Timing of restoring glycogen? Post ultra weight loss & quick return?
I found this trend in my weight interesting and wanted to post to see if anyone had experienced something similar or had any insights. I’m assuming my glycogen was depleted and is coming back. BG: I eversted on my bike on Saturday 6/27. My appetite did seem a bit reduced in the days that followed (which may explain why I was still way under my current “normal” weight On 7/1. Note the 6/30 reading was a different scale “Paiges black scale,” so cannot be directly compared to 7/1 reading.). I assumed that the dramatic weight loss in such a short time was a sign that I was still glycogen depleted from everest on 7/1. But I was also surprised that my weight was still down so much 4 days after the event, considering the first day we just relaxed and packed and the second day I was in a car all day (so no exercise at all the first two days post Everest). In the few days that followed the low weigh in on 7/1, I feel like I have been eating pretty reasonable amounts with lots of vegetables and not over eating. So on one hand, I’m a bit surprised to see the weight shoot back up day after day. But On the other hand, I know water molecules complex with glycogen, so as my glycogen is presumably being restored, it could quickly add weight. I also have heard that it takes days to fully restore glycogen to max levels during a taper, and I guess this may be consistent with that. But why didn’t I start restoring glycogen till 7/1 (guess I was under eating?)? I really doubt I’m packing on that much body fat during these last 3 day’s, since I’m eating reasonably and being moderately active.
Any thoughts or insights?
Comments
Rob - several thoughts. First, your body can store about 500 grams/140grams of glycogen in the muscles/liver. That's 1.5 # max. And it all should be replaced within 48 hours, max. Second thought...you've never done an IM, so you might not know that this is pretty typical recovery after that - takes at least a week, if not more, to get re-equilibrated from all the fat, muscle protein, and water changes/loss which happen in an event like that. Third in my experience, I use the rule of thumb of one day for each hour of an event before I feel like I'm back to "normal". It actually takes longer, of course, but bouncing back from something like you did a week ago will take longer than you might think.
Thanks a million @Al Truscott !! Some of my cycling buddies had a huge epic ride planned yesterday and I had planned not to go and ended up not going. Part of that decision was guided by your encouragement to prioritize recovery. One of the other guys who everested with us did go and after getting home he messaged me and said I made the wise choice of skipping the ride. :)
48 hours? Ok, thanks! Do you think that because of the water that complexes with glycogen that glycogen depletion and restoration could result in greater than a 1.5 pound fluctuation in body weight?
"Each gram of glycogen is stored with at least 3 g of water,14,15 making weight gain a noticeable response to glycogen super-compensation in many athletes. Conversely, rapid weight loss accompanies diets inadequate in carbohydrate content; as muscle glycogen is broken down, the associated water molecules are excreted in urine." (Murray and Rosenbloom 2018) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6019055/pdf/nuy001.pdf
According to that statement, the 640 grams of glycogen (~1.5 pounds) you mentioned above should be accompanied by 1920 grams of water (4.2 pounds). That number (5.7 pounds) would be much more aligned with the variations I'm seeing.
And after seeing your strava post and your reminder here, I stressed to my girlfriend (and my main training partner) that we should expect as much as 17 days before feeling fully recovered. Prior to that, I think she was underestimating the time necessary even more than I was.
Great guidance here and exemplary patience @Larry Peters .... Remember there are two levels of recovery. There is recovered enough to do whatever you have next, and then there's a more macro level of recovery, back to your "normal." I think that's what you're searching for when you look at your weight which is a great metric. Most athletes are focused on the short term, and say "it's awesome I've lost 5 pounds!" And they will just annihilate themselves on Everest every weekend. But it's not a healthy change; it's a marker of how your body adapts to the stress.
Another traditional Iron Man specific marker for recovery is the disconnect between heart rate and power. As athletes go through short term recovery, they will return to training. And they will have the desire to go to training in zone two but find that their heart rate is in zone four. Another sign that they have yet to fully recover.
Thanks a ton @Coach Patrick ! Yeah, I definitely noticed the pace/RPE/HR discounted during most of the first week back (which was something I've experienced before). I'm going to try and do some serious work at the 2 week mark, and hoping I can put out solid power. But we'll see.