Griewe, J. S., Hickner, R. C., Hansen, P. A., Racette, S. B., Chen, M. M., & Holloszey, J. O. (1999). Effects of endurance exercise training on muscle glycogen accumulation in humans. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 31(5), Supplement abstract 82.

Whether endurance exercise training increases the ability of human skeletal muscle to accumulate glycogen after exercise was investigated. Ss (M = 2; F = 4) performed high intensity stationary cycling three days/wk and continuous running three days/wk for 10 weeks. Muscle glycogen concentration was measured after a glycogen depleting exercise bout before and after the period of endurance training.

Compared to the untrained state, the muscle glycogen accumulation rate was higher from 15 minutes to 6 hours, and concentration was higher for up to 48 hours post exercise.

Implication. Endurance exercise training enhances the capacity of human skeletal muscle to accumulate glycogen after glycogen depleting exercise.

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