Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
References
Introduction
According to current sports nutrition guidelines, the performance of sustained high-intensity endurance sports is best supported by conditions of high carbohydrate (CHO) availability (Thomas et al. 2016), defined as matching the finite body CHO stores to event-specific muscle and central nervous system fuel needs (Burke et al. 2018a). High CHO availability (HCHO) can be achieved via targeted dietary CHO intake over the 24–36 h prior to the race to normalise or super-compensate muscle glycogen concentrations (Burke et al. 2011), supplemented by a pre-race CHO-rich meal to restore liver glycogen content and provide ongoing release of glucose from the gut within the race (Coyle, 1991). In events lasting longer than 90 min, the provision of additional CHO substrate from foods/fluids consumed during exercise becomes more important (Stellingwerff & Cox, 2014). Contemporary views around everyday nutritional support for the high-volume endurance training necessary to prepare for such events also promote HCHO availability, at least for key workouts in which high-intensity/quality performance or race simulation is desired (Burke et al. 2011, 2018a). Yet, competitive endurance athletes do not always achieve these goals, for reasons that are either accidental or intentional (Heikura et al. 2018).A deliberate contrast to these guidelines is the revived interest in adaptation to low CHO, high fat (LCHF) diets, due to observations that athletes can achieve substantial increases to their already enhanced capacity for oxidising fat during exercise, including an increase in the exercise intensity at which maximal rates of fat oxidation occur (for review, see Burke, 2021).