Estratégias de supercompensação e suplementação de carboidrato auto-reportada por atletas de triathlon

Abstract

Carbohydrate plays a fundamental role in exercise by enabling the maintenance of glycemia, increasing the rates of total CHO oxidation and preserving endogenous glycogen. It is a consensus in the literature that carbohydrate intake can optimize performance in long-term events. Thus, some guidelines have been proposed regarding the amount, type and frequency of intake of this nutrient in relation to the exercise practiced. Considering that triathlon is a long-term sport, its practitioners could benefit from nutritional strategies such as supercompensation and carbohydrate supplementation. Investigating the adoption of these strategies by triathlon athletes, as well as their relationship with physical performance during this event, becomes relevant, since little is known about the knowledge of athletes of this modality about these strategies and their practices during the tests. competition periods. In order to contribute to this investigation, the present dissertation presents a review of the literature on supercompensation and carbohydrate supplementation strategies in endurance events, as well as an original article entitled "Supercompensation strategies and self-reported carbohydrate supplementation by triathlon athletes”, with the objective of investigating, in a self-reported way, the use of supercompensation and carbohydrate supplementation strategies by Olympic triathlon athletes. The sample consisted of 72 triathletes, 61 male and 11 female. No differences were identified in the test time between the use of supercompensation and/or supplementation (p = 0.747) nor in the test time considering the type of supercompensation (p = 0.718), nor were differences found between the amount of CHO (p = 0.173) and the type of supplementation ingested during the test (p = 0.649), as well as the presence of gastric discomfort (p = 0.903). No differences in performance were observed for the groups that adopted supercompensation and/or CHO supplementation in Olympic triathlon events.