Carbs Rule For Boxing

Is a moderate to high-carbohydrate diet really best for the boxer despite all the attention being given to the Atkins type diet? The answer is an absolute/resounding YES!

Many people are telling us that carbohydrates are bad and that they make you fat and sluggish; but the truth is different. If you are an athlete, in this case a boxer, carbohydrates are your number one source of energy. If you restrict your carbohydrate intake your performance will go down the tubes.

Carbohydrates join protein and fat to make up the "big three" macronutrients in food. There are two types of Carbohydrates: simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are sugars such as sucrose (table sugar), and complex carbohydrates are starches. When you eat carbohydrates your digestive system breakes them down into glucose which floats around in the bloodstream where it is used by various tissues for energy. Muscles not only use glucose for energy, but store it in the form of a starch called glycogen. In fact, stored muscle glycogen is the primary fuel source for any exercise lasting longer than 10 seconds. You have enough stored glycogen in your body for about 80 minutes of exercise. You must eat carbohydrates to replace the glycogen that is broken down during exercise.

Both a moderate 40-55% and high 65%+ Carbohydrate diet can improve performance in strenghth and power activities such as boxing.

There is also scientific evidence that a high carbohydrate intake will better maintain high-intense exercise endurance (your ability to maintain high power output over short periods of time) during periods of dieting - certainly the boxer comes to mind here. Other research indicates that a low-carbohydrate diet will impair performance of high intensity exercise. This kind of diet won't let you maintain your training intensity.

Carbohydrate intake can also have a positive effect on your immune system, reducing the degree to which this system will take a hit from trainng hard.

The consensus appears to be that carbohydrate supplementation before exercise, and during if possible, will help you train with a higher volume and maintain your intensity during long training sessions - critical for the successful boxer.

Consuming a carbohydrate drink immediately after working out will increase blood insulin levels and this can help your muscles recover because they will have more amino acids to repair tissue with and, the carbohydrate drink will also enhance the rate at which your muscles restore their glycogen levels.

It is even better to combine carbohydrates with protein. You get a release of growth hormone six hours after heavy training and the rate at which you build new protein after a workout is fastest when carbohydrates are combined with protein.

I suggest you ignore all the hype on "high protein/low-carbohydrate" diets. You're a boxer, you want to be healthy, you want to perform at your best - CARB UP!

Reference: "Carbs Rule" by James Krieger, MS and "New Research Reveals That Carbs Rule" by Dan Agman, PhD, CSCS; May issue of "Pure Power" Volume 4, Number 3.