Supplement Godfather

Carbohydrate supplements powders can help you maximize muscle growth and workout energy. Traditional forms of carb supplements are simple sugars such as dextrose or maltodextrin. Today, carbohydrate powders have taken on a whole new level of complexity and are designed specifically for speedy uptake and function, provided you know when and how to take them.

Why Use Carb Supplements?
When it comes to fueling workouts, muscle relies primarily on adenosine triphosphate (ATP ), which is stored in short supply in your muscles. During a high-intensity workout (such as weight training), muscles use ATP to fuel contraction. However, almost immediately, the body needs to make more. Creatine phosphate helps regenerate ATP, but you only get about 8 to 12 seconds worth—enough for an intense working set. Next, the body will access stored glycogen (stored carbs) in the muscles to generate more ATP. If your workouts are intense and require a lot of energy, supplementing with carbs before and during a workout can help keep glucose readily available for immediate use by muscles, allowing you to keep your workout intensity cranked up. Post-workout supplementation also helps to replenish lost muscle glycogen, loading the muscles for the next workout.

Carbs and Insulin = Muscle or Fat Gain?
Consuming carbohydrates is often associated with fat gain. However, eating too little can leave your muscles looking “flat” and your workout performance zapped. Proteins and fats can provide energy; however, for intense training they’re not optimal. When we eat carbs, they’re broken down into glucose. This triggers the release of the most anabolic hormone in the body, insulin. One of insulin’s main roles is to shuttle glucose and amino acids to muscle. The aminos increase protein synthesis (aka muscle growth), and the glucose can either be used immediately for energy or stored as glycogen for later use. When glycogen reaches capacity in the liver and muscle, insulin shuttles the carbs to fat cells. The key to increasing muscle mass while not getting fat is to optimize your carb intake.

When and How Much?
When it comes to supplementing with carbs, first consider how many carbs your body really needs, and how much you’re already getting throughout the day. The amount of carbs you need will depend on various factors. However, most athletes’ diets target 20 to 40 percent of calories from carbs—from both dietary and supplement sources combined.

Pre-, Intra- and Post-Workout Carbs
Supplementing with carbs before and during a workout helps ensure your muscles are kept in an anabolic state while minimizing catabolic muscle loss. A workout can deplete ATP, muscle glycogen, and amino acid stores, but it can also elevate cortisol levels, which can break down muscle for use as fuel. A catabolic breakdown will continue until the body receives an adequate supply of both aminos and glucose to restore protein and muscle glycogen synthesis, which means providing the body with carbs after working out is just as important as making sure you have an adequate supply of them while you work out.
Consuming a carbohydrate supplement along with a source of fast-digesting protein or amino acids (such as whey or BCAAs) will ensure glycogen refueling and also help drive amino acids to the muscle to boost recovery and protein synthesis. If your goal is to build muscle, then consider supplementing with a 2:1 or 1:1 ratio of carbs to protein. This ratio has been shown to be effective for increasing muscle growth and for improving overall body composition and strength in athletes.

Types of Carb Supplements:

First-Generation Carb Powders: Dextrose

When first launched, carb supplements were generally dextrose or maltodextrin. Their problem is a high osmolarity and low molecular weight, which delays gastric emptying. This slows the absorption into the bloodstream and impedes insulin release.

A Step Up: Waxy Starches
Waxy starches from maize, barley, and rice have a higher molecular weight and lower osmolarity than dextrose and maltodextrin. Although waxy starches are absorbed faster, their large complex structure still needs to be broken down into single glucose molecules before they can be used.

Next Generation: Highly Branched Cyclic Dextrins
The latest of the carb supplements, highly branched cyclic dextrins (or HBCDs), are designed specifically to enhance performance. Unlike dextrose and waxy starches, HBCDs have synthetically developed cyclic structures with ultra-low osmolarity and high molecular weights that allow for the quickest transit time and fastest digestion. There are many HBCDs on the market today, and most come backed with clinical research supporting their rapid digestion rates compared to carbs such as dextrose or maltodextrin.

The Final Word on Carbs
All carbs are not created equal. Just as different sources of protein have different amino acid profiles, different types of carbs have different chemical structures and effects on the body. Don’t be afraid of carbs—just make sure you effectively use them to your muscle-building advantage!

References:
Berardi J, et al. Post-exercise muscle glycogen recovery enhanced with carbohydrate-protein supplement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006; 38:1106-13.

Kerksick C, et al. Nutrition position stand: nutrient timing. JISSN. 2008; 3:5-17.

Rasmussen B, et al. An oral essential amino-acid-carbohydrate supplement enhances muscle protein anabolism after resistance exercise. J App Physiol. 2000; 88:386-92.

Stephens FB, et al. Post-exercise ingestion of a unique, high molecular weight glucose polymer solution improves performance during a subsequent bout of cycling exercise. J Sports Sci. 2008; 81:346-51.

Takii H, Takii NY, Kometani T, et al. Fluids containing a highly branched cyclic dextrin influence the gastric emptying rate. Inter J Sports Med. 2005; 26:314-319.

Tarnopolsky M, et al. Post-exercise protein carbohydrate and carbohydrate supplements increase muscle glycogen in men and women. J Appl Physiol. 1997; 83:1877-83.

Tipton K, et al. Post-exercise net protein synthesis in human muscle from orally administered amino acids. J App Physiol. 1999; 6:E628-34.