Carbohydrate administration and exercise performance: what are the potential mechanisms involved?

It is well established that carbohydrate (CHO) administration increases performance during prolonged exercise in humans and animals. The mechanism(s), which could mediate the improvement in exercise performance associated with CHO administration, however, remain(s) unclear. This review focuses on possible underlying mechanisms that could explain the increase in exercise performance observed with the administration of CHO during prolonged muscle contractions in humans and animals. The beneficial effect of CHO ingestion on performance during prolonged exercise could be due to several factors including (i) an attenuation in central fatigue; (ii) a better maintenance of CHO oxidation rates; (iii) muscle glycogen sparing; (iv) changes in muscle metabolite levels; (v) reduced exercise-induced strain; and (vi) a better maintenance of excitation-contraction coupling. In general, the literature indicates that CHO ingestion during exercise does not reduce the utilization of muscle glycogen. In addition, data from a meta-analysis suggest that a dose-dependent relationship was not shown between CHO ingestion during exercise and an increase in performance. This could support the idea that providing enough CHO to maintain CHO oxidation during exercise may not always be associated with an increase in performance. Emerging evidence from the literature shows that increasing neural drive and attenuating central fatigue may play an important role in increasing performance during exercise with CHO supplementation. In addition, CHO administration during exercise appears to provide protection from disrupted cell homeostasis/integrity, which could translate into better muscle function and an increase in performance. Finally, it appears that during prolonged exercise when the ability of metabolism to match energy demand is exceeded, adjustments seem to be made in the activity of the Na+/K+ pump. Therefore, muscle fatigue could be acting as a protective mechanism during prolonged contractions. This could be alleviated when CHO is administered resulting in the better maintenance of the electrical properties of the muscle fibre membrane. The mechanism(s) by which CHO administration increases performance during prolonged exercise is(are) complex, likely involving multiple factors acting at numerous cellular sites. In addition, due to the large variation in types of exercise, durations, intensities, feeding schedules and CHO types it is difficult to assess if the mechanism(s) that could explain the increase in performance with CHO administration during exercise is(are) similar in different situations. Experiments concerning the identification of potential mechanism(s) by which performance is increased with CHO administration during exercise will add to our understanding of the mechanism(s) of muscle/central fatigue. This knowledge could have significant implications for improving exercise performance.