Research
Macro partitioning
Sex is a significant predictor of the disparity (range) between highest and lowest daily carbohydrate intakes during peak week, with males exhibiting a wider range than females.
If you are male, expect to cycle your carbohydrates more aggressively (higher highs and lower lows) during peak week than if you are female. The study found sex was the only significant factor predicting this disparity.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Finally, when comparing the disparity in highest and lowest CHO intakes during peak week, sex was the only significant factor.
Why this rating
Statistically significant finding in a survey, but self-reported data.
Source
An examination of the associations between nutritional peaking strategies in physique sport and competitor characteristics
Kai A. Homer et al. · Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2024
DOI 10.1080/15502783.2024.2377178
cross_sectional · n=160Cited 3×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Physique competitors utilize carbohydrate back-loading and water manipulation (loading/restriction) as primary nutritional peaking strategies to enhance muscle fullness and definition immediately prior to competition.Moderate
- There is no significant association between competitor characteristics (age, sex, drug status, level) and the use of carbohydrate-based peaking strategies or the length of the peaking strategy.Moderate
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