High carbohydrate replenishes liver but not muscle glycogen during 12 hr post-exercise recovery 🔋
Significant implications for multi-day events.
Carbohydrate intake of 10 g/kg body mass rapidly replenishes liver, but not muscle glycogen contents, during 12 h of post-exercise recovery in well-trained cyclists
Study Details
This new study recruited 12 well-trained male cyclists to complete glycogen depleting exercise followed by 12 h recovery either…
🍞 10 g/kg carbohydrate (1.2 g/kg/hr over the first 6 h + carb-rich meals)
🍽️ Remaining fasted
Participants completed both conditions separated by at least 7-days 🗓️
Muscle and liver glycogen concentrations were again assessed at 6 and 12 h 🔬
Here is what they found ⬇️
Key Findings
Exercise significantly reduced glycogen stores 📉
👉 Muscle (from 159 ± 32 to 56 ± 19 mmol/l; -64%)
👉 Liver (from 166 ± 40 to 110 ± 44 mmol/l; -34%) glycogen
In the fasted condition, muscle and liver glycogen remained unchanged during recovery 🪫
After carbohydrate intake muscle glycogen increased from…
🕛 0 h = 56 ± 19
🕕 6 h = 88 ± 16
🕛 12 h = 110 ± 19 mmol/l
(55% of pre-exercise at 6 h and 69% at 12 h)
…and liver glycogen rapidly increased from…
🕛 0 h = 110 ± 44
🕕 6 h = 236 ± 39 (142% of pre-exercise)
🕛 12 h = 258 ± 40 mmol/l
Conclusion
High-carb intake is crucial to post-exercise glycogen replenishment after depleting exercise 🔋
However, this results in rapid replenishment of liver but not muscle glycogen stores ⚠️
A longer period of time refuelling is required to fully replenish muscle glycogen ⏰
This has significant implications for multi-day endurance events / activities, and likely outs more emphasis on fuelling during exercise ‼️
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40836481/
Performance Nutrition Digest is powered by Healthspan Elite ⚡️
Healthspan Elite is a science-led sports nutrition range developed in collaboration with leading experts to support athletic performance, recovery, and health.
Use code: TCDIGEST25 for 25% off at https://www.healthspanelite.co.uk/ 💪