The better to load before the competition. The role of carbohydrates in the human body. Fundamentals of carbohydrate loading - unloading

From Dr. Mercola

The carb-loading strategy is commonly used by athletes, such as marathon runners, a few days before a long run or race. The idea of ​​carbohydrate loading is to saturate yourself with carbohydrates - this way there will be a large amount of glycogen in the muscles, which will be used as fuel during sports. For example, Runner's World says:

“The easiest way to achieve a simple and successful carb-load is to include carb-rich foods in every meal and snack [five days before the race].

This means that the main focus is on bread, pasta, rice, cereals, potatoes and fruits. A few days before the race is allowed to use simple sugars and refined grains…”

it maybe suitable for athletes with an intense training regime or an upcoming race, but even in this case, the wrong approach to nutrition (or if you usually follow a low-carb diet) is fraught with possible unpleasant consequences.

There are a number of good reasons for professional athletes to rethink the idea of ​​carb-loading, in part because dietary low content carbohydrates and high content fat provides fuel for more long time and improve metabolism.

At the same time, carbohydrate loading is completely unsuitable for the vast majority of people who are not professional athletes and exercise periodically, because this type of diet can lead to weight gain, digestive problems and even chronic diseases.

Disadvantages of carbohydrate loading

The idea of ​​carb-loading the night before or days before a marathon or other high-intensity sporting event has several serious problems. Carbohydrates are stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen, which the body uses as fuel. When fuel runs out, fatigue sets in and performance drops.

Carb loading helps increase glycogen stores so you have more energy and can run further before you run out of fuel. But if you're burning carbohydrates as your primary fuel source, then during a marathon you'll does not matter need to be driven.

And if you need to refuel the body in the midst of an event, then it turns out that the previous carbohydrate load was mostly in vain. Sports scientist Ross Tucker, Ph.D., told the publication Fittish:

“... just like you can't drive across America without refueling [fuel tank], you can't run the New York City Marathon without eating carbs during the race.

So when you have the opportunity to constantly refuel and provide the body with carbohydrates [drinks, gels, bars during the race], then the loading stage becomes completely redundant and unnecessary.”

Not only is this download most often not needed - it is also fraught with unpleasant consequences in the form extra pounds due to an increase in the mass of water (because along with carbohydrates, your body also stores water). The extra weight from a carb-load can easily negate the performance benefits, Tucker says.

He recommends sticking to your regular diet for the three days before your race, maybe upping your carbs a little, and focusing on fueling your race properly. Even so, there are important caveats...

If you have adapted to fats, then you need to replenish carbohydrates in very small quantities, even during sports.

If you're following a low-carb, high-fat Paleo diet or a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carb diet such as the one outlined in my nutrition plan, your body is most likely adapted to fat.

Our ancestors were adapted to using fat as their primary fuel, but now almost all of us have adapted to using sugar or glucose as our number one fuel source. The only way find out if you are fat adapted or not - pay attention to how you feel when you skip a meal. If you can go without food without looking like a hungry animal or dreaming of a chocolate bar, then you are likely fat-adapted.

And if, moreover, you have overweight, high arterial pressure, diabetes, or you are taking statins, then you are most likely not equipped to burn fat as your main fuel.

The ability to rely more on fat for energy physical activity saves glycogen for when you really need it. It can improve your athletic performance and help you burn more fat.

As former long-distance triathlon competitor Mark Sisson explained, if you can train without carbohydrate loading, then you are most likely fat adapted. If you can train effectively while hungry, you are definitely fat-adapted.

Replacement of non-vegetable carbohydrates healthy fats and intermittent fasting are among the most effective ways stimulate your body's transition from burning carbohydrates to burning fat.

So those of you who are already on a paleo diet or similar are likely to be very efficient at burning fat for fuel and need to replace carbs in a very short amount of time. small quantities even during intense exercise.

There is some evidence that switching to a higher carb diet just before a race (if you were on a low carb diet before) can help "fill your tanks" to increase your performance...but it's very individual. For many, this strategy may have backfire, since the sudden consumption of carbohydrates can cause headaches, nausea, bloating and other symptoms.

Many athletes are ditching carb-loading in favor of low-carb, high-fat diets.

Sports superstars like NBA players LeBron James and Ray Allen claim to have switched to a low-carb diet and have experienced it. beneficial effect. Other athletes are switching to a high-fat, low-carb diet, including long-distance triathlon competitor Nell Stephenson, professional cyclist Dave Zabriskie, and ultra-marathoner Timothy Olson.

When former long-distance triathlon competitor Ben Greenfield was training for the 2013 World Championships, he is said to have been on a ketogenic diet and reported improved stamina, stable blood sugar, better sleep and clearer thinking.

How to eat right before a workout?

The body only uses fat for fuel when glycogen stores are depleted. And it is this state of adaptation to fat that leads to more efficient use energy and other benefits such as stem cell regeneration and tissue repair, as well as reduced body fat levels, reduced inflammation and improved insulin sensitivity.

If you're loading up on carbs before your workout, then you're actually suppress fat burning and many of the metabolic benefits of exercise, even if it temporarily increases your performance. For this reason, fitness expert Ori Hofmekler recommends literally flooding your body with stress-activated nutrients (SAF) before training.

These nutrients mimic the effects of intermittent fasting and exercise. He explains it this way:

“Once ingested, SAF substances can increase the survival of animals and humans. Some of them nutrients showed properties that mimic the fight against obesity and diabetes, as well as the rejuvenating effects of exercise and fasting. The fact is that the food, rich in nutrients that mimic exercise, is ideal for eating before training.

With the help of these substances, you will prevent problems with burning fat, feel healing effect exercise and even increase it.

...Please note that some of the most powerful SAF substances are no longer in our diet. These substances, which are hard to find, are found in the bark, roots, pits, and skins, which we don't normally eat.

However, some products available to us contain high levels exercise-mimicking SAFs such as phenols, caffeine, theobromine, catechins, and immune proteins, which thus have the potential to form powerful synergies with physical fitness.”

So where are these nutrients?

• whey protein from pastured cows
• organic black coffee
• unsweetened cocoa
• green tea

It's ideal to exercise on an empty stomach (see below), but if you're feeling weak or nauseous while exercising on an empty stomach, a high-quality whey protein shake is a great pre-workout snack.

A study published in the Journal of Medicine & Science for Sports found that consuming whey protein (20g per serving) 30 minutes prior to resistance training increased the body's metabolism for as much as 24 hours.

It appears that the amino acids found in high quality whey protein activate certain cellular mechanisms(mTORC-1).

This, in turn, promotes protein synthesis in muscles, increases function thyroid gland, and also protects against a decrease in testosterone levels after exercise. From a practical standpoint, consuming 20g of whey protein before a workout and another serving after it can do double duty by increasing both fat burning and fat gain. muscle mass.

Feel free to experiment with the dose, as we have shown an average amount (depending on your weight and height, you may need half this amount or 50-75% more).

Exercising on an empty stomach may be best

Exercising during intermittent fasting essentially forces your body to shed fat because fat burning is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and it is activated through exercise and lack of food.

The combination of fasting and exercise maximizes the effect of cellular factors and catalysts (cyclic AMP and AMP kinases) that cause the breakdown of fats and glycogen for energy. On the other hand, a full pre-workout meal, especially carbohydrates, will suppress sympathetic nervous system and reduce fat burning during training.

Instead of using a large number carbohydrates activates the parasympathetic nervous system (which promotes energy storage - that is, it has the exact opposite effect of your goal). For example, one study showed that fasting before aerobic exercise led to a decrease in both body weight and body fat, while eating before exercise only reduced body weight.

Besides, physical exercises and starvation together lead to acute oxidative stress, which actually benefits muscles, triggers genes and growth factors, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and muscle regulatory factors (MRF), that signal brain stem cells and muscle satellite cells to become new neurons and new muscle cells, respectively.

This means that exercising while fasting can actually help keep your brain, neuromuscular, and muscle fibers biologically young. The combined effect of intermittent fasting and short-term intense exercise goes far beyond fat burning and weight loss. It can help you:

Proper sports nutrition is very individual

When we are talking about exercise, there is no one-size-fits-all nutritional requirement. For it to be effective for you, nutrition must take into account your type of activity, level physical training, diet and your personal goals.

If your goal is to become an elite marathon athlete, your nutritional requirements will obviously be very different from those of someone who wants to build muscle or lose weight.

For many people, fasting before a workout has the most benefits – it helps build muscle and burn fat.

But again, it depends on the training. It is unwise to run a marathon on an "empty stomach" for example, as your body will require great amount energy (but even so, if you are adapted to fat, this does not mean that you should lean on bread, pasta and other unhealthy carbohydrates).

If you're an athlete, competitive, and already fat-adapted, then it's probably not worth exercising regularly on an empty stomach, as this will reduce the intensity of your workout and reduce some of the benefits you're looking for. In addition, training on an empty stomach is excluded if it is strength training.

When you fast for 14-18 hours, most of your glycogen stores are usually depleted, making it very difficult to lift your maximum weight to muscle failure.

Therefore, if you're lifting weights to muscle failure, it's best not to do it on an empty stomach. In such cases, it's probably a good idea to consume some healthy, slow-release starchy carbs the night before your workout so you don't run out of glycogen stores by the morning.

Then drink whey protein before your workout to get enough branched-chain amino acids for optimal muscle fueling during training.

Good day, readers of my blogs!
Finally finished the article I promised you about my last week before the competition. As you know, the last weeks decide a lot: during these days you can both screw up the form and improve it beyond recognition.

In this article, I will touch on the topic related to the “draining” of water and loading in front of the stage. Do not count on a specific drain and load scheme, because it simply does not exist. It is necessary to proceed from the form of the athlete and from what category he is going to climb (and whether it is worth climbing at all).
So let's get started!

Let's start with water manipulation. There are no special secrets here: the first days we try to drink as much water as possible, about 8-9 liters. I confess that for me it is not difficult at all, because in the off-season I constantly carry water with me and drink. If the start is on Saturday (as it was for me), we drink water in large volumes until Wednesday and then cut it down to 5 liters on Thursday, to 1.5 liters on Friday and on Saturday a maximum of 0.5 ml. As for water, as practice has shown, it is better to use children's water like FRUTONYANI. At the last training, I just brilliantly managed to get the water out, but on this one somehow there was no ice (I used plain water from under the filter).
Further, I usually have two moments when I speed up the drainage of water with a diuretic. I use hypothiazide as a diuretic (dosages are selected individually). On this preparation, I had a drain on Tuesday, Thursday.

Now about training in the last week. Usually these are full body style workouts: we choose two exercises per MG and do 2-3 working approaches for it. There are also some nuances here: in this preparation, I realized that in order not to crumble in volumes, it is better to work in the range of 8-10 repetitions and not lower the weight. Including multi-repetition in last days, I start to crumble very quickly, especially when the moment of draining the water comes. So I trained until Wednesday (I had a start on Saturday). Next, on Thursday and Friday is posing. I posed for about 20-30 minutes. A few words about cardio: ideally, it is better to note it 1.5 weeks before the competition, because it is during these 1.5 weeks that you should already have a minimum of carbohydrates and a minimum of fat in your diet.

Now the fun part is loading. Let's start considering the cycle from Monday (start on Saturday). Here we are already looking at the body, if there is a surplus, then we arrange a carbohydrate pit (at least 100 grams of coal, so as not to enter a state of ketosis). Next, after the carbohydrate pit, on Thursday afternoon, we begin to load carbohydrates into ourselves. If the loading will continue for 2 days, then during this time it is best to load into yourself from 6 to 8 grams of coal per kilogram of lean muscle mass. That is, if you weigh 100 kg, then in two days you need to load 800 grams (400 + 400). Use ONLY complex carbohydrates(durum pasta, white rice, potatoes). As for the protein, we do not remove it !! Without it, as well as without water, the download will not work. We keep protein in the range of 2-2.5 grams per kilogram of dry weight. Reduce fat to a minimum.
On the day of the competition, in the morning you need to eat a quickly digestible protein with vegetables and you can throw bcaa on top of this. Behind the scenes, if the pampit is bad and you seem flat to yourself, then we begin to load ourselves with baby puree like AGUSHI or load amylopectin into ourselves.
If you did everything correctly, then you should go on stage full and venous.

Thank you all for your attention!
And by tradition, a bit of my actual form!
PS. The shape in the photo is a deep off-season. And she's not competitive.
See you later!

Original taken from mjonaus in

I recently asked shantramora to translate one article by a foreign coach and athlete about loading before going on stage.
In general, I in general terms I understood the essence of the text, having run it diagonally with my eyes, but I myself would not be able to translate and put it into a digestible text. Therefore, if there are people who are much more understanding and knowledgeable in overseas languages, then so be it :) A low bow and all sorts of thanks for the work done. A separate thank you for using my photos as illustrations for the article, although I'm not a standard and all that :)

Before presenting the article to your attention, I will tell you about my download.
This fall, for the first time, I loaded like a real builder. In my first season, I didn’t merge, I tried to boot, but everything turned out somehow crumpled - in general, nothing.
This season there were two starts with a difference of a week. I didn’t go to the Irkutsk Cup, as I was recommended, I didn’t drain the water, I didn’t load. In general, I got up in the morning, had breakfast and went to the Palace of Culture. Gagarin. Well, the form in Irkutsk was not peak. In this case, priorities are always set - which tournament is more important, the pick is summed up under that one.

So, how does a classic eyeliner work? We drain the water. For two days we limit to 1.5 liters of liquid, for a day - up to 1 liter, on the day of performances - not a gram, just rinse your mouth and spit it out. Taking into account the fact that before that you dispersed your need for liquid, drinking 4-5 liters of liquid per day, you really want to drink.
During the day, you start to load up on carbohydrates: boiled rice with raisins. And egg whites. Boiled, naturally.
On the day of the competition, we finish the rice in the morning and start eating marshmallows. I can say now with confidence - if earlier I was indifferent to marshmallows, now I hate him with all the fibers of my soul. How much it was eaten - it is better not to remember.
The effect is monstrous - you want to drink, your mouth is viscous and disgusting from sweetness, which does not bring any buzz, believe me, even though you dreamed about carbohydrates before loading. As a result, insulin jumps, the head starts to hurt. Seizures, undulating. Words get stuck on the tongue, you yourself are inhibited. The usual state, in short, for those who are preparing to leave. Everyone around is eating marshmallows. There is water, but you can’t drink, you walk around in the morning and look askance at it - and my exit was at about 3-4 o’clock in the afternoon. And you are already waiting - well, when will it be possible to drink?
In theory, after loading you should be filled. 1 gram of carbohydrates attracts 4 grams of water and everything else - remember, right?
I didn't fill up.
Rather, it was filled, but somehow sluggishly or something.
Experimenting on the day of the release - I'm not my own enemy, oh how I don't want to screw up and spoil the form, so I'm getting ready to observe.
In the evening, as usual, a feast by the mountain. Those who followed me on Instagram remember very well the photo of the refrigerator in the room.
Now I will tell you in more detail what I ended up drinking and eating after:
- much water
- sausages cooked in a double boiler
- cheese
- bread, lots of bread
- 2 rolls a la Cinnabon
- 3 cups of coffee with milk
- grape
- drank champagne for the end of the season and even some wine
- M&Ms and Scittles
- leftover chocolate on stevia

And, in my opinion, everything.
Before my eyes, I began to fill up like I had never poured before. The veins popped out even on the inside of the thigh. Of course, not so much visually as they were noticeable to the touch. Feeling of "tension", as if you poke a needle into the skin, and it will burst. Muscles have become larger, veins - worms. From our company, only the two of us poured so much with Fedor, who competed in juniors in bodybuilding. We sat, looked at each other, ate and wondered about the effect.
Here it is, the effect of carbohydrate and sodium loading.
Even before the first exit, I read on one bodybuilding forum a remark by a coach who brings his wards to the stage after loading with junk.
There was enough controversy and discussion in that thread.
Then it seemed to me very interesting and alluring, but I did not dare to risk it.
This year too, but after the scene I had a chance to feel this incomparable effect.
It lasted until lunch or until after lunch. next day- at that moment I was already riding the train home and distinctly felt how godlessly I was flooded with water. Legs, face, body swelled. At the same time, I ate and drank already regular food, no frills. I didn’t panic much, looking at my pillow legs, I knew that it would take me a couple of days to excess water gone.
Here was the load.
Will I risk booting up before the spring season as it is written in the article? Or the way it was in October after the competition? Don't know. I'm not sure I can overcome my fear and caution. But time will tell.

Original taken from shantramora in

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, which would be worth knowing and observing, 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 small. 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 concentrations between the inside and outer surface cells. 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

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 as 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). Cut back on high-fat foods 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 basic metabolic processes, which is useful not only for athletes during cutting, but also for ordinary housewives, or beginner 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 the nutrient reserves in the muscle structures themselves, and allows you to more accurately drain 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 are indicated. 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 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.

Good day, readers of my blogs!
Finally finished the article I promised you about my last week before the competition. As you know, the last weeks decide a lot: during these days you can both screw up the form and improve it beyond recognition.

In this article, I will touch on the topic related to the “draining” of water and loading in front of the stage. Do not count on a specific drain and load scheme, because it simply does not exist. It is necessary to proceed from the form of the athlete and from what category he is going to climb (and whether it is worth climbing at all).
So let's get started!

Let's start with water manipulation. There are no special secrets here: the first days we try to drink as much water as possible, about 8-9 liters. I confess that for me it is not difficult at all, because in the off-season I constantly carry water with me and drink. If the start is on Saturday (as it was for me), we drink water in large volumes until Wednesday and then cut it down to 5 liters on Thursday, to 1.5 liters on Friday and on Saturday a maximum of 0.5 ml. As for water, as practice has shown, it is better to use children's water like FRUTONYANI. At the last training, I simply managed to get the water out brilliantly, but on this one somehow there was no ice (I used ordinary water from under the filter).
Further, I usually have two moments when I speed up the drainage of water with a diuretic. I use hypothiazide as a diuretic (dosages are selected individually). On this preparation, I had a drain on Tuesday, Thursday.

Now about training in the last week. Usually these are full body style workouts: we choose two exercises per MG and do 2-3 working approaches for it. There are also some nuances here: in this preparation, I realized that in order not to crumble in volumes, it is better to work in the range of 8-10 repetitions and not lower the weight. Including high repetitions in the last days, I start to crumble very quickly, especially when it comes to the moment of draining the water. So I trained until Wednesday (I had a start on Saturday). Next, on Thursday and Friday is posing. I posed for about 20-30 minutes. A few words about cardio: ideally, it is better to note it 1.5 weeks before the competition, because it is during these 1.5 weeks that you should already have a minimum of carbohydrates and a minimum of fat in your diet.

Now the fun part is loading. Let's start considering the cycle from Monday (start on Saturday). Here we are already looking at the body, if there is a surplus, then we arrange a carbohydrate pit (at least 100 grams of coal, so as not to enter a state of ketosis). Next, after the carbohydrate pit, on Thursday afternoon, we begin to load carbohydrates into ourselves. If the loading will continue for 2 days, then during this time it is best to load into yourself from 6 to 8 grams of coal per kilogram of lean muscle mass. That is, if you weigh 100 kg, then in two days you need to load 800 grams (400 + 400). Use ONLY complex carbohydrates (durum pasta, white rice, potatoes). As for the protein, we do not remove it !! Without it, as well as without water, the download will not work. We keep protein in the range of 2-2.5 grams per kilogram of dry weight. Reduce fat to a minimum.
On the day of the competition, in the morning you need to eat a quickly digestible protein with vegetables and you can throw bcaa on top of this. Behind the scenes, if the pampit is bad and you seem flat to yourself, then we begin to load ourselves with baby puree like AGUSHI or load amylopectin into ourselves.
If you did everything correctly, then you should go on stage full and venous.

Thank you all for your attention!
And by tradition, a bit of my actual form!
PS. The shape in the photo is a deep off-season. And she's not competitive.
See you later!