Waxy Maize Starch

Waxy Maize Starch For Lifters

Waxy Maize Starch is a unique carbohydrate formulated for athletes to give an effective loading of easily accessible muscle energy (glycogen) to the body. Clinical tests in Sweden compared it with other ‘ordinary’ sport carbohydrate drinks, demonstrating that it replenishes glycogen levels faster than other carbohydrate sources which are digested in the stomach. Waxy maize starch has an average molecular weight 100 times greater than carbohydrates used in sport and energy drinks, and contains no simple carbohydrates or monosaccharides. Waxy starches are from various grains such as rice, barley, and corn (maize).

Waxy Maize Starch Benefits For Bodybuilders

Waxy maize starch, used as a carbohydrate, has been developed to meet the demands of elite athletes. Waxy maize starch passes through the stomach quickly and allows the storing of glycogen in the body in the most effective way. Compared with the normal glucose polymers, waxy maize starch is 70% faster in recharging glycogen and 80% in passing through the stomach. Waxy maize starch helps replenish glycogen levels most efficiently immediately after training. Waxy maize starch loads and re-loads carbohydrates more effectively than ordinary sport/carbohydrate drinks. Waxy maize starch was shown in tests to be the quickest and most effective way to restore the energy balance. Endurance athletes including triathletes, marathon runners, cross country skiers and cyclists first noticed the difference between waxy maize starch and other carbohydrate supplements. They found that they lasted longer and recovered quicker. Strength sports athletes have also reported that waxy maize starch gives a great ‘pump’ in the muscles, and increase strength and recovery.

Waxy Maize Starch Timing

• During training: carbohydrates with short molecular structure such as glucose can cause stomach discomfort. Choosing a carbohydrate of a similar structure to starch, with a long molecular structure, means this is overcome. Waxy maize starch passes quickly through the stomach into the intestine where energy uptake occurs, pumping nutrients quickly into the blood stream.
• Post training waxy maize starch means that nutrients are quickly transported to depleted muscle, when they are needed most, to assist with recovery. This high molecular weight solution is recommended following exercise when a significant period of recovery is anticipated before a subsequent bout of exercise.

Why Use Waxy Maize Starch?

Waxy maize starch represents new technology in carbohydrate supplementation. Its high molecular weight glucose polymer solution has been shown to increase post-exercise muscle glucose delivery and glycogen resynthesis compared with a standard, low molecular weight glucose polymer solutions. These findings could be of practical importance for athletes who partake in training sessions where rapid re-synthesis of the muscle glycogen store is required.

Supplements With Waxy Maize

At the time of writing, the following supplements include Waxy Maize Starch:

• GENr8 Vitargo S2 the sugar-free super-soluble version of Vitargo.
• Dymatize Nutrition Flud uses long-chain complex carbohydrate from waxy maize starch to pull nutrients such as glycogen and water directly into muscle bellies without bloating
• Black Widow Waxy Maize is a long-chain, complex, sugar-free carbohydrate, that has been shown to pass through the stomach much faster than any other carbohydrate source and delivers nutrients to muscles at lightning-fast speed.
• Body Ripped Carbo Blast GR-X features a carbohydrate derived from waxy maize to improve your training endurance and recovery.
• Optimum Nutrition Glycomaize uses waxy maize (long-chain, highly-branched, exceptionally-dense complex carbohydrates) starch for rapid absorption, and trehalose (a much smaller, slower-digesting molecule comprised of two unusually linked glucose sugars) for slower digestion, to refuel and replenish.

¹ Journal of Sports Sciences, Post-exercise ingestion of a unique, high molecular weight glucose polymer solution improves performance during a subsequent bout of cycling exercise, Francis B. Stephens, Marc Roig, Gerald Armstrong, Paul L. Greenhaff. Centre for Integrated Systems Biology and Medicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK