Carbohydrates Post Training – Everything you need to know

If we talk about the “timing” post-workout nutrition we should talk about protein and carbohydrates. Because it is a fairly broad topic, we try only what carbohydrates take and when to take them.

In this article we will focus on carbohydrate sources that we can find from sports supplement products. However, and as I mentioned in the section of questions, we can use directly source from this macro nutrient food. Still, it analyzes why certain people, perhaps more interested picking a product quickly absorbed, leaving then distributed other carbohydrate requirements during the day and also after other (s) session (s) training.

Why take carbohydrates after training?

Really take carbohydrates after having performed a certain intensity exercise better responds to a focused performance profile. I mean, sometimes we overstate our caloric expenditure during conventional training, and think that we have reduced the maximum our energy reserves (glycogen). But the truth is that in most cases, although they do use energy, perhaps not as necessary to include a lot of them, thinking that otherwise “we would lose an opportunity.”

A clear example of what I mean we see in those athletes who train more than once a day, for example, a CrossFit athlete. Because of the nature that holds this discipline, especially with a view to a competitive event, the scheme planning and training are very high volume to accommodate complete all the necessary parameters to ensure a good performance during the competition (s).

By this I am not saying that you should not eat carbohydrates at this time, but we must adjust the amount according to various parameters (physical condition, type of training, goal of the season …) in order to obtain the best results, and in this sense we can see two ways:

• Energy recovery
• Body composition

How to store carbohydrates?

Before going to rag on what carbohydrates are better or worse when it comes to recover from a workout, we must know which sites store glucose we eat. When we eat carbohydrates, such are digested and absorbed into the bloodstream in the form of glucose, which is directed to the muscle and liver glycogen to be stored as.

Generally, a man can store 15g / kg body before they become fat. As shown by some studies, glycogen synthesis is biphasic, which is divided into a rapid phase and a slow phase.

In the fast phase, the first 30-60 minutes no insulin is needed for glycogen synthesis. Although it may last a 24h, it is of great importance 3-5 hours early. The amount of glycogen synthesized at this stage is higher because:

• High levels of glycogen synthase I (enzyme responsible for glycogen synthesis)
• Increased permeability of glucose by the muscle, (GLUT4) and,
• Increased sensitivity to insulin.

In the slow phase, glycogen synthesis can be 50% less having passed several hours, especially when the carbohydrate intake is less than 1.2g carbohydrate / kg body. When we find such ingestions, addiction amino acid or protein has been shown to be improved glycogen synthesis, enhancing recovery at the end of training, even at an elevation of 153% of glycogen synthase in the case of the Whey Hydro.

Relationship between carbohydrate intake and glycogen synthesis

If we realize the point that makes the difference when recovery are the first few hours post-workout. Those who have a double daily training should take advantage of this physiological phenomenon for a large intake of carbohydrates that are rapidly absorbed in order to perform smoothly in the second workout.

What is the rate of glycogen replenishment?

One of the most influential factors when replenishing our glycogen stores is the absorption in the intestine. It has been suggested that absorption is 1-1,7g / min, which translates into absorbed / hour 102g. Some factors that decrease the rate of absorption of glucose are:

• The ingested volume : 300ml volumes greater than delayed gastric emptying.
• Intakes solid state. Intakes liquid promotes gastric emptying, favoring the absorption of glucose
• Consume fats. Fats delayed gastric emptying, which hinders the recovery of glucose.

One of the common mistakes is to think that “clean foods” are better than “less common” when replenish glycogen, ie food a handful of dried fruit is better than a small portion of ice cream or fresh milk.

That initially this may shock and even annoy some have an explanation. As I have said many times, our body not unlike a glucose molecule that comes from an ice cream, which may come from rice.

Exercising and GLUT4

When performing an exercise like bench press or squat exercises (high intensity), increased glucose transport to the muscle cell (induced GLUT4) which is independent of insulin occurs. Why I give so much importance to this carrier? Because the maximum amount of glucose will depend on the concentration of this as well:

increases GLUT4 glucose in muscle

If we increase the amount of glucose trapped by muscle, the amount of free glucose will be minimal, so it will not accumulate as body fat, a process which as I said many times, it is very difficult even having a high carbohydrate diet.

Dinner carbohydrates and train fasting

A special case are the people who train fasting, where unfortunately a lot of misinformation, creating hoaxes without any scientific basis. When we awoke after sleeping all night, our glycogen stores are at a lower level than we usually have after ingestion, however, glycogen found in a lower concentration is liver, muscle keeps the same levels.

This reflects a fasting person who has dined carbohydrates have the same amount of muscle glycogen that a person who has breakfasted.
Thus, the theory of “hypoglycemia” is reduced

Our body to prevent hypoglycemia that fat intake increases by muscle, reserving glucose in case of “emergency”. This type of training is very effective as it produces an effect of “overcompensation” reserves increasing post-workout glycogen. The scientific basis of this process is that a high glycogen reserve will lead to lower levels of glycogen synthase (enzyme responsible for glycogen synthesis).

This way to quickly drop glycogen stores by train fasting favor a further recovery in the post-workout, which several studies have shown increased muscle adaptation fasting.

Anabolic Window glucose

Anyone who knows me in a while, knows that I am not in favor of the term “anabolic window” because it gives the feeling of being a now or never, however, I must use it to make you easier to understand.

The reality is that unlike protein, carbohydrates if they have an anabolic window where glucose uptake by muscle is much higher in the first few hours post-training.

One of the studies where you can see this window is the study Ivy et al. In it, it was seen as glycogen synthesis was 45% slower if carbohydrate intake spent 2 hours after training.

In this other (Goodyear et al.) Showed that after 2 hours without ingesting carbohydrates, glucose transporters levels returned to pre-training. The conclusion is clear, if you want to recover from a grueling workout, carbohydrate intake post-workout should be almost instantaneous, however …

Are carbohydrates are necessary if we train once a day?

As we were commenting in the introduction, we can find out what the answer: we should not worry about making that quick intake because carbohydrates swallow later hours will be stored as glycogen, although much more slowly arriving to need up to 8 hours for synthesis.

However, any athlete who keeps a protocol type or nutritional strategy or preferred include carbohydrates after training you can do perfectly.

What is the maximum amount of carbohydrates a day?

In my opinion, as a guideline, the maximum amount of carbohydrates in a person doing weights with high loads is 0.17- 0.35g / kg / h.

Thus a person of 80 kg can consume 330-670g of carbohydrates without problems. A personal way I like to make 2 large intake of carbohydrates throughout the day, one in the post-workout and another at dinner, in this way even those who want to train on an empty stomach will have no problem in performance

Carbohydrates for After Training

Here you can find a list of available carbohydrate supplements to take after exercise.

Dextrose

Dextrose is the dextro form (D-) glucose, or what is still the active form of table sugar we all know. Being a simple sugar, absorption is quite fast, so it will produce a peak fairly high insulin favoring the rapid replenishment of glycogen.

maltodextrin

The maltodextrin is derived from a sugar mediated cleavage hydrolysis of starch, a complex carbohydrate. Along with fructose, I think are the two sugars that can produce more controversy in the world of fitness.

At one end of these two sugars they have a positive effect on gastric emptying (Neufer et al.) but studies in rats have been shown to decrease levels of GLUT4, and although we can not extrapolate to humans, decrease the input glucose into muscle cells, which do not want to happen.

Fructose

Sugar comes from fruit and whose main characteristic is that it does not raise insulin. This sugar is absorbed in the intestine and is directed to the liver where the liver glycogen and reset if a large amount is ingested (over 50g) fatty acid synthesis occurs. This is one of the reasons why I do not recommend fruit as a post-workout, since only replenishes glycogen in the liver but not the muscle.

palatinose

Palatinose is a carbohydrate whose source is beet. It is a type of carbohydrate slow absorption, in fact, it is really famous among endurance athletes because it releases “Pulses” glucose, allowing a continuous flow of glucose, being in my opinion a very good choice for pre or intro in endurance athletes and strength. However, being a slow carbohydrate, no interest in post-workout if you need to replenish reserves for that day.

amylopectin

Amylopectin is a type of carbohydrate found in plants. Its characteristic is that it is a type of complex carbohydrate, ie is not a single sugar molecule, if not many joined together by a glycosidic bond, so that there is a similarity with the starch. The difference with starch it is not a straight chain, but it has many ramifications, being easier to digest by enzymes.

cyclodextrins

Cyclodextrin is a cyclic oligosaccharide with a hydrophilic part (prerefencia by an aqueous medium) and a lipophilic (preference for “oily” medium). In pharmacology, we use for its ability to form “complex” with other organic substances. It is considered one of the best sources due to their bio availability, water solubility, heat resistance and oxidation.

In addition, the branched carbohydrate, as is in this case, accelerate gastric emptying and digestion since it is much easier for enzymes acting on said structure. Although it is a relatively new supplement, I think it is a step above the rest.