Troup, J. P., Clem, K. L., & Ratliff, K. (1993). The effects of multiple, intense swimming workouts over consecutive days on glycogen depletion. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 25(5), Supplement abstract 428.

National caliber swimmers participated in three days of two workouts per day with 50% of the work at an intensity > 85% VO2max.

Decreases in muscle glycogen occurred between the a.m. and p.m. workouts and did not recover to pre-testing levels over the following days even though carbohydrate consumption was elevated to 8 +/- 2 gm/kg of body weight per day.

These results suggest that multiple workouts per day result in chronic glycogen depletion and it appears that a 12-hour recovery phase is needed for glycogen resynthesis to take place. For better use of training, 12 hours of recovery is needed between sessions even though CHO consumption is adequate.

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