CARBOHYDRATE INTAKE AND RECOVERY OF INTERMITTENT RUNNING CAPACITY

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of an in creased carbohydrate intake on the recovery of endurance running capac ity after exhaustive intermittent running. Six male subjects were rand omly assigned to two dietary recovery conditions, each involving two r unning tests separated by 22 hr. The protocol comprised a prolonged, i ntermittent, high-intensity shuttle mn test (I-HI). One week later sub jects repeated the I-HI on consecutive days under different dietary co nditions. During the 22-hr recovery, either the carbohydrate intake of the subjects was increased (CHO)or they ate an isocaloric diet by sup plementing their normal diet with extra protein and fat (CON). Intermi ttent running capacity was improved when subjects increased their carb ohydrate intake to 10 g . kg(-1) bm during the 22-hr recovery between trials, but an isocaloric diet without additional carbohydrate did not bring about the same improvements.