The human body needs energy to be able to breathe, move, and thus survive. The fuel that the body requires is mainly obtained from carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are converted into glucose, which is then formed into glycogen. The amount of glycogen largely determines how long you can continue an activity, such as running, cycling, or swimming. When your glycogen stores start to deplete, fatigue sets in. If you want to delay fatigue, you could look into how your body deals with this limited energy supply.
Carbohydrates and Performance
When you, as an athlete, face a significant physical challenge, it’s important to be well-prepared. A good meal to provide you with enough energy is a prerequisite. Various studies have shown that a carbohydrate-rich meal can enhance performance by replenishing glycogen stores. This can be effective because it can delay fatigue. After all, the body needs more muscle glycogen when physical activity increases.
Examples of carbohydrates that can improve performance include rice and pasta. It is not intended for you to consume an unlimited amount of carbohydrates to improve performance. Your body can only process 1 to 1.2 grams of carbohydrates per minute. The best supplement of carbohydrates before exercising is around 50 to 65 grams of carbohydrates per hour. Consuming more is pointless and can only lead to complaints.
Energy Consumption
There is another way to delay fatigue, other than just increasing your energy supply. Namely, by lowering your glycogen stores. This greatly depends on the intensity, the temperature in which the sports activity takes place, and your own condition. The latter can be trained, so your body can use energy more efficiently. And if you build up the activity well, it helps to dose the available energy over the period ahead. If you start too quickly, you will notice this by earlier onset of fatigue.
Energy Shortage
If you suffer from an energy shortage due to a lack of glycogen, you will initially notice it by the onset of fatigue. Breathing becomes heavier, legs feel heavier, and technique decreases. You can’t continue to train as intensively and you will have to take a step back in order not to suffer an injury. When you consistently experience an energy shortage, it can lead to overtraining.
Overtraining
Overtraining is an imbalance in training and recovery. When you suffer from overtraining, it manifests through declining performances. There are different forms of overtraining:
- Muscular overload: local fatigue and muscle stiffness.
- Overfatigue: fatigue over a short period.
- Overtraining syndrome: a chronic fatigue that not only comes with a decrease in performance ability, muscle breakdown, but also with physical, behavioral, and emotional disorders.
Replenishing Glycogen
The rate at which you can replenish glycogen stores depends on several factors. The amount of carbohydrates, the time, and the type of carbohydrates play a significant role.
Amount of Glycogen
If you want to fully replenish your glycogen stores, an intake of 25g carbohydrates per hour is sufficient. This doesn’t need to be done at night when you sleep, but you can consume an extra amount of carbohydrates before going to sleep to get through the night. This amounts to an intake of about 500 – 600 grams of carbohydrates per day. This corresponds to the way you replenish glycogen stores before starting the sports activity.
Time and Recovery
Besides the amount of glycogen after training, the recovery period is also very important for replenishing glycogen stores. A full recovery can take between 12 and 34 hours. Therefore, it is also advised to take optimal rest after intensive exertion.
Type of Carbohydrates
As a third and final factor, the types of carbohydrates play an important role in replenishing your glycogen. The glycogen stores are promoted if you consume food with a moderate to high glycemic index. Examples of these are bread, rice, pasta, and muesli.
