Carb increase

[Jdtidmore]

How long, or if at all do you guys start increasing carb intake before a hunt. I maintain a pretty low carb/paleo diet most of the year but I’m new to backcountry/high output hunts and want to make sure I’ve got my body ready to go when the hunt starts

 

[Marbles]

I'm not a low carb person, however carb loading is not of much value outside of high intensity mid length endurance (less than half a day). So, I would not try to carb load prior to a hunt.

If you want to carb load, just eating carbs is not enough as your body will store them as fat. To increase glycogen stores, eating carbs within 30 minutes to an hour after a cardio workout will lead to more glycogen being stored in the muscles.

 

[Jdtidmore]

I guess I should have worded the post a little better. I wasn’t necessarily meaning just a carb increase. Is there any benefit to modifying your diet leading up to a hunt, whether it be caloric intake, protein increase, etc. I feel like I’m well prepared physically but if there are changes that I can make that will benefit me I’m always looking for new ideas.

 

[V2Pnutrition]

Welcome to the forums, @Jdtidmore .

Good question and it's dependent on alot of factors:

• What's your typical intake look like?
• What's the hunt you're planning to go on like?
• How many days? Length of time on a hunt is something I see often overlooked.
• Etc..

By and large, here's what I would say the take-a-way message is: if you're planning a really aggressive (long miles, alot of vert, multiple days), then it's a decent idea to increase your carb intake leading into a hunt. The fuel in the muscle we rely most on with higher intensity will be maxed out if you do that.

I'm going to go a little against what @Marbles said here by saying that "just eating carbs" won't cause you to store them as fat unless you spend days/weeks overconsuming carbs beyond the point of saturating your muscles with glycogen (which requires thousands of calories). A carb load doesn't need to be a month long ordeal, nor is it 'just a big bowl of pasta the night before.'

If the hunt is less aggressive- a couple of miles in/out, not much elevation, alot of time glassing,- then not really.

The second piece to remember if you fall in the former category is to stay on top of it throughout the duration of the hunt. Any of us can "make it" for a couple of days in the field. But, you'll find yourself tired and not doing all the little things as the days carry on if you're depleted from a lack of fuel (i.e. not going the long way around a ridge to stalk in on something. Not taking the time to go around noisy branches and instead just walking over them while stalking in, etc..).

Hopefully that helps answer the question. Good luck on whatever hunt you've got planned!

 

[Marbles]

Welcome to the forums, @Jdtidmore .

Good question and it's dependent on alot of factors:

• What's your typical intake look like?
• What's the hunt you're planning to go on like?
• How many days? Length of time on a hunt is something I see often overlooked.
• Etc..

By and large, here's what I would say the take-a-way message is: if you're planning a really aggressive (long miles, alot of vert, multiple days), then it's a decent idea to increase your carb intake leading into a hunt. The fuel in the muscle we rely most on with higher intensity will be maxed out if you do that.

I'm going to go a little against what @Marbles said here by saying that "just eating carbs" won't cause you to store them as fat unless you spend days/weeks overconsuming carbs beyond the point of saturating your muscles with glycogen (which requires thousands of calories). A carb load doesn't need to be a month long ordeal, nor is it 'just a big bowl of pasta the night before.'

If the hunt is less aggressive- a couple of miles in/out, not much elevation, alot of time glassing,- then not really.

The second piece to remember if you fall in the former category is to stay on top of it throughout the duration of the hunt. Any of us can "make it" for a couple of days in the field. But, you'll find yourself tired and not doing all the little things as the days carry on if you're depleted from a lack of fuel (i.e. not going the long way around a ridge to stalk in on something. Not taking the time to go around noisy branches and instead just walking over them while stalking in, etc..).

Hopefully that helps answer the question. Good luck on whatever hunt you've got planned!

@V2Pnutrition looks like I may need to update my knowledge, some quick digging, in the hope of providing myself correct, shows that I may be wrong.

Thanks for the call out, now I get to dig and read for a while.