Bonking on purpose?

Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting. Ha! The experiment reminded me of Lady in the Water, where the guy just lifted weights with one arm, the same arm. Too funny! Of course this is not the same...

she had subjects exercise one leg once daily and the other leg twice every other day 

So I can think of two things:

1. It has long been practice for some in running and for that matter USAmerican football to do two-a-days.
2. It's easy enough to go really light on the carbs before every other short to medium workout.

Interleukin-6 is an important cytokine, or immune system agent, that plays a variety of crucial roles in coordinating the body's response to tissue trauma and stress....[IL6] is believed to facilitate many of the body's adaptations to exercise training, ranging from

• increased fat burning to greater resistance to
• muscle damage to
• improved cognitive function. [Bullets added.]

So, exercising without enough fuel in your system, what they are calling bonking here, triggers that IL-6 release noted above, since "muscles produce much less IL-6 when carbohydrate is consumed during exercise.".

And if you're wanting to lose some fat like I am, take note that "athletes burn more fat when they don't consume carbohydrate during training."

However, the article stresses not to do all workouts while depleted because you can do better workouts when fueled...

...athletes who consistently consume carbohydrate during exercise are able to handle higher training loads than those who don't, due to enhanced recovery.

 Further, the article states that "athletes are able to perform at a higher level when they consume carbohydrate during training," leading to the conclusion regarding workouts that...

the best training recipe is probably a mixture of fully-fueled and under-fueled workouts.

I'm such a slacker and ditz that I often show up for my 30-to-60-minute workouts with no premixed drink at all, though I often have a can of skaterade powder and some hot bottled water rolling 'round my trunk (recalling Cracker's song "Mr. Right," but it's a flashlight and some magazines in that case).

Tonight in fact, without knowing it, I probably did the right thing. I had been drinking Soy Slender and EAS vanilla shakes mixed in with chai tea all day, and I had eaten breadless air sandwiches for lunch, so I was probably undercarbed if not underfueled. Hmm. That leads to other questions.

Sounds like what I used to do often in the park was not that bad, skating for a half hour to an hour or so, goofing off and socializing for an hour or so, then skating another half hour to an hour. Oh the days when Andre was making raspberry shaved ice cones in the park!

And what's the difference between two workouts not far apart and one workout with no carbs? And how is it to do one workout, jack up on cherry coke or raspberry ice, then do another?

Maybe timv will feel like pontificating on this one. I know he likes to see what works for coaches and athletes and do that.