Carbohydrate Supplementation and Prolonged Intermittent High-Intensity Exercise in Adolescents

Abstract

In the last decade, research has begun to investigate the efficacy of carbohydrate supplementation for improving aspects of physical capacity and skill performance during sport-specific exercise in adolescent team games players. This research remains in its infancy, and further study would be beneficial considering the large youth population actively involved in team games. Literature on the influence of carbohydrate supplementation on skill performance is scarce, limited to shooting accuracy in adolescent basketball players and conflicting in its findings. Between-study differences in the exercise protocol, volume of fluid and carbohydrate consumed, use of prior fatiguing exercise and timing of skill tests may contribute to the different findings. Conversely, initial data supports carbohydrate supplementation in solution and gel form for improving intermittent endurance running capacity following soccer-specific shuttle running. These studies produced reliable data, but were subject to limitations including lack of quantification of the metabolic response of participants, limited generalization of data due to narrow participant age and maturation ranges, use of males and females within the same sample and non-standardized pre-exercise nutritional status between participants. There is a lack of consensus regarding the influence of frequently consuming carbohydrate-containing products on tooth enamel erosion and the development of obesity or being overweight in adolescent athletes and non-athletes. These discrepancies mean that the initiation or exacerbation of health issues due to frequent consumption of carbohydrate-containing products by adolescents cannot be conclusively refuted. Coupled with the knowledge that consuming a natural, high-carbohydrate diet -3-8 hours before exercise can significantly alter substrate use and improve exercise performance in adults, a moral and ethical concern is raised regarding the direction of future research in order to further knowledge while safeguarding the health and well-being of young participants. It could be deemed unethical to continue study into carbohydrate supplementation while ignoring the potential health concerns and the possibility of generating similar performance enhancements using natural dietary interventions. Therefore, future work should investigate the influence of pre-exercise dietary intake on the prolonged intermittent, high-intensity exercise performance of adolescents. This would enable quantification of whether pre-exercise nutrition can modulate exercise performance and, if so, the optimum dietary composition to achieve this. Research could then combine this knowledge with ingestion of carbohydrate-containing products during exercise to facilitate ethical and healthy nutritional guidelines for enhancing the exercise performance of adolescents. This article addresses the available evidence regarding carbohydrate supplementation and prolonged intermittent, high-intensity exercise in adolescent team games players. It discusses the potential health con...

Macronutrient Intake in Soccer Players—A Meta-Analysis

“…The topic of macronutrients in soccer has been studied for many years. Since the eighties, discussion has centered mainly on the higher carbohydrate (CHO) daily intake [10,11,12,13,14,15]. In addition to CHO, the focus has also been on protein and lipid intake [16,17,18].…”

Acute Effects of Carbohydrate Supplementation on Intermittent Sports Performance

“…In addition, the complex nature of intermittent sports makes it difficult to accurately and reliably measure performance and the many methodological differences between studies confound the ability to interpret results. Previous reviews of the effects of carbohydrate ingestion on intermittent sport performance have focused on a single sport or category of intermittent sport or discussed only certain aspects of performance [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. In this paper we discuss the effect of carbohydrate ingestion on individual performance in intermittent sports, with the specific objectives of reviewing: (1) potential biological mechanisms by which carbohydrate impacts intermittent sport performance; (2) the effect of carbohydrate ingestion on several aspects of intermittent sport performance, including intermittent high-intensity exercise capacity, sprinting, jumping, skill, change of direction speed, and cognition; and (3) what recommendations can be derived for carbohydrate intake before/during exercise in intermittent sports based on the available evidence.…”

Effect of Carbohydrate Intake on Maximal Power Output and Cognitive Performances

“…In intermittent sports that required brief high-intermittent exercise, more mixed results have been reported. Most studies report an enhancement of intermittent high-intensity exercise capacity (measured by the duration to fatigue and distance covered) with CHO supplementation before and during exercise (for review see [ 7 ]). Mixed results are reported on other aspects of intermittent sport performance such as sprinting, jumping, skill, change of direction speed, and cognitive function (for review see [ 8 ]).…”