Eficacia de una intervención nutricional en un maratón de montañavaloración y capacidad de recuperación

Abstract

Participation in mountain (trail) competitions such as marathons and ultramarathons record uneven terrain that requires specific and technical training such as hiking, trekking, climbing, and orienteering. The complexity of these events also derives from the wide variety of geographic conditions -described above- and climatic conditions. Athletes face metabolic limitations, gastrointestinal problems, hyponatremia, appetite suppression, difficulty carrying food and/or required supplements. All this can lead to the appearance of fatigue during the event that leads to poor performance, including the possibility of abandoning the competition. One of the aspects to consider in preparation is exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) and the internal load of exercise. These register an increase after concluding long-duration resistance events. However, during prolonged exercise, carbohydrate (CHO) feeding has been shown to improve endurance exercise performance, delaying the onset of fatigue, because it delays the depletion of glycogen stores. It could also limit EIMD, reduce the internal load of exercise and thus improve recovery. The recommended CHO intake for activities lasting more than 2.5 hours is 90 g/h. supported by the oxidation capacity of these at the intestinal level. However, the influence that this intake may have on the recovery process and post-effort muscle damage has not been considered. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of high CHO intake (120 g/h) and to compare it with the current recommendation of CHO intake (90 g/h) and the one usually made by athletes of resistance (60 g/h) during a mountain marathon, as well as comparing the internal load of the exercise and EIMD markers (creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), urea and creatinine ). Similarly, the effects of the three types of CHO intake on the internal load of exercise and post-exercise neuromuscular function and the recovery of high intensity running capacity were analyzed and compared. A randomized controlled trial was carried out on 26 male elite runners who had previously performed bowel training, the suitable ones consuming three different ranges of CHO: 1. experimental (EXP— 120 g/h), 2. control (CON— 90 g/h). h) and 3. low CHO intake (LOW— 60 g/h) during a mountain marathon with a cumulative ascent of ~4000 m. On the one hand, the EIMD markers analyzed before the race and 24 h after the race were evaluated. The internal load in exercise was calculated with the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) during and after the marathon. On the other, functional capacity was assessed using the Abalakov jump test, a half squat maximal test, and an aerobic power capacity test at the starting line of the race (T1) and 24 h after completing the race (T2). The internal load in exercise during the mountain marathon was significantly lower in the EXP group compared to LOW and CON. The result revealed that the EXP group showed CK, LDH and GOT levels with significantly lower values 24 h after the mountain marathon compared to LOW and CON. The results also presented significant differences according to the Wilcoxon signed range test only in LOW and CON in Abalakov jump time (ABKJT), Abalakov jump height (ABKH), in the half squat test with 1 repetition maximum. (HST1RM) between T1 and T2 showed, but not in the EXP group. The internal load was significantly lower in the EXP group compared to LOW and CON by the Mann Whitney u test and a significantly lower change in the ABKJT, ABKH, HST1RM test. An intake higher than the current recommendations (90 g/h) and that usually performed by athletes (60 g/h) could limit neuromuscular fatigue and improve recovery capacity in a high-intensity race 24 h after a physiological event and metabolically demanding. In the same way, with the indicators of muscle damage and the internal load of the exercise, a consumption of 120 g/h of CHO could limit the values with respect to the other two intakes.