One of my favorite authors wrote a whole book on bonking. However, she was referring to a different type of bonking than what I’ll be talking about today. Sorry to disappoint!

Bonking in the sporting world is when an athlete ‘hits the wall’ or becomes exhausted, which can happen in endurance events lasting over 2 hours when the body has depleted all its carbohydrate reserves.

Surprise, surprise carbohydrates and fats are used for energy (not protein) in athletes, where the use of carbohydrate vs fat varies depending on:

Duration of exercise – at the start of exercise carbohydrates are used
Intensity of exercise – the higher the intensity, the greater the use of carbohydrate
And fitness of the individual – fit individuals will use more fat as energy

So, what can you do with this information? Well, warm up slowly to give your body the chance to start using fat as energy, carbohydrates are more important for intensely-trained athletes than for recreational athletes and getting fit is a good thing!!

Marathons, triathlons and other competitive events are just around the corner, so here’s what you need to know about carbohydrate loading for events, and how to prevent bonking:

Activity: hard bout of exercise 7 days pre-event to deplete glycogen stores (how carbohydrates are stored in your muscles and liver). Once depleted it is easier for newly consumed carbohydrates to be stored.
Pre-exercise carbohydrate: 1 - 4 hours before an event (restore glycogen levels from overnight fast); controversy regarding eating in the hour, so don’t do it!
During exercise/event: 0.6 g/kg body weight (solid, liquid or gel) if it’s a long event or the athlete hasn’t carb-loaded
After exercise: for multiple daily training sessions – 1-1.5 g/kg within the first 30 min, and then every two hours

Otherwise, everyday eating for exercise and health should include 6 g of carbohydrate for each kg of body weight. If you’re doing extreme endurance training, then you need 10 g of carbohydrate for each kg of body weight.

If you’re a plant based athlete, check out my post here to learn how to supply your body with the nutrients you need to help your performance!

Good luck in your event!! And any questions please feel free to post a comment below.

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Image courtesy of TirachardKumtanom