Carbohydrate supplements, commonly known as "carbo" supplements, are indispensable during long-lasting, high-intensity exercises. In fact, the more strenuous the activity, the more the human body craves an adequate supply of carbohydrates.
What Are Carbo Supplements Good For?
As the name suggests, carbo supplements are a primary source of fuel for the body before, during, and after a workout. They provide energy more efficiently for intense training sessions than any other energy sources.
Indeed, depriving the body of carbohydrates during and after intense exercises would trigger unfavorable effects for athletes, one of which is the catabolic effect. This is characterized by the sudden burning of muscle mass due to the lack of valuable fuel - carbohydrates.
Thus, carbo supplements are recommended not only for boosting the body's energy reserves but also for further supporting muscle mass development and improving endurance performance.
How Do Carbo Supplements Affect the Body?
Carbo supplements are an intriguing substitute for other conventional carbohydrate sources. Due to their broad spectrum of effects and frequent additional ingredients like amino acids or proteins, carbo supplements have a diverse impact on the human body.
However, their common feature is that they ensure a good source of energy needed for exercise and general functioning. Regardless of the product, they provide the body with energy, and often minerals and trace elements, assisting in energy expenditure or accelerating the transport of essential nutrients from the blood directly to the muscles.
Can Carbo Supplements Help You Lose Weight?
Carbohydrates have an infamous reputation for supposedly encouraging the development of body fat. This belief is misleading, as any food can cause weight gain if consumed in excess.
Carbo supplements are advised as part of a daily training and dietary plan. When used during weight reduction, due to their lower calorie content compared to fats, they can facilitate the loss of fat mass while simultaneously supporting anabolic processes in the body.
Are Carbo Supplements Worth It for Gym Workouts?
Carbo supplements can provide an incredible foundation for further exercises. Numerous scientific studies have shown that carbohydrate blends used before or during a strength training session help you lift weights for an extended period.
Muscles require enough energy to maintain effective training and to ensure maximum muscle regeneration afterwards. For this reason, it is advisable to use carbo supplements during training when muscle fatigue is noticeable, and also about an hour before planned gym exercises, to stimulate the muscles initially.
Are Carbohydrate Supplements Helpful for Gaining Mass?
Technically, muscles don't require carbohydrates to grow. However, considering that weightlifting increases muscle protein synthesis, driving their growth, carbohydrates are essential for this process to occur.
Using carbo supplements for mass is also helpful because they spare the protein resources already in the body. This means that the body seeks energy in glycogen instead of breaking down muscle tissue to gain valuable resources. Therefore, using carbo type supplements for mass can prevent not only muscle loss and visible mass growth but also assist in their recovery and rebuilding.
What to Combine Carbo Supplements With?
What should you combine with carbo supplements to achieve the best results? It turns out that carbo supplements are an ideal base for simultaneous supplementation with EAA or BCAA amino acids. Such combinations enable longer workouts, preventing the body from using muscle proteins, detrimental to the muscles.
The carbohydrates in supplements speed up the transport of micro and macronutrients directly to the muscles, thereby affecting the proper absorption and utilization of amino acids and other valuable nutrients.
Should You Use Carbo Supplements on Non-Training Days?
Although the effectiveness of carbohydrates is essential directly before, during, and after training, they are equally important on non-training days. Eliminating carbo supplements completely for a day will shock the body, which expects the intake of necessary calories in the form of carbohydrates. Provoking such a situation may lead to the consumption of products containing unhealthy ingredients for health and muscle mass development.