Effects of Carbohydrate Intake before and during an Ice Hockey Game on Blood and Muscle Energy Substrates

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This study was performed to determine whether carbohydrate (CHO) intake before and during an ice hockey game could spare muscle glycogen and improve performance. The effect of the CHO supplementation on blood glucose, lactate, triglycerides, and glycerol was also investigated. Seven elite collegiate ice hockey players were tested during two regular competitive league matches. The CHO supplement consisted of 100 g of glucose ingested during the 75–210 min period prior to the match and a total of 20 g glucose during the match. A lower blood glucose level before the game and higher glucose concentration after the game were measured in the experimental group. Muscle glycogen content was lowered in both groups. When the glycogen decrease was corrected for the distance skated, a greater sparing of this substrate was observed following the CHO-feeding. These data demonstrate that CHO intake can result in less glycogen usage per distance skated. This finding is of particular relevance for hockey tournaments during which players may participate in more than one match per day.

This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit: