|Nutrition| True or False?
- LC Elite Aesthetics
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
Consuming CARBOHYDRATES before your workout improves RESISTANCE EXERCISE performance.
FALSE!
In nearly every study investigating the effects of pre/during workout carbohydrate intake, the authors reported no improvement in resistance exercise performance (total lifting volume)
The studies reporting this are: PMID = 18545201; 10997956; 10660864; DOI = 10.1519/1533-4287(1991)005<0192:eocfom>2.3.co;2
The timing of the carbohydrate ingestion ranged from 30-minutes to immediately before the resistance exercise workout & some studies included carbohydrate intakes during the resistance exercise bout
In the 1 exception to these findings (PMID = 11447365), the resistance exercise workout was not of a practical nature. In that study, subjects completed 16 sets of 10 repetitions of quad/hamstring flexion/extension exercise at 120o/second on an isokinetic dynamometer.
I don’t know of anyone that does 16 sets of 10 reps of flexion/extension work for the quads & hamstrings!
In summary, if you take a carbohydrate containing pre-workout supplement believing that it will improve your resistance exercise performance, the totality of the data doesn’t support that conclusion
Physiologically, this makes sense as people who eat normal amounts of carbohydrates at breakfast, lunch, & dinner will have full carbohydrate/glycogen storage levels going into their training bout
However, if someone told me that they feel better when they consume a carbohydrate beverage before or during their workouts — would I tell them that this practice is foolish?
No
While the totality of data suggests that pre/during CHO intakes won’t improve performance, there’s no data to suggest that it hurts performance either
In this case, I’d defer to the individual & their workout routines that put them in the best mental state as they workout
1 more consideration to ponder. If a physique athlete is deep into their contest prep & total calories are restricted, in that scenario it’s possible that pre/during CHO intake would improve their lifting performance
Comments