Top 11 ideas to make a healthy carbohydrate load

Both professional runners and bodybuilders know exactly what a carb load is. At an amateur level, it is less common, although in gyms it is also a common practice. Today we are going to see what it consists of, how to do it correctly and some ideas to achieve this load in a healthy way. Carbohydrate loading is used by runners and bodybuilders to increase endurance or muscle volume, in each case, during the day of the competition. They do this by increasing the glycogen stored in your muscles. These stores are energy that will help you improve your stamina and make the muscle appear more bloated. Normally in the muscle, we find between 50 and 60 grams of glycogen per kilo of muscle mass, but with a correct load of hydrates, we can double or even triple these amounts if we also combine it with an unloading phase. These carb loads usually last around a week. The first three days there is an unloading phase in which a diet is followed in which carbohydrates are reduced to a minimum and the training is usually circuit-type with the aim of reducing breaks and depleting these glycogen stores to the maximum. Then, for another three days or so, we move into a diet loading phase where we increase water and carbohydrate intake and optionally also reduce training volume. We can do an active rest in which we train less than normal or even a total rest. In the end, the idea is that the workouts practically do not consume glycogen to accumulate the maximum possible. Emphasize the importance of drinking plenty of water during the loading period. Every gram of glycogen needs another three or four grams of water to be stored, so if we don't drink enough water, we limit our storage capacity. Some ideas to make a healthy carbohydrate load Auto-loading means going on a high-calorie diet and eating a high percentage of carbohydrates, but that doesn't mean eating unhealthily. Here are 11 recipes to add to your loading period and do it in a healthy way: Toast with banana and peanut butter: the carbohydrate load starts at breakfast and this recipe, thanks to the toast, helps you get carbohydrates from the first meal of the day. Also, peanut butter increases the calories to make up that surplus at the end of the day. Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancakes: Oatmeal is a healthy way to carb, and during a loading phase it is food to watch out for. In this case, together with eggs and pumpkin, they help us to make an ideal breakfast for our objective. Oatmeal and banana chocolates: this recipe has almost 75% carbohydrates, thanks to its high content of oats and bananas, and that makes it a great recipe when it comes to making a load. Pumpkin and oatmeal burgers: another good way to include oats in our diet is to do it in the form of a hamburger. These in particular are almost 70% carbohydrates. Baked potato and zucchini snacks: potatoes are food that should be present during a healthy carbohydrate load, but we should avoid fried ones. Therefore, this baked recipe is ideal for increasing the carbohydrates in our diet in a healthy way. Chickpea, potato, and tomato salad with mustard dressing: Another healthy way to add potatoes to our diet is to do it in a salad. In this case, together with chickpeas and tomato, helps us also take care of micronutrients. In addition, the high water content of the tomato is good for this loading phase. Swiss once again, the oats together with the fruit make this an ideal dessert or snack for a carbohydrate-loading phase. Fruit, due to its sugar content, is great for us during this period. Oatmeal pizza: loading up on carbohydrates does not mean eating crap, but this pizza whose base is made from oatmeal is ideal. A healthy way to add carbohydrates to our diet. Mexican-style oatmeal soup: another way to add carbohydrates to our diet. Normally a soup does not provide almost any calories or nutrients but in this case, by adding carbohydrates, we make it a good recipe for this period. Tuna and potato snacks: this recipe is somewhat lower in carbohydrates (55%), but it is a healthy way to add potatoes to our diet. We can slightly modify the recipe or compensate with other meals without any problem. Baked rice with tomato: this dish is a healthy way to add rice and carbohydrates to our diet. In this case, instead of frying, what we will do is use the oven for it.