Carbohydrate intake and recovery of intermittent running capacity.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of an increased carbohydrate intake on the recovery of endurance running capacity after exhaustive intermittent running. Six male subjects were randomly assigned to two dietary recovery conditions, each involving two running tests separated by 22 hr. The protocol comprised a prolonged, intermittent, high-intensity shuttle run test (I-HI). One week later subjects repeated the I-HI on consecutive days under different dietary conditions. During the 22-hr recovery, either the carbohydrate intake of the subjects was increased (CHO) or they ate an isocaloric diet by supplementing their normal diet with extra protein and fat (CON). Intermittent running capacity was improved when subjects increased their carbohydrate 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.