In another article I discussed the role of energy or lack of energy as being a key factor involved with muscle cramps. It goes to follow then that the more you can ‘load’ the muscles with energy, the better off you will e in terms of preventing cramps.
Unfortunately, as with everything in life, it’s not so straightforward as that.
I think it (a carbo-load) has to be for a special athlete in a special circumstance – if they’re competing once a week or twice a week – like a basketball player playing matches a couple of times a week – carbo-loading doesn’t make sense. And as a strategy to prevent cramping in these circumstances it makes even less sense.
If you’re an endurance Olympic athlete or a marathon runner and you only do 6 events a year or even less, say 2 events a year, then you could do an effective carbo-loading program to help you for that one event but not for the build up to that one event. Or if you’re into extreme endurance sports or triathlons, you might think about carbo-loading.”
So when I look at carbo-loading in the true definition of the term, it takes about a week to do an effective carbo-load if that’s something you want to do to affect and raise your energy levels. If you can get your energy levels up higher then you may reduce the risk of leg and muscle cramps associated with fatigue – especially calf cramps where athletes seem most susceptible.
What you have to do is deplete yourself and then load really hard – and, as a comparison, that’s kind of like allowing your stomach to shrink and then you just stretch it to the max – that’s what you’re doing with carbo-loading in your body.
You need to deplete yourself for 2-3 days and you want to get the body’s stores as low as you can and then really shoot up. And by shooting up you’re able to get up to 120% carbohydrate versus your typical 100. So you’re really able to go up to a higher level by loading up and that’s the trick to it.
Remember that it’s really only idealistic if you do it 2 or 3 times a year and most athletes compete now more than 2 or 3 times a year.
One of the problems regular athletes and people who train for sporting events face is that they rely too much on carbohydrates before events that last 2 hours or more.
What can happen is that you get all the energy in the first half of your event and then you run the danger that you start to come down past that level and you’ll actually starve for energy and you’ll feel like you’ve hit a wall.
At this point you’re more susceptible to cramping.
The best strategy is to switch to a pre-race nutrition plan that has about 60% carbohydrates (eliminating as much refined carbohydrate and sugar as possible), with the remaining 30% good fat and 30% protein – yep that’s right, 30% of each. And you need to ensure that your food sources are as fresh as possible
Why this works is simple – you’re providing the body with both long term and short term energy and in a form that has less of a stimulatory affect on the muscles.
So apple pie and cream is out as part of a pre-race nutrition plan – try apples and a whey protein shake instead.
Copyright www.Running-Cramp-Relief.com
Paul Newland is a health and nutrition consultant, trainer, martial arts instructor, commercial helicopter pilot and author. His Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide [http://www.running-cramp-relief.com] is one of the internet’s leading health information books and is the definitive guide to preventing, treating and curing cramps associated with exercise. In the Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide [http://www.running-cramp-relief.com] Newland speaks with 6 health, sports, nutrition, medical and complimentary health care professionals and explains why you get cramps, the best ways to treat them and how to prevent them from happening again. In the book he devotes several chapters on nutrition including suggestions on pre-race meal plans, nutrition plans and energy plans – all designed to give you a healthy edge.
