cyclists<\/a>, marathoners, triathletes, soccer players and other endurance athletes excel when they\u2019ve pre-loaded for 2-3 days with about 70% carbs. Glycogen is the fuel which sustains the body in highly physical situations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nHave you heard the term \u201chitting the wall?\u201d\u00a0 This refers to an actual event in the body, the depletion of glycogen.\u00a0 Once stores are gone, energy is truly kaput; you have no way to generate more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t assume you should eat a high-carb diet all the time, though, even if you exercise heavily.\u00a0\u00a0 Once glycogen fills all the areas where reserves can be stored, any extra that is produced is stored as body fat.\u00a0\u00a0 Eating too many carbs causes this excessive glycogen production.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another danger of overdoing carb consumption:\u00a0 you can unwittingly \u201ctrain\u201d your body not to utilize essential fatty acids that come from fat.\u00a0 Not only does fat transport cholesterol and play a role in blood clotting, it helps us absorb vitamins and produce hormones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conversely, eating too few carbs forces the body to use protein for energy.\u00a0\u00a0 The body will actually start to break down protein \u2013 the building blocks for muscles, bone, and other tissues \u2013 meaning you put yourself into a sort of self-cannibalization.\u00a0\u00a0 Your body starts to feed on its own muscles and you lose muscle mass.\u00a0 This is also tough on kidneys. \u00a0\u00a0Not a pretty thought.<\/p>\n
So strike a happy balance between protein, carbs and fat, and remember lean protein, high fiber and unsaturated fats as your first choice. \u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s all about balance and timing:\u00a0 my 80\/20 rule.\u00a0\u00a0 Athletic training is 80% nutrition, 20% training.\u00a0\u00a0 Get the food right, you have a bonafide mega-advantage over the competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michelle Ciuffetelli, a Certified Personal Trainer in Fort Myers, Florida, says her favorite carbs are oatmeal (filling and a good source of fiber); sweet potatoes;\u00a0 fruit (a great snack); Arnold Sandwich Thins (good fiber); and Flat Out wraps (taste great, can wrap anything).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now get moving.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s a wrap!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During periods of exercise, this process reverses, and glycogen converts to glucose once again, so that is may be used for energy. How long we \u201clast\u201d is greatly influenced by how much glycogen we have stored in our muscles. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[408,375,4,11,13,373,326,338],"tags":[412,416,415,417,36,37,409,53,55,65,68,69,92,98,101,107,116,396,121,133,468,169,176,177,411,376,413,470,252,410,475,378,386,414,368],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collagen-2","category-cycling","category-exercise-tips","category-nutrition","category-nutrition-for-teens","category-running","category-sports-nutrition","category-swimming","tag-hitting-the-wall","tag-10k","tag-5k","tag-5k-training","tag-athletes","tag-athletics","tag-atkins","tag-body-builders","tag-bodybuilding","tag-calories","tag-carbohydrates","tag-carbs","tag-dehydration","tag-diet","tag-dietitian","tag-eating-and-exercise","tag-endurance","tag-energy","tag-exercise","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-healthy","tag-healthy-lifestyle","tag-healthy-living","tag-low-carb","tag-marathon","tag-more-energy","tag-nutrition","tag-nutritionist","tag-south-beach","tag-swimming","tag-triathlete","tag-triathlon","tag-work-out-longer","tag-workout"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":601,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions\/601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportsnutritionauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sportsnutritionauthority.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Arabian4-2009.jpg\" "\\"Arabian4")
<\/a>When we digest food we\u2019ve eaten, the carbohydrates are broken down by our bodies into glucose, and then the glucose is stored in our muscles . . . as glycogen.\u00a0\u00a0 During periods of exercise, this process reverses, and glycogen converts to glucose once again, so that is may be used for energy.\u00a0 How long we \u201clast\u201d is greatly influenced by how much glycogen we have stored in our muscles.\u00a0<\/p>\n