Carbo loading diet guide before engaging in strenuous exercise

There are many diet methods that you can do to get the ideal body weight or just to live a healthy life. However, the carbo loading diet is different. This diet does not aim to lose weight, because this dieter actually consumes large amounts of carbohydrates. What for?

What is a carbo loading diet?

Term carbohydrate loading or so-called carbo loading diet may still feel foreign to most of the people. The reason is, this diet is only famous among certain athletes.

The carbo loading diet is a high-carbohydrate diet strategy designed to nourish muscle cells with glycogen. Carbohydrates that are consumed are processed by the body and stored in liver and muscle tissue in the form of glycogen - a molecule that produces energy. It aims to increase the amount of fuel stored in your muscles, so as to slow down fatigue and improve your athletic performance during long-term exercise (endurance), such as running a marathon, for example.

In principle, the carbo loading diet is a diet method that involves regulating nutrition and changing exercise patterns to maximize energy sources in the form of muscle glycogen.

How do I go on a carbo loading diet?

The carbo loading diet is carried out a week before exercising endurance. The trick is to increase the intake of foods high in carbohydrates, accompanied by a gradual reduction in exercise intensity.

Usually, the carbohydrate intake needed when doing regular exercise is only 5-7 grams of carbohydrates per kg of body weight daily. However, when using this diet method, athletes should ideally meet a carbohydrate intake of 10-12 grams of carbohydrates per kg of body weight per day for three to four days before competing / strenuous exercise.

So, for example, you weigh 50 kg, then you need to consume 500-600 grams of carbohydrates for a carbo loading diet. This is done so that the athletes have enough energy to exercise longer before they face a decrease in endurance performance.

Can the carbo loading diet work for everyone?

The carbo loading diet is different from the low carbo diet, because the carbo loading diet is recommended only for those who exercise for 90 minutes or more. Generally, the carbo loading diet method is carried out by athletes in sports endurance such as triathlon, marathon, bicycle racing and long distance motorcycle rally, long distance swimming, and long distance rowing. However, there are also bodybuilding athletes and body contests who take advantage of the carbo-loading diet strategy.

While sports that are not recommended to do the carbo loading diet strategy are athletes from sports that require more muscle strength, sports that are not tournament, and whose duration is less than 90 minutes. Therefore, if you are not a trained athlete and only do sports in the gym, take a leisurely walk, or just for recreation, it is not recommended to do this diet method.

The reason is, this will make you gain weight not even lose weight, because high carbohydrate intake is not proportional to the calorie burning you do.

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