Post Exercise Replenishment Strategies for Athletes

Why was this study done?

Glycogen (short-term glucose storage) replenishment is of utmost importance to competitive athletes as it is closely related to endurance and time to fatigue. It has long been known that consuming carbohydrates following an exercise bout was a successful strategy for replenishing glycogen. This study was designed to understand the role of a combination protein/carbohydrate has on glycogen replenishment.

What did the study find?

Both carbohydrate alone and carbohydrate with protein were able to increase blood sugar and insulin following an exercise bout. The combination of protein and carbohydrate were able to replenish glycogen significantly faster than carbohydrate alone.

Carbohydrate-protein complex increases the rate of muscle glycogen storage after exercise.
Authors: Zawadzki KM, Yaspelkis BB 3rd, Ivy JL. J Appl Physiol (1985). 1992 May;72(5):1854-9.
PubMed Citation PMID: 1601794.
PDF Manuscript: J Appl Physiol, 1992.