This is one of the most factual documents I've ever read, to see the full article with illustrations please visit the author Don Heatrick's website http://heatrick.com/
Carbohydrates for Muay Thai
Are carbohydrates important for Muay Thai? For those that like a direct answer... YES! For a Thai boxer, carbohydrates play a major role in the following:
1. fat loss or gain
2. energy crashes during training and fights
3. fuelling for training sessions over an hour long
4. refuelling for multiple training sessions in one day 5. weight cutting for fights
Protein gets all the “airtime” (because there's more money in it!), and although protein is important, in my experience, sorting out your carbohydrate consumption will dramatically improve your physical performance and body composition – and is where most fighters go wrong.
Fat Loss or Gain
Carbohydrate is the body's primary energy source, but any surplus calories will be stored as fat. All carbohydrate foods have a glycemic index (or GI value) which indicates how fast the sugars absorb through your stomach and enter your bloodstream. High GI foods cause you blood-sugar levels to sky-rocket (the red line on the graph), forcing the release of insulin to bring it back down again. Insulin also causes surplus calories you've eaten to be stored as fat, and makes your body hold onto stored body fat reserves rather than burning them for fuel. Not good news if you're trying to lose fat.
Carbohydrates for Muay Thai
Are carbohydrates important for Muay Thai? For those that like a direct answer... YES! For a Thai boxer, carbohydrates play a major role in the following:
1. fat loss or gain
2. energy crashes during training and fights
3. fuelling for training sessions over an hour long
4. refuelling for multiple training sessions in one day 5. weight cutting for fights
Protein gets all the “airtime” (because there's more money in it!), and although protein is important, in my experience, sorting out your carbohydrate consumption will dramatically improve your physical performance and body composition – and is where most fighters go wrong.
Fat Loss or Gain
Carbohydrate is the body's primary energy source, but any surplus calories will be stored as fat. All carbohydrate foods have a glycemic index (or GI value) which indicates how fast the sugars absorb through your stomach and enter your bloodstream. High GI foods cause you blood-sugar levels to sky-rocket (the red line on the graph), forcing the release of insulin to bring it back down again. Insulin also causes surplus calories you've eaten to be stored as fat, and makes your body hold onto stored body fat reserves rather than burning them for fuel. Not good news if you're trying to lose fat.
Energy Levels
Also, when insulin is dumped into your bloodstream, it causes a rapid fall in blood-sugar below your resting level – this energy crash causes cravings for more high GI foods (to rapidly bring blood-sugar back up again). If you give in to the high GI cravings, this blood-sugar “see- sawing” continues, not only topping up fat reserves but also spiking and crashing your energy levels. Eating low and medium GI food (the green line on the previous graph) stabilises your blood sugar and energy levels, and your body will freely burn body-fat in the absence of extreme insulin release.
Carb Timing
The timing of your meals will also drastically effect your blood-sugar and energy levels throughout the day. Eat every 3-4 hours to keep things stable — going too long between meals causes blood-sugar to drop, only to spike when you eventually eat. So eat three main meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and have a small snack between them too. Just distribute your daily calories evenly though out the day rather than starving all day and then pigging out in the evening. Eat little and often.
Fight Day Considerations
It's especially important to consider the carbs in pre-fight meals, to avoid an energy crash in
the ring. Despite what you may have heard, necking a Red Bull before a fight really isn't the
best strategy.
Don't eat anything within an hour of your fight to ensure it's properly digested – I've personally always felt I've fought best when I've just started to feel a little hungry before getting in the ring.
The meal should also be a tried and tested one that doesn't upset your stomach – fight day is no time to experiment (try meals out before training and monitor how you feel).
A meal with low to medium GI
carbohydrate and a little protein is by far
the best option. Too much protein will
slow digestion and can sit heavy in your stomach.
My personal favourite pre-fight meal is whole-wheat pasta with tuna, sweetcorn an a little salad cream. It fuels you up nicely, is easily stored in a plastic container, and above all is within my limited cooking capability!
Carbs For Fuel
So we've discussed how carbohydrates affect fat storage, and how to stabilise your energy levels to avoid crashing in the ring. Now we'll turn our attention to the stored carbohydrate (glycogen) in your body, and fuelling physical performance during longer duration training sessions between 1 and 2 hours, and multiple training sessions in one day.
Unlike fat storage, your body can store only a limited amount of carbohydrate in both the muscles and the liver – only enough to fuel approximately 60-90 minutes of high intensity Muay Thai training. Therefore, although carbohydrate intake isn’t necessary for short duration training sessions or events lasting 60-minutes or less, if you’re training for extended periods or using intermittent, high-intensity exercise like pad rounds, then you must take on some carbs during training. Running out of stored muscle glycogen results in premature fatigue and increased perceived effort, and a less than productive training session.
Don't eat anything within an hour of your fight to ensure it's properly digested – I've personally always felt I've fought best when I've just started to feel a little hungry before getting in the ring.
The meal should also be a tried and tested one that doesn't upset your stomach – fight day is no time to experiment (try meals out before training and monitor how you feel).
A meal with low to medium GI
carbohydrate and a little protein is by far
the best option. Too much protein will
slow digestion and can sit heavy in your stomach.
My personal favourite pre-fight meal is whole-wheat pasta with tuna, sweetcorn an a little salad cream. It fuels you up nicely, is easily stored in a plastic container, and above all is within my limited cooking capability!
Carbs For Fuel
So we've discussed how carbohydrates affect fat storage, and how to stabilise your energy levels to avoid crashing in the ring. Now we'll turn our attention to the stored carbohydrate (glycogen) in your body, and fuelling physical performance during longer duration training sessions between 1 and 2 hours, and multiple training sessions in one day.
Unlike fat storage, your body can store only a limited amount of carbohydrate in both the muscles and the liver – only enough to fuel approximately 60-90 minutes of high intensity Muay Thai training. Therefore, although carbohydrate intake isn’t necessary for short duration training sessions or events lasting 60-minutes or less, if you’re training for extended periods or using intermittent, high-intensity exercise like pad rounds, then you must take on some carbs during training. Running out of stored muscle glycogen results in premature fatigue and increased perceived effort, and a less than productive training session.
The glycogen stored in individual muscles can only be used to fuel that muscle, it can’t be
shared with any other muscles. For example, if you’ve thrown lots of round kicks in the first
90 mins of training, your calves could be depleted of glycogen (energy), and they can’t borrow
from the spare glycogen remaining in your chest.
Although your liver’s glycogen store can supply on demand via the bloodstream to any muscle in the body, its main function is to ensure your brain isn’t starved of fuel. The most effective way to re-stock your calves is to consume additional carbohydrate, which is transported via your bloodstream to your empty calves.
Training between 1 and 2 hours
Evidence shows that during medium duration training of up to 2-hours, extra carbohydrate intake will delay fatigue. It’s recommended that 60g of carbohydrate per hour in the form of glucose or maltodextrin is ingested. This can be consumed in any form – solid, liquid or gels, entirely dependant on personal preference.
I personally prefer drinks, as the liquid carbohydrate has the added advantage of preventing dehydration – and I sweat like a pig. Drinks alone can make some feel nauseous. If this is you, try some high GI carbohydrate foods such as cereal bars or white bread sandwiches. Check out the GI table of various foods on the previous page to find some other quick snacks.
My favourite training drink is pure orange juice (not from concentrate) diluted 50:50 with water. This tops up my glycogen stores and is an isotonic dehydration preventer. Particularly important when training in hot, humid climates like Thailand!
Although your liver’s glycogen store can supply on demand via the bloodstream to any muscle in the body, its main function is to ensure your brain isn’t starved of fuel. The most effective way to re-stock your calves is to consume additional carbohydrate, which is transported via your bloodstream to your empty calves.
Training between 1 and 2 hours
Evidence shows that during medium duration training of up to 2-hours, extra carbohydrate intake will delay fatigue. It’s recommended that 60g of carbohydrate per hour in the form of glucose or maltodextrin is ingested. This can be consumed in any form – solid, liquid or gels, entirely dependant on personal preference.
I personally prefer drinks, as the liquid carbohydrate has the added advantage of preventing dehydration – and I sweat like a pig. Drinks alone can make some feel nauseous. If this is you, try some high GI carbohydrate foods such as cereal bars or white bread sandwiches. Check out the GI table of various foods on the previous page to find some other quick snacks.
My favourite training drink is pure orange juice (not from concentrate) diluted 50:50 with water. This tops up my glycogen stores and is an isotonic dehydration preventer. Particularly important when training in hot, humid climates like Thailand!
Training over 2 hours
If you’re training for longer than 2-hours it’s recommended you consume 90g of high
glycemic index carbohydrate per hour. To
achieve this I top up my orange juice/water
drink with high glycemic index foods like
cereal bars.
Multiple training sessions in one day
In Thailand, it’s common to train in the morning and the afternoon. To get the best out of these sessions you should optimise your short-term recovery and begin taking on carbs as soon as possible after training.
Research shows that if carbohydrate alone is
being used, then supplementation should be
very frequent, such as every 30 minutes 1.2 to 1.5g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight should be consumed for up to 4-hours.
Studies have also shown that combining carbohydrate with protein increases the rate of glycogen storage. If this post training refuelling method is used, the recommendation is that 0.8g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight plus 0.2g of protein per kg of body weight (4:1 carb/protein) be consumed immediately and 2-hours after exercise during a 4-hour recovery period. This carb/protein method of replacing muscle glycogen also has the added advantage of promoting repair of damaged muscle tissue.
Research also recommends that during intense training periods, a daily total carbohydrate intake of 6-8g per kg of body mass is consumed to keep pace with energy demands. If you want to get your calculator out, then go for it (I must admit, I do). But the take-home point is get some carbs down you ASAP after training – it’s more important than protein (although some protein is a great idea). Carbohydrates spare the use of protein, meaning you're not wasting your relatively expensive protein fuelling movement rather than building and repairing muscle. The only time to watch your carbohydrate intake is when cutting body fat, since access calories will be stored as fat.
All of these refuelling strategies have a significant impact on subsequent physical performance and training quality, and play an important part in a Thai boxer (of any level) achieving their personal best.
achieve this I top up my orange juice/water
drink with high glycemic index foods like
cereal bars.
Multiple training sessions in one day
In Thailand, it’s common to train in the morning and the afternoon. To get the best out of these sessions you should optimise your short-term recovery and begin taking on carbs as soon as possible after training.
Research shows that if carbohydrate alone is
being used, then supplementation should be
very frequent, such as every 30 minutes 1.2 to 1.5g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight should be consumed for up to 4-hours.
Studies have also shown that combining carbohydrate with protein increases the rate of glycogen storage. If this post training refuelling method is used, the recommendation is that 0.8g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight plus 0.2g of protein per kg of body weight (4:1 carb/protein) be consumed immediately and 2-hours after exercise during a 4-hour recovery period. This carb/protein method of replacing muscle glycogen also has the added advantage of promoting repair of damaged muscle tissue.
Research also recommends that during intense training periods, a daily total carbohydrate intake of 6-8g per kg of body mass is consumed to keep pace with energy demands. If you want to get your calculator out, then go for it (I must admit, I do). But the take-home point is get some carbs down you ASAP after training – it’s more important than protein (although some protein is a great idea). Carbohydrates spare the use of protein, meaning you're not wasting your relatively expensive protein fuelling movement rather than building and repairing muscle. The only time to watch your carbohydrate intake is when cutting body fat, since access calories will be stored as fat.
All of these refuelling strategies have a significant impact on subsequent physical performance and training quality, and play an important part in a Thai boxer (of any level) achieving their personal best.
Carbs and making weight for a fight
Let's now look at how carbohydrates affect your weight cut the final week before a fight. Your
body composition should already be on point (less than 10% body fat) by managing your
calorie intake (especially carbs) for the previous 4-weeks or so.
Previously I said, “Unlike fat storage, your body can store only a limited amount of carbohydrate in both the muscles and the liver.”
This equates to approximately 300-700g of muscle glycogen (carbohydrate) and 80-110g of glycogen in the liver, providing a storage capacity 400-800g. But this is only a portion of the associated weight resulting from stored carbohydrate or glycogen.
For every 1g of stored glycogen, your body also stores about 3-4g of water, which makes a big difference to your body weight. Glycogen and associated water stores could be adding between 1-3kg to your weight; and that’s without reducing water intake and dehydrating in any way, just running down your muscle glycogen stores.
Previously I said, “Unlike fat storage, your body can store only a limited amount of carbohydrate in both the muscles and the liver.”
This equates to approximately 300-700g of muscle glycogen (carbohydrate) and 80-110g of glycogen in the liver, providing a storage capacity 400-800g. But this is only a portion of the associated weight resulting from stored carbohydrate or glycogen.
For every 1g of stored glycogen, your body also stores about 3-4g of water, which makes a big difference to your body weight. Glycogen and associated water stores could be adding between 1-3kg to your weight; and that’s without reducing water intake and dehydrating in any way, just running down your muscle glycogen stores.
It takes at least 20-hours to fully restore muscle glycogen (provided sufficient carbohydrate is
consumed in that period), so this method of weight reduction is not for fights with the weigh-
in on the same day. Your performance will be greatly reduced if you compete with low
glycogen levels. Only consider running down muscle glycogen if your weigh-in is the day
before the fight.
Larger, more muscular fighters have a greater muscle mass and therefore a greater capacity for muscle glycogen storage, and can drop more weight using this method. This final cut is a temporary glycogen and water weight dumping process. If done correctly, you’ll have regained your full weight again by fight time.
Minimising your carbohydrate intake in the final week of training will run down your glycogen stores quickly and strip off the weight. Bare in mind that toward the end of the week, when your glycogen stores are virtually depleted, training is going to be very tough. It’s important that you don’t train for too long. Your training programme should be periodised for short, high-intensity sessions in this last week to provide optimum peaking for the fight; this also allows you to train effectively despite running low on glycogen.
Glycogen depletion, combined with controlled dehydration through water loading is the most effective way to temporarily drop weight the day before the fight. Getting the weight off is only half the job. It’s crucial that you understand how to pack back on all that temporarily lost body weight before stepping into the ring, or you’ll squander your advantage.
Larger, more muscular fighters have a greater muscle mass and therefore a greater capacity for muscle glycogen storage, and can drop more weight using this method. This final cut is a temporary glycogen and water weight dumping process. If done correctly, you’ll have regained your full weight again by fight time.
Minimising your carbohydrate intake in the final week of training will run down your glycogen stores quickly and strip off the weight. Bare in mind that toward the end of the week, when your glycogen stores are virtually depleted, training is going to be very tough. It’s important that you don’t train for too long. Your training programme should be periodised for short, high-intensity sessions in this last week to provide optimum peaking for the fight; this also allows you to train effectively despite running low on glycogen.
Glycogen depletion, combined with controlled dehydration through water loading is the most effective way to temporarily drop weight the day before the fight. Getting the weight off is only half the job. It’s crucial that you understand how to pack back on all that temporarily lost body weight before stepping into the ring, or you’ll squander your advantage.
Carbs ARE important in Muay Thai
I hope you can see why the quality, quantity and timing of your carbohydrate intake should be
considered to maximise your Muay Thai training and fight performance – and this brief
review has made you think a bit more about the carbohydrates that you eat. A better applied
understanding will drastically affect your body composition, fight weight and energy levels
both in training and during fights. It's important you balance your training, rest and nutrition
– don't waste all your hard work with poor nutritional choices!
If you want more, please have a good look around my Strength & Conditioning for Muay Thai website – http://heatrick.com/ – there's plenty more nutritional, mindset, and strength and conditioning training info there for you.
I'd love to help you achieve your goals in the future, please stay in touch. Best of luck with your training, keep learning and smash it in the ring!
Kind regards,
Don Heatrick
Respecting the traditional, embracing the new.
If you want more, please have a good look around my Strength & Conditioning for Muay Thai website – http://heatrick.com/ – there's plenty more nutritional, mindset, and strength and conditioning training info there for you.
I'd love to help you achieve your goals in the future, please stay in touch. Best of luck with your training, keep learning and smash it in the ring!
Kind regards,
Don Heatrick
Respecting the traditional, embracing the new.
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