Carbohydrate Supplements


Intense training creates demand in the body for glycogen (carbohydrate) replacement as well as for amino acids. It is important to have enough carbohydrates in your system after training because otherwise the body may start to use amino acids for energy instead. The "window" for carbohydrates replenishment--that is, the period during which the body is in very high demand for this nutrient--is much shorter than it is for protein. In fact, your best results occur when you are able to get the necessary carbohydrates into your body within about 20 minutes of finishing training.

This need for immediate glycogen replacement is why many bodybuilders use carbohydrate supplement after workout as well as protein supplement. This is especially valuable if you follow up weight training with a session of cardiovascular training. If you try to work on a treadmill , stepper, or exercise bike too soon after your workout, and your body is carbohydrate-deprived, you will find yourself lacking in energy and you can be sure your body is metabolizing more amino acids to supply energy than would otherwise be necessary.

Carbohydrates are the body's primary and most easily available source of energy. All carbohydrates are sugars, molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen synthesized by plants through the process of photosynthesis (using the energy of the sun) or by animals through the process of glycogen synthesis. But when I say sugar I don't mean the table sugar that you put in your coffee or on your morning cereal. There are a wide variety of different carbohydrates, as we'll see. Following are the basic categories of carbohydrates:

Monosaccharides

  • Glucose (blood sugar)
  • Fructose (fruit sugar)
  • Galactose (a kind of milk sugar)

Oligosaccharides

  • Sucrose (table sugar)
  • Lactose (milk sugar)
  • Maltose (malt sugar)

Polysaccharides

  • Plant polysaccharides (starch and cellulose)
  • Animal polysaccharides (glycogen)

How quickly carbohydrates are metabolized is measured by something called a glycemic index. A high glycemic index (large increase of serum glucose) means the carbohydrates are metabolized quickly; a low index (relatively small increase of serum glucose) mean they are metabolized more slowly or differently. What we called simple carbs are now categorized as those with a high glycemic index (fruits processed sugar), and complex carbs are characterized by a low glycemic index (starches, cellulose). Carbs with a low glycemic index provide their energy over a period of time, and therefore have a kind of time-release effect.

Carbohydrates are the easiest form of food for the body to covert into energy. Once ingested, they are turned into glucose, which circulates in the bloodstream and fuels muscular contraction, andglycogen , when is stored in the muscles and the liver for future use. Adequate supplies of carbohydrates are essential for serious bodybuilders for a number of reasons:

1- Carbohydrates are a primary form of energy. The carbohydrates stored in the muscles as glycogen are what allow you to do heavy and intense weight training.
2- Muscle size is increased when the body stores glycogen and water in the individual muscle cells.
3- Carbohydrates in the body have a "protein-sparing effect, keeping the body from burning up excessive protein for energy.
4- The carbohydrate glucose is a main source of energy that fuels the functioning of the brain, and deprivation can have severe effects on mood, personality, and mental ability.

The reason that carbohydrates are so important as fuel for intense training is that most exercise like this is anaerobic--that is, it takes place in short, intense bursts and outruns the ability of the body to supply enoughoxygen to sustain the effort. But the structure of carbohydrates is such that they can continue to fuel exercise for short periods in the absence of oxygen. So when you do a hard set of weight training or run a 100 meter sprint, the source of your energy for those efforts is primarily carbohydrates.