Effects of carbohydrate ingestion during prolonged exercise on muscle glycogen 🔋
Data from 31 studies.
Carbohydrate ingestion during prolonged exercise and net skeletal muscle glycogen utilization: A meta-analysis
Study Details
This new meta-analysis compiled date from 31 studies (279 participants) to establish the effects of carb ingestion during exercise on muscle glycogen content 📚
Studied included the following characteristics…
⏰ Exercise duration: 60 - 240 min
🚴♂️ Exercise type: cycling or running
📈 Carb ingestion rate: 20 - 148 g/hr
Here are the key findings ⬇️
Key Findings
🔋 Carb ingestion was associated with a small but statistically significant muscle glycogen-sparing effect (SMD = -0.16)
This effect was not influenced by…
❌ Exercise mode
❌ Carbohydrate type
❌ Ingestion rate
❌ Pre-exercise glycogen
In absolute units, carb ingestion was estimated to spare ~24 mmol/kg dry weight of muscle glycogen 🔬
(relative to placebo, during ~100 min of exercise)
Conclusion
Carb ingestion during endurance exercise leads to a small but statistically significant reduction in net skeletal muscle glycogen utilisation ✅
The performance-enhancing effects of carb ingestion during exercise appear to be primarily due to increased exogenous carb oxidation rather than muscle glycogen sparing 🔥
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41363659/
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