Energy supplement in intermittent motion

If you are a basketball, football, rugby, or field hockey coach, you should know that recent research suggests that supplementing carbohydrates may be beneficial for your teammates. Although sports drinks and nutritional terms such as glycogen load are commonly used for endurance athletes, many new studies suggest that carbohydrates may also be beneficial for intermittent exercise. There have been many reports on the benefits of supplementing carbohydrates before, during, and after endurance exercise on exercise ability. Many physiologists have confirmed through experimental research that supplementing carbohydrates can improve the performance of long-distance runners, cyclists, triathlons, and other endurance athletes. But what is the impact of carbohydrates on short-term, high-intensity, and explosive sports? Let's take a look at two recent studies and see some connections with special sports.

Intermittent exercise research

Firstly, the relationship between intermittent exercise and carbohydrates is quite new and requires further research in this field. In addition, preliminary research findings suggest that coaches can improve their athletic performance through the dietary manipulation of athletes.

The following two different studies are introduced:

One study focused on drinking sports drinks before and during high-intensity exercise, while another study tracked the effects of long-term diet.

At the University of South Carolina, male and female participants engage in one minute high-intensity exercise followed by a three minute rest. Although the subjects were conducting the experiment on bicycles, the intensity of explosive force exceeded their anaerobic threshold (AT) by 20-30%. It is generally believed that the accumulation of lactic acid significantly increases during this intensity of exercise. Therefore, this high-intensity sport is equivalent to basketball or hockey players running back and forth at a higher speed on the field.

A group drank beverages containing 18% sugar before exercise and 6% sugar every 20 minutes during exercise. The other group drank placebo drinks of the same volume but without sugar.

The research results indicate that high-intensity exercise in the carbohydrate group is 28 minutes longer than that in the placebo group.

In the second study, researchers from the University of Toledo Port in Ohio instructed a group of participants to consume a carbohydrate diet that consumed 52% of their energy for three days, followed by a carbohydrate diet that consumed 73% of their energy for three more days. The other group consumed a diet with only 40% of their energy coming from carbohydrates, so during the six day experiment, their diet had more fat and protein. On the seventh day, both groups of participants ran at full strength and were exhausted.

Result: The high carbohydrate group was able to run an average of 23 seconds longer.

The connection between carbohydrates:

Assuming that the above research does not prove that providing athletes with a high carbohydrate diet and appropriate concentrations of sports drinks before and during exercise will definitely win the competition, but as long as we look at the special needs of two typical high-intensity sports, the relationship between intermittent exercise and carbohydrates becomes clear.

Basketball: Sports on the field require explosive power followed by aerobic exercise. Consuming carbohydrates can significantly affect the intensity of high-energy explosive sports and can also affect energy recovery between two explosive sports. After the athlete grabs the ball, they must sprint on the field, jump up, and throw the ball into the blue basket. At this point, the storage of carbohydrates in the athlete's muscles becomes extremely important. Not only does it affect his ability to complete these actions, but it also affects his recovery rate after completing these actions. Due to the inherent requirement for fast activity speed on the field, if an athlete's recovery rate decreases after each high-intensity exercise due to low carbohydrate storage in their body, it becomes difficult to complete the original tactics, and their overall athletic ability will be affected.

Football: Football requires a unique level of endurance and explosiveness, with speed requiring explosiveness to drive the ball past or catch up with an opponent in the crucial first 5-10 yards. In a typical 90 minute race, on average, an excellent opponent or international athlete needs to run about 5 miles or more. Therefore, consuming sufficient carbohydrates is crucial for completing intense technical anaerobic and endurance exercises. In fact, a recent study has shown that supplementing carbohydrate drinks 10 minutes before and half of the game can significantly save muscle glycogen.

The role of carbohydrates is also extremely important in sports such as hockey, rugby, wrestling, volleyball, and gymnastics. It is important to remember that carbohydrates can have a significant impact on your sports team's practice and final game.