The best carbohydrate intake pattern for endurance 🥤
Front loading, backloading or constant carb intake during exercise.
No Performance Effects of Altered Carbohydrate Distribution During Intense Cycling
Study Details
This new study investigated the effects of 3 different carb intake patterns…
1️⃣ Increasing intake (INC)
2️⃣ Decreasing intake (DEC)
3️⃣ Constant intake (CON)
…during intense cycling (180-min intermittent + 15-min all out + max sprint) in 12 trained male cyclists 🚴♂️
All conditions were fixed at 90 g/hr, the distribution of those carbs was the only changing factor 🎯
Key Findings
Carb distribution during cycling had no effects on…
⚡️ 15-min all out performance test
⏰ Time to exhaustion
Carbohydrate oxidation was significantly higher in DEC vs both INC and CON 📈
Fat oxidation was lower in DEC vs CON 📉
RPE was lower, but increased more over time in INC 🧠
Regarding GI symptoms…
🤢 Nausea
😮💨 Stomach fullness
😖 Abdominal cramping
…increased over time in INC vs DEC.
Conclusion
Carbohydrate intake pattern appears to have little effect on performance ❌
Whilst it may affect some performance influencing factors (e.g. RPE, GI symptoms) 🧠
Bottom line = as long as you’re hitting total carb numbers (per hour) ➡️ choose the intake pattern that suits you best ✅
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41468185/
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