begins to mobilize internal reserves, trying to rectify the situation. In our body, the processes of gluconeogenesis are launched, or, in simple terms, glucose neoplasms, mainly from adipose tissue, as well as from food.

The body begins to deal with the lack of energy, getting used to this state. At the beginning of carbohydrate unloading, an athlete may feel very unimportant. This is due to a deep restructuring of all metabolic processes.

Perhaps the manifestation of an unmotivated feeling - this is quite normal, you should not beware of this. Later, when the processes of gluconeogenesis pick up the desired pace, these negative manifestations disappear gradually. You will be able to enter the usual rhythm of training.

The duration of this period can vary over a fairly wide range. On average, carbohydrate unloading should not exceed two weeks. Even if you feel strong in yourself, it is worth stopping at 14 days.

Remember, you are still playing with fire, which, as you know, can warm or burn. To be immoderate, then problems from the liver, pancreas, central nervous system- guaranteed.

Such experiments should not be carried out without involving specialists in the training process. It is necessary to constantly take, and at the slightest pathological changes stop carbohydrate unloading immediately.

What should be the diet in this period? It is clear that all products containing carbohydrates should be excluded, namely:, bakery products, dairy, and much more. You will have to eat mainly at the expense of products of animal origin. Preference should be given low-calorie varieties and meat. Avoid pork and chicken thighs as they are very high in fat.

Don't forget about enough liquid, as it is necessary for normal excretion products of protein metabolism. A very serious burden will be placed on the kidneys during this period.

After the body is fully tuned to produce its own glucose, you should smoothly move into the second phase of the technique - the period of carbohydrate loading. The essence of this is that our body will receive additional source energy and will begin to function with a vengeance.

Both endogenous saccharide and those obtained with food will undergo oxidation. Roughly, this can be compared to the process of adding additives to automotive fuel, when the engine starts to produce significantly more power. This is precisely the essence of the methodology, which means that an athlete can enter competitions and win medals.

If you are not an athlete, but simply rid yourself of extra pounds By exercising in the fitness center, you will be able to give all the best with maximum efficiency, and, consequently, lose more fat.

So that the body is not subjected to a terrible carbohydrate "hit", this should be done gradually. On average, the duration of both periods should be the same, and the amount of saccharides should be increased gradually in equal proportions.

For example, if before the start of the method you consumed, say, 300 grams of carbohydrates, and the duration of the first period was 10 days, then in the second phase, 30 grams should be added every day. As you can see, the arithmetic is very simple.

Contraindications

Of course, it would be foolish to assume that this technique is devoid of contraindications. Below I will list the conditions in which you should not adhere to carbohydrate loading - unloading:

Diseases of cardio-vascular system;
Liver disease with insufficiency this body;
Diseases excretory system on the background kidney failure;
Diabetes any type;
Mental disorders;
Pregnancy;
breastfeeding period.

I remind you of the need to seek specialist advice. Do not put rash experiments on your body.

Conclusion

This technique is a way to increase physical activity. At the same time, you will be able to play sports with a double return. But, you should be careful and moderate. Remember the main postulate of medicine - do no harm.

The carb-loaded diet is a strategy to increase the amount of fuel stored in your muscles to increase your athletic endurance performance. Carb loading is the result of continuing to eat a high-carb "training diet" while reducing activity levels while loading carbohydrates.

Target

Any physical activity requires carbohydrates for fuel. For most recreational activities, your body uses existing energy stores. But when you do long, intense workouts, your body needs additional energy. The purpose of carbohydrate loading is to provide energy to increase endurance, and complete the training set with less fatigue. This, in turn, will affect the size of the glycogen depot and increase strength endurance in general.

The role of carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, also known as starch and sugar, are the main source of energy for the body. Complex carbohydrates include legumes, grains and starchy vegetables such as potatoes, peas and corn. simple carbohydrates are found mainly in fruits and milk, but also in foods with sugar, such as candy and other sweets.

During digestion, your body breaks down carbohydrates into sugar. Sugar enters your bloodstream, where it is then transported to individual cells to provide energy. Sugar is stored in the liver and muscles like glycogen is your source of energy.

The load itself

Carbohydrate loading is carried out a week before high endurance. 3-4 days before the event, increase your carbohydrate intake to about 10-12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight (70% of daily calories). Reduce the amount of food high content fat to make up for the extra carbohydrate-rich foods. Also reduce your training. Rest completely the day before your big event. Combination of use more carbs and tapering activity appears to improve glycogen depot performance.

How many carbs you need depends on your common purpose calories, as well as from your sport. For most athletes, 5-7 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight per day is fine as a test.

Diet Example

Here is an example of a carbohydrate meal plan for an athlete who weighs 77 kilograms. 10 grams per kilogram of body weight meal plan consists of about 70% carbohydrates. You can customize this rough plan eating carbohydrates according to your own tastes and nutritional needs. Keep in mind that 1 gram of carbohydrates has 4 calories.

What is it for?

Carbohydrate loading has significantly more wide range applications. In particular, it helps to regulate the main metabolic processes, which is useful not only for athletes during drying, but also for ordinary housewives, or novice athletes. The benefit of carbohydrate loading is to regulate the following factors:

• Improving metabolism.
• Normalization of the production of the hormone leptin.
• Decreased production of the hormone ghrelin.
• Withdrawals psychological stress.
• Restore glycogen stores.

Metabolism improvement

Let's start with the fact that carbohydrate loading is often used on drying. And any drying implies an excessive acceleration of metabolism with a large calorie deficit and maintaining maximum muscle volume. In this case, carbohydrate loading acts as an anti-catabolic, which in turn replenishes reserves. nutrients in the muscle structures themselves, and allows more accurate drainage of water.

But most importantly, it balances the metabolic scales, preventing the start of catabolic optimization processes that can completely slow down progress towards goals.

Normalization of the production of the hormone leptin

Leptin is a hormone responsible for fat storage. The more it is, the more often the fat depot opens, and therefore excess energy comes out of it. So it turns out that any change in nutrition in the direction of cutting calories automatically reduces the level of leptin - this is a natural adaptogenic process on the part of the body. Therefore, with a decrease in the level of this hormone, the body, at every opportunity, will seek to put aside a little adipose tissue. Since this will be a response to "hunger" during drying.

Carbohydrate load allows you to shock the body with an excess of calories proper nutrition, which will increase the level of hormone production to the skies, and therefore, in the process of normalizing it, the athlete will have a small head start (up to 2 weeks) until he can safely lose weight.

Decreased production of the hormone ghrelin

Ghrelin, which is the precursor of growth hormone, is a rather controversial hormone. On the one hand, it directly affects the feeling of hunger. On the other hand, its regulation provides hyperplasia of muscle tissues. On the third hand, uncontrolled release, metabolizes ghrelin through toxins that destroy part of the brain cells.

Carb loading, like any cheat meal and any eating disorder hack, completely clogs ghrelin for a while due to the increased frequency of meals. Useful or harmful - decide for yourself.

Relieve psychological stress

It should be noted that during drying, or preparation for competitions, the body is in stressful situation. People begin to dream of cakes and pastries. Satisfaction of these needs leads to an increase in the level of dopamines and endorphins, which can affect norepinephrine receptors, reducing general catabolic processes and triggering the secretion of basic anabolic processes.

Restore glycogen stores

In the process of any diet for cutting - glycogen is depleted much faster than lipid tissues, at the same time it is restored only if there is a correct carbohydrate alternation. In particular, it is necessary to load the muscles with glycogen systematically, taking into account the principle of super recovery.

Carbohydrate loading in the short term, although it overloads the liver cells, nevertheless, due to the body's need for bound sugar, restores up to 90% of glycogen, against 10% of adipose tissue. In fact, this is a huge step forward for creating maximum lean muscle mass.

Who needs a carbohydrate load?

Now let's see who really needs a carbohydrate load actually.

1. Dry athletes. Allows you to slightly reduce the load on all body systems in the middle of the cycle.
2. Athletes a few days before performances. In this case, the carbohydrate loading in the total water binding during drying helps to create additional pumping, which can increase volumes. muscle tissue 1-2 centimeters in each muscle group.
3. Athletes who depend on strength endurance. For example, long-distance runners. They practice carbohydrate loading right up to the performances themselves. Marathon runners, for example, additionally consume carbohydrates right during the run, despite heavy load on organs digestive system.
4. Athletes to the security forces. Bodybuilders and CrossFitters love carb-loading as it boosts glycogen storage and therefore increases strength endurance.

Sometimes, ordinary housewives also use carbohydrate loading or cheat meals while following complex mono-diets that kill the body. Such a load allows you to deceive the body for a while, and continue losing weight with less loss in muscle tissue due to lipolysis and the restoration of glycogen reserves.

Carb-loading before a competition is really a short-term panacea. But it works only with preliminary exhaustion. The fact is that the body will increase the size of the glycogen depot only as a response to the stress response, which means that if you were working at the same level of carbohydrates and decided to load without first emptying, the effectiveness of such a nutrition plan will be much lower.

Outcome

Unfortunately, for many, the material may not be complete, since it does not indicate how carbohydrates are loaded correctly, in what period, but only general principles, advantages and disadvantages. This is no accident. The thing is, the type and type of carbohydrate loading depends on many factors, including:

• Athlete training. The size of its glycogen depot depends on this.
• The presence of additional stimulation from the hormonal system. Carbohydrate loading for an athlete sitting on AAS, and for a straight person will differ dramatically both in approach and in basic principles.
• Advance Diet. If a person was sitting on a carbohydrate alternation, then you need to enter more sharply than in the case of a carbohydrate-free diet.
• Experiments with mono-diets.
• Experiments with ketosis in the body.
• Initial calorie intake.
• Fermentation of nutrients, which is determined individually.
• Athlete goals. If this is a pre-competition pump, one method is used, while for off-season loading, completely different doses and types of carbohydrates are used.

Therefore, carbohydrate loading nutrition planning should be done according to the same individual principles as calculated basal metabolism, caloric requirements and counting days in carbohydrate rotation.

Bodybuilders always want more - to grow more muscle, burned more fat, and the result pleased more and more. In this constant pursuit of results, many sabotage their efforts.

Let's take an example to show what I mean. Let's say you're running a marathon. You've been training for years for the race, you're in the front row with a couple of miles to go and it looks like your efforts will be rewarded. You assess your chances as high, but would like to get an additional advantage. What if we reduce the weight of the equipment? And you take off your socks and sneakers and run the last miles barefoot.

But instead of joyfully and easily running ahead of everyone, you wince and dance in pain, stepping on sharp stones, and lose the race with a mile to go.

You must be thinking, “This is the dumbest idea I've ever heard of! The right way kill all chances of winning. My example may sound completely idiotic, but it's the equivalent of what most bodybuilders do the week before a competition. At the very end of hard training, they sabotage their efforts and reduce their chances of winning. There are many myths about pre-competition training. But there are certain general principles that you should know and follow so as not to cross out your efforts.

My prep method has become almost legendary because of the amount of carbs I recommend the days before a show. Although my ideas may seem rather controversial and contrary to all notions of the norm, they are based on scientific research and the results speak for themselves. This method has led to the fact that since 2010 when I started using it and I had only a few clients, now in 2011 I have many clients all over the country, including professionals, and many clients compete in Yorton Pro World Championships in 2011. Of course, there are a lot of details in the preparation process, but the main components are carbohydrates, water and salt (sodium).

Self-sabotage in the last week before the competition is associated with the standard practice of peaking. I called it standard because many "experts" already long years stick to it. Although many generally accepted ideas are incorrect and have no scientific basis at all.

A typical pre-competition week looks like this. At the start of the week, you deplete your glycogen stores for three days, then carb-load for three days before going on stage. And finally, some take extra potassium and limit sodium.

Look familiar? Surely, because that's what most people do when preparing for a competition. And then, on the day of the show, they wonder what went wrong. Understanding how your body reacts to carbs, water, sodium and potassium will allow you to get through the pre-competition week and come to show day lean, lean and full of muscle.

Carbohydrates
Depletion and subsequent carbohydrate loading will cause the body to store more carbohydrates than usual. This is called glycogen supercompensation, and this is perhaps one of the few common stereotypes that is completely true. When glycogen stores are depleted in the body, it begins to take measures to eliminate the imbalance. First of all, it increases the amount of glycogen that can be stored in the muscles.

So after a few days of exhaustion, the body is ready to store much more glycogen than usual at the first opportunity. That's what the download is for. Muscles filled with glycogen look bigger, skin is pulled tighter, and you look more defined and muscular. Which is the goal of any bodybuilder before the competition.

A longer front load has its advantages, because if you get flooded, you will have enough time to deal with the problem. Although I have always used this loading method in the past and it has worked reasonably well, I am not interested in what works well enough, but in what works best. Search best method led me to a protocol that seemed somewhat controversial. I called it the fastboot method.

A few years ago, I stopped using persistent loading and switched to a new method. The main difference between the standard fast loading method and my method is that you take almost all the required amount of carbohydrates on the day or a day and a half before the competition. This means that in one day you need to get enough carbohydrates to fill the glycogen stores in the muscles.

In addition, you must know exactly how much carbohydrate you need. If you go over the coals, you will be flooded and the relief will be blurry. If there is not enough coal, the muscles will remain flat, and the coals that you eat a couple of hours before going on stage will not have time to stock up in the muscles like glycogen. So you need to feel your metabolism and body very well. If you know exactly what it does, then the risk of error is low. When I work with clients, I have months to figure out their metabolism so I know exactly how much carbs they need by the time they load.

Maybe you still don't understand why I went from pretty safe method boot to another, riskier one. The answer is simple - RESULT. main reason why the fast, one-day upload method works better than the standard three-day upload method is an adaptation. Every time you change your diet, your body tries to adapt, to adapt.

With a three-day load, the body will notice on the first day that coals have appeared. As a result, he will immediately begin to take action and dismantle the supercompensation mechanism that was created during the period of exhaustion. On the third day, the ability of the muscles to store additional glycogen is significantly reduced.

With a one-day load, the body does not have time to get used to the intake of coal. Consequently, much more glycogen is stored in the muscles. New method gives a much better result because it takes advantage of the super compensation created during the exhaustion phase.

So how many carbs do you need to load? Unfortunately, finding the answer to this question is not so easy. I can say that definitely more is needed, much more than you think. So many that you might think I'm crazy. In the 24-36 hours leading up to the preliminary judging, some of my clients consume up to 1600 grams. Yes, yes, up to 1600 grams in one single day!

If you have done the exhaustion phase correctly, it will work. But you need to know exactly the individual needs. 1600 is perhaps the maximum possible. Most of my clients consume in the range of 900-1300 grams.

When developing recommendations, it is necessary to take into account the gender of the individual, body type, weight, metabolism, activity level, and all possible combinations of the above factors. It's not easy, but if I have enough time to work with the client, I can figure out the exact amount of carbs to load. As a rule, the greater the dry weight and the faster the exchange, the greater this volume will be.

I want to emphasize again that the amount of coals must be CORRECT, otherwise the result may be far from ideal. If there aren't enough embers, your muscles will look flat on stage and you'll look as skinny as a deflated balloon. If you overdo it with coals, the muscles will fill up, but you can get flooded, and you will look smooth, not embossed. Carbohydrates retain water because they are stored in the body in a “wet” form. (carbohydrates → surge of insulin in a weaned body → insulin retains sodium → sodium retains water in the intercellular space)

When the glycogen depots in the muscles are filled, water will go there along with carbohydrates. But after they are filled, excess carbohydrates will go to other tissues. And, accordingly, they will attract water with them, including under the skin, into the tissues that cover your muscles, smoothing out the entire relief that you have so diligently achieved.

There are other factors as well, such as the time of day, the type of carbohydrates, the amount of potassium in the diet, and the time of day when this potassium is supplied. All these little details play important role but the main problem is total coals needed 24-36 hours before the competition. In general, there is some risk in using the fastboot method, but with correct application the results are just amazing.

Water
Another time-honored pre-competition tradition is water restriction. My clients drink liters of water before the show.

Common sense tells us that if you do not drink water, then there will be nothing to delay. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work that way. You have to drink water, or the whole point of carb-loading will be lost. As I said before, carbs bind water, this also applies to carbohydrates in the muscles. In the absence of water, carbohydrates are more likely to be stored as fat than as glycogen. (you need to eat a bag of potatoes, so that at least something from the coals is deposited like fat, ) . Because glycogen can ONLY be stored in the presence of water. (2)

When carbohydrates are stored in the muscles, they bind 2.7 grams of water for every gram of glycogen. This means that when you load up on charcoal and your muscles get filled and sculpted, 75% of that volume is water. So, if you do not drink water, you can say goodbye to the dream of big beautiful muscles and get small and saggy ones. And filled muscles stretch the skin and allow you to better see the relief.

When I talk about the need for water to achieve best form, many do not believe me and are afraid that excess amount water will lead to swelling. But the cause of water retention is carbohydrates, not water. Muscles are like a bath with the cork removed. No matter how much water you pour into the bathroom, it will still drain. In order for the water to stay in the bathtub, you need something to keep it there.

The same thing happens when you drink water. Everything that you drink will leave the body if something does not stop this water. Imagine that I start throwing sponges into the bath. Sponges will absorb water and prevent it from flowing out. This is exactly what happens with carbohydrates. They bind water wherever they go. And when you eat carbs and drink water, the first thing your body does is replenish muscle stores.
The problem with fluid retention will arise if you throw too many sponges into the bath. If they overflow the bath, they will inevitably begin to fall out onto the floor. The same will happen if you sort out carbohydrates. They will begin to fill other tissues, bringing water with them. That is why it is important to know exactly the correct amount of carbohydrates at the time of loading. If you do not sort out carbohydrates, water will not linger in other tissues of the body and will not flood you.

If you want to look the best way on the day of the show, drink water. It is important to take measures so that the water fills the muscles, and does not linger under the skin. But if there were as many carbohydrates as needed, then no amount of water will harm the result, but will only help.

Salt (Sodium)
The final term in the fast loading equation is sodium. As with water, many bodybuilders recommend avoiding sodium before competition for fear that sodium intake will lead to water retention. But sodium plays an important role in maintaining fluid balance and in carbohydrate metabolism. As with other essential micronutrients, if sodium is severely restricted, the body can react very violently. Unfortunately, this is not the kind of reaction you could expect.

There are many reasons why you shouldn't cut sodium from your diet right up to the day of the show. Sodium controls blood volume. If sodium levels fall, blood volume decreases (3). Consequently, veins will not be visible, and you can forget about pumping muscles before the stage.

Let's check my arguments - remember last time, when you ate something salty as a cheat-meal on drying. Surely in an hour your veins appeared and blood throbbed in your muscles, although you did not do anything harder than sitting on the couch. Maybe you thought it was from carbohydrates, but in fact, the reason is the excess sodium, which is usually a lot in the food that we choose for cheat meals.

But, in addition to increasing blood volume, there is another reason to leave sodium in the diet during peak performance. When sodium levels drop in the body, water leaves the body with it. We have already found that dehydration is not particularly beneficial. As dehydration and sodium levels fall, so does blood volume.

The decrease in blood volume causes the body to produce the hormone arginine vasopressin, or AVP (4). WUA performs several functions in the body, one of which is fluid retention. Water, which is retained due to the release of AVP, fills the intercellular space - that is, it is retained under the skin. Before going on stage, this is very unpleasant. In addition, AVP causes vasoconstriction, which has an even worse effect on vascularity.

Many people are unaware of the role of sodium in carbohydrate absorption. Carbohydrates and sodium are both absorbed by the SGLT-1 transporter protein, which has receptors that are sensitive to both glucose and sodium ion. The transport of both substances into the cell is carried out if both receptors are excited simultaneously. The energy that causes the movement of sodium ions and glucose molecules with outer surface membrane inside, is the difference in sodium concentration between the inner and outer surface of the cell. Although it has been suggested that exogenous sodium is not required for transporter activation, replacing sodium with magnesium in a glucose-containing drink resulted in a decrease in glucose concentration (it was less absorbed) (5). That is, you will still absorb carbohydrates if you cut back on sodium, but absorption improves in the presence of sodium.

Finally, sodium works in tandem with potassium to regulate the distribution of fluid in and out of cells. Without going too deep into cellular metabolic processes, sodium and potassium get into and out of the cell using a mechanism such as the potassium-sodium pump. This mechanism regulates cell volume by removing sodium ions from the cells and replacing them with potassium ions (which is accompanied by the removal of fluid from the body).

When sodium levels rise, potassium levels should also rise. If the potassium level exceeds the sodium level, the balance will be disturbed and water will begin to leave the muscle cells, entering the surrounding tissues. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the level of potassium before the show. It is necessary to ensure the balance of both electrolytes.

If you limit the intake of sodium - the muscles will look flat, you will not be able to achieve pumping, venousness, water will leave the body and at the same time linger under the skin. Keep this in mind the next time someone tells you to remove salt from your diet before a competition.

That's why I never limit salt. And I can even increase its amount a day or two before going on stage. In the last week of preparation, sodium intake should be kept at 3000-5000 milligrams per day.

Let's summarize:
These are the main aspects of my fast loading method: do not limit water and salt, consume a lot of carbohydrates on the day before the competition. Of course, there are other details, but they are more individual.

And there's one more important note, which must be taken into account in order to obtain best results from loading. Before the final week of preparation, you should be as dry as possible. You should not start the preparatory week when the hips, buttocks and Bottom part belly covered with fat and think that in the last week you magically get rid of everything. It may sound harsh, but I'm going to say that 95% of those who said they were holding water on race day were simply not dry enough.

Make sure you burn before the final week maximum amount fat. My method of loading uses only the natural adaptation mechanisms of the body to emphasize the relief and achieve vascularity. It will not help you make up for dietary and training deficiencies.

If you use my method, then on the day of the competition you will see a result that you have never seen before. This method will not only help you keep your shoes to the end, but also give you a second wind that will allow you to win the race.

Dunford, M., Doyle, J. A., Nutrition for Sport and Exercise, 2007, 99 p.
Gibney, M., J., Introduction to Human Nutrition, 2009, 45 p.
McGuire, M., Beerman, K., A., Nutritional Sciences: From Fundamentals to Food, 2009, 552 p.
Gaw, A., Murphy, M. J., Cowen, R. A., Clinical Biochemistry: An Illustrated Color Text, 2008, 14-17p.
Arnaud, M., J., Hydration Throughout Life, 1998, 93-94 p.

And also about carbohydrate loading, calculating the amount of coal, water and more