Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueSky  Here is my take on it.
My first thought when reading this was : why would you want store extra glycogen? Bodybuilders work hard at doing this before competitions, because they want their muscles to look puffed out. But does this make sense for a runner?
As a runner, most of your calories come from fat anyway. After the first 15-20 minutes, your body switches to keytone burning mode. Glycogen is only needed for those intense uphill runs, when your exercise becomes anaerobic. But for the most part, it will be aerobic, meaning that either fat or glucose can be used for energy. So the extent of glycogen depletion after a run is questionable. And there is no need to carry more glycogen around with you than you have to. Remember, each gram of glycogen attracts 3-4 grams of water. As a runner, you really want to keep it lean-and-mean. 
Having said all that, some carb in a recovery drink is a good idea and you need to bolus for it. But I wouldn't worry about the first fifteen minutes after exercise. Thirty - sixty minutes seems to be the window of opportunity. Fifty grams of carb is a lot - much of it will simply be stored as fat anyway. I would put more focus on getting sufficient amino acids to the muscles. And I would be encouraging the muscles to burn fat more efficiently. |
Simply put, the more glycogen you can store in your muscles, the longer it takes for fatigue to set in, meaning a longer workout, which is a good thing. Also the more glycogen you can store in your muscles, the longer it takes for fatigue to set in, meaning a longer workout, which is a good thing.
Also fifty grams of carbs in a recovery drink is NOT a lot (are you one of those low carbers, ha ha). And those fifty grams of carbs will not be stored as fat. When you run you deplete muscle glycogen. Everytime you eat you restore muscle and liver glycogen, excess calories after that will be stored as fat. So fifty grams of carbs after exercise will not be stored as fat. I am livivng proof of that. I also continue to eat fifty more grams of carbs every hour after that for up to six hours ( yes thats right for a total of 300 grams carbs) on a hard day, usually just three hours though (200grams carbs). I do however agree that amino acids are important to a post exercise meal plan. Most research I have found suggests that a 4:1 carb:protein ratio is optimal. However to say that training your muscles to burn fat is efficient is just not true. Your body burns carbs as energy first. Before doing the reaserch into understanding how the body needs to be fueled for intense exercise, I did not make it a point to eat carbs. I was left feeling drained all the time, and my next run would totally suck. Now that I am properly fueling for my exercise, I have all the energy I need to perform well all the time
