Is carbohydrate loading necessary?
Carbohydrate loading is only really applicable for people exercising continuously at a moderate to high intensity for 90 minutes or longer. This immediately rules out gym goers and weekend warriors who play team sports on a Saturday, as most sports are not 90 minutes of continuous activity. Even in games such as football and rugby there are half time periods where refuelling can take place. It’s also not applicable to carbohydrate load for most team sports where there are regular games or multiple games per week. You would simply be in a continuous “loading phase” consuming way too much carbohydrate and less nutrient dense food from game to game.
Most people can complete a 5K and even a 10K run in less than 90 minutes, so it doesn’t seem applicable here either. With all of these sports it is still a good idea to consume carbohydrate based sports drinks during exercise and eat well balanced meals containing protein, fats and carbohydrates before and after exercise – you just don’t need to carbohydrate load.