I know this has been mentioned before to an extent regarding Jackson’s big bar of chocolate the night before a comp. But, how relevant is carbo-loading to such a short activity? I know warm up must come into it etc. Should carbs be upped for a couple of days prior to competition?
I don’t know about the days prior (I am still new to this board), but I do know that Charlie insists (or, suggests, since he doesn’t need to speak loudly) that sprinters eat very little carbs the day of the race, and well away from the event.
OK, thank you for the feedback. If anyone can give me more insight about the theory of carbo-loading in the few days leading up to a competition, I would be interested to hear about it.
Maris,
Think of the energy systems used by the 100m (if that’s the event that you target). How important would carb loading be to that?
Also, carbo loading will cause weight gain due to carriage of extra water. Not really ideal for 100m
Yeh, I understand the energy system for the event. But, taking the warm up into account. Say that’s an hour long. Also if you run the 100 and 200 in the same day, or have heats etc. In the 100 the ATP stored in the muscles are used first, then it’s just ATP-PC, but throughout the day if you have a few races, could carb stores not be depleted causing a feeling of ‘staleness’ or something similar? I really don’t know all that much about it. I’m just trying to learn what I can.
I’d eat the same way you do in speed training. if it’s a big meet or you’re particularly nervous, just eat less