Also, I know I was not taking enough fish oil at the time to cushion the transition from higher carbs, no matter how whole and unprocessed the source. From what I understand from this article, it was like going from standard carby gluten-free diet to paleo-zone of the “dieting” variety, rather than paleo-athlete’s zone. Big difference….

“To repeat: during sleep, your liver-stored glycogen maintains proper blood glucose level; you expend nary a calorie of your muscle glycogen. You might wake up feeling hungry, and I’ll discuss that issue later, but you’ll have a full supply of muscle-stored glycogen, your body’s first used and main energy source. Your stomach might be saying, I’m hungry, but your muscles are saying, Hey, we’re good to go!” Hammer Nutrition.

Dr. Cordain specifically says in regards to pre-race nutrtion: “All of this [ongoing bodyt maintenance during sleep] takes energy, and one of the most available fuel sources for this activiey is the carbohydrate stored in your muscles as glycogen.So when you awake your carbohydrate stores may be depleted by as much as 140-160 calories.”

What is Hammer’s rational for their statement/belief that muscle glycogen isn’t depleted during sleep?

Also, Hammer recommends:

“Recall that I mentioned earlier that muscle glycogen, the main fuel recruited for the first 60-90 minutes of exercise, remains unaffected by a nightlong fast. When you awaken in the morning, you haven’t lost your primary fuel supply, and can’t add to it by eating within an hour or two of exercise. That’s absolutely correct, and believe it or not, being hungry before an event won’t inhibit performance.

However, hard-training athletes often do wake up very hungry and feel they need to eat something before their workout or race. This is especially true for half and full iron-distance triathletes, who start very early in the morning in the water, swimming for up to an hour or more where consuming food is not possible.

What to do? Try either of the following suggestions to help with this problem:

Just start anyway, realizing that hunger is not a performance inhibitor, and begin fueling shortly after you start, when you get into a comfortable rhythm. The hunger sensation will diminish almost as soon as you begin to exercise, and you’ll actually be benefiting, not hurting, your performance by following this procedure.

If you feel that you absolutely must eat, consume 100-200 calories about five minutes before start time. By the time these calories are digested and blood sugar levels are elevated, you’ll be well into your race, and glycogen depletion will not be negatively affected.

Again, part of this statement is directly contradictory to Dr. Cordain’s assertion that the number one goal for preexercise foods and fluids is to satisfy hunger. “The longer you put it off, the greater the risk of starting exercise underfueled.”

I’m not trying to be an instigator or a troll…I’m just wondering how two such diametrically opposed opinions can be out there and figure out what Hammer is basing their advice off of…is it just misguided science? I’m trying to have a discussion with some other trainers about Paleo for athletes vs Hammer/conventional fueling, but I need some backup! Inquiring minds want to know! I’ve tried the Hammer approach, and it’s been OK, but since I have nothing to compare it to yet, I don’t know how it stacks up. I’m starting to map my fueling witht he Paleo diet now that I’m off season to see how I feel and what changes need to be tweaked, and I’m excited to see what the performance results are.

Thanks:)