As the title states: Is it necessary to carbload (1day before) for every race/kermesse?
They usually take 1 hour 35min to 2 hours.
I work with Hexis and when I tick competition, it tells me to carbload one day ahead and up my calories.
I honestly have no clue if it is needed or not? Or is it enough to just eat a high carb breakfast and lunch on raceday? Or should I make my dinner the night before also high carb? Or just eat high carbs throughout the day before?
I always take a restday the day before.
carbs are important for any high intensity work, so yes before races. not a traditional “carb load” but increase the amount you have in the 2 meals prior.
I’m not a big fan of the saying “carb loading” . This is what runners were told to do years ago. Somehow it got misconstrued to , do this the night before a race. The public latched on to the idea. Now it’s gorge yourself on pasta the night before, without any benefit, other than a social event.
My experience is; if you are eating enough to cover your calorie burn of macros during the week, then you are not lacking any carbs. You are taking a rest day before so you should have extra that you did not burn. If you take in more carbs than you need, it becomes fat. At race pace you’re not burning much fat. You don’t need extra fat. Putting some extra carb fuel in the tank race morning does have a benefit. Tops off the tank and perhaps a bit of carry over during the race.
If these are done weekly, I’d say treat them like a high intensity workout. Higher carb meals before hand and an appropriate amount of fuel during the event.
Since this sounds like an ongoing series of races you should work on fine tuning your nutrition to what works for you. Also, if you are on a maintenance plan I would think you shouldn’t need to carb load for an event of that duration.