Variation in Total Body Water with Muscle Glycogen Changes in Man
Abstract
19 subjects performed prolonged heavy arm and leg exercise after which they had a protein and fat diet for three days. Thereafter they switched to a carbohydrate enriched diet during a 4‐day period. The measurements were performed on the 3rd day and then repeated on the 7th day. The glycogen concentration in the thigh and the arm muscles was 4.5 and 2.6 g/kg wet muscle on the 3rd day and increased with the carbohydrate enriched diet to 19.9 and 16.9 g/kg wet muscle, respectively. Body weight increased 2.4 kg during this period of 4 days. The total body water increased 2.2 1 which is assumed to be caused by the glycogen storage in the muscles and the liver. The amount of glycogen stored was calculated to be at least 500 g, which means that 3—4 g of water is bound with each gram of glycogen.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Because 1 g of glycogen is stored in muscle with 3-5 g of water, an athlete's BM typically increases 1-2% after several days of CHO-loading.
“Because 1 g of glycogen is stored in muscle with 3-5 g of water (76, 98), an athlete's BM typically increases 1-2% after several days of 'CHO-loading' (12).”
From Postexercise muscle glycogen resynthesis in humans. (2017) · cites this paper as [76]
Glycogen is stored in muscle with water in an approximate 1:3 ratio, so glycogen loading directly increases body mass.
“Glycogen is stored in muscle with water in an approximate 1:3 ratio, meaning that glycogen loading has direct consequences for body mass [13, 45].”
From Carbohydrate Storage and Supplementation Strategies for Peak Performance in Cross-Country Skiing (2026) · cites this paper as [45]
Cites
Diet, muscle glycogen and physical performance.
Bergström, J., Hermansen, L., Hultman, E., & Saltin, B. (1967) · Acta Physiologica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1748-1716.1967.tb03720.x · Cited by 1,740 · see citing works
Self-citationMuscle Glycogen and Muscle Electrolytes during Prolonged Physical Exercise<sup>1</sup>
Ahlborg, B., Bergström, J., Ekelund, L., & Hultman, E. (1967) · Acta Physiologica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1748-1716.1967.tb03608.x · Cited by 235 · see citing works
THE DEPOSITION OF POTASSIUM AND PHOSPHATE WITH GLYCOGEN IN RAT LIVERS
Fenn, W. O. (1939) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1016/s0021-9258(18)73754-x · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Muscle Glycogen in Man Determined in Needle Biopsy Specimens Method and normal values
Hultman, E. (1967) · Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation · doi:10.3109/00365516709090628 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Effect of sweat loss on body fluids
Kozlowski, S., & Saltin, B. (1964) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/jappl.1964.19.6.1119 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Self-citationExchangeable potassium as a parameter of body composition.
Pj, T., Miller, C. E., CARBALLO, A. J., et al. (1960) · PubMed · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Hedman, R. (1957) · Acta Physiologica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1748-1716.1957.tb01499.x · Cited by 53 · see citing works
THE RELATION BETWEEN GLYCOGEN AND WATER STORAGE IN THE LIVER
MacKay, E. M., & Bergman, H. C. (1932) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1016/s0021-9258(18)76276-5 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
THE RELATION OF GLYCOGEN TO WATER STORAGE IN THE LIVER
Puckett, H. L., & Wiley, F. H. (1932) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1016/s0021-9258(18)76275-3 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Elektrometrische Mikrobestimmung von Chlor in Vollblut, Serum und Harn
Lehmann, J. (1939) · Acta Paediatrica · doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1939.tb16907.x · Cited by 19 · see citing works
DISTRIBUTION OF WATER, SODIUM, AND POTASSIUM IN RESTING AND STIMULATED MAMMALIAN MUSCLE
Sreter, F. A. (1963) · Canadian Journal of Biochemistry and Physiology · doi:10.1139/y63-117 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
DISTRIBUTION OF WATER, SODIUM, AND POTASSIUM IN RESTING AND STIMULATED MAMMALIAN MUSCLE
Sreter, F. A. (1963) · Canadian Journal of Biochemistry and Physiology · doi:10.1139/o63-117 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Tracer Methods for Estimating Total Water Exchange in Man
Roberts, J. E., Fisher, K. D., & Allen, T. H. (1958) · Physics in Medicine and Biology · doi:10.1088/0031-9155/3/1/302 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
THE RELATION OF GLYCOGEN TO WATER STORAGE IN THE LIVER
Bridge, E. M., & Bridges, E. M. (1932) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1016/s0021-9258(18)76277-7 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Bridge, E. M., & Bridges, E. M. (1932) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · Cited by 7 · see citing works
XXVI. Researches on sugar formation in the liver
Pavy, F. W. (1860) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London · doi:10.1098/rstl.1860.0027 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
The turnover rate of body water in the human.
Hb, H., Is, E., & Fd, M. (1951) · PubMed · Cited by 3 · see citing works
The distribution of tritium water in the total body water. An experimental study on man and rabbit.
Olsson, K., & Plantin, L. O. (1970) · PubMed · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Carbohydrate-Loading and Exercise Performance: An Update
Hawley, J. A., Schabort, E. J., Noakes, T. D., & Dennis, S. C. (1997) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.2165/00007256-199724020-00001 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Postexercise muscle glycogen resynthesis in humans.
Burke, L. M., van Loon, L. J. C., & Hawley, J. A. (2017) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00860.2016 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Areta, J. L., Taylor, H. L., & Koehler, K. (2021) · European Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1007/s00421-020-04516-0 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Bosy-Westphal, A., Kossel, E., Goele, K., Later, W., Hitze, B., Settler, U., Heller, M., Glüer, C.-C., Heymsfield, S. B., & Müller, M. J. (2009) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27402 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Dehydration and rehydration in competative sport
Maughan, R. J., & Shirreffs, S. M. (2010) · Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0838.2010.01207.x · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Walhin, J., Richardson, J. D., Betts, J. A., & Thompson, D. (2013) · The Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2013.262709 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
The effect of rate of weight loss on long‐term weight regain in adults with overweight and obesity
Vink, R. G., Roumans, N. J. T., Arkenbosch, L. A. J., Mariman, E. C. M., & van Baak, M. A. (2016) · Obesity · doi:10.1002/oby.21346 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Effects of high-protein, low-carbohydrate dieting on plasma lipoproteins and body weight
LAROSA, J. C., FRY, A. G., MUESING, R., & ROSING, D. R. (1980) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/s1094-7159(21)03514-5 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
New Horizons in Carbohydrate Research and Application for Endurance Athletes
Podlogar, T., & Wallis, G. A. (2022) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01757-1 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Muscle glycogen supercompensation is enhanced by prior creatine supplementation
NELSON, A. G., ARNALL, D. A., KOKKONEN, J., DAY, R., & EVANS, J. (2001) · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · doi:10.1097/00005768-200107000-00005 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Metabolic adaptation is an illusion, only present when participants are in negative energy balance
Martins, C., Roekenes, J., Salamati, S., Gower, B. A., & Hunter, G. R. (2020) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqaa220 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Silva, A. M., Júdice, P. B., Matias, C. N., Santos, D. A., Magalhães, J. P., St-Onge, M.-P., Gonçalves, E. M., Armada-da-Silva, P., & Sardinha, L. B. (2013) · Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism · doi:10.1139/apnm-2012-0253 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
McCubbin, A. J., Lopez, M. B., Cox, G. R., Caldwell Odgers, J. N., & Costa, R. J. S. (2019) · European Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1007/s00421-019-04199-2 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Ribeiro, A. S., Avelar, A., Kassiano, W., Nunes, J. P., Schoenfeld, B. J., Aguiar, A. F., Trindade, M. C. C., Silva, A. M., Sardinha, L. B., & Cyrino, E. S. (2020) · International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism · doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2020-0080 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
López-Torres, O., Rodríguez-Longobardo, C., Escribano-Tabernero, R., & Fernández-Elías, V. E. (2023) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu15204442 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Lowered muscle glycogen reduces body mass with no effect on short‐term exercise performance in men
Schytz, C. T., Ørtenblad, N., Birkholm, T. A., Plomgaard, P., Nybo, L., Kolnes, K. J., Andersen, O. E., Lundby, C., Nielsen, J., & Gejl, K. D. (2023) · Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports · doi:10.1111/sms.14354 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia
Rosner, M. H., Bennett, B., Hew-Butler, T., & Hoffman, M. D. (2013) · Hyponatremia · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6645-1_10 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Carbohydrate Storage and Supplementation Strategies for Peak Performance in Cross-Country Skiing
Ørtenblad, N., Holmberg, H. ‐., Nybo, L., & Gejl, K. D. (2026) · Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports · doi:10.1111/sms.70242 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…leads to premature fatigue and reduced power output, excessive loading can also be counterpro-ductive due to an associated increase in body mass. Glycogen is stored in muscle with water in an approximate 1:3 ratio, meaning that glycogen loading has direct consequences for body mass [13, 45].”
- Authors
- Olsson, K., & Saltin, B.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Venue
- Acta Physiologica Scandinavica
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1970-09
- Volume
- 80
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 11-18
- ISSN
- 0001-6772 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-201X
- OpenAlex
- W2124862301
- Cited by
- 264
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 2.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Acta Physiologica Scandinavica (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
- Keywords
- total body water, muscle glycogen, glycogen storage, liver glycogen, water retention, physical activity, weight gain
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Arm, Body Fluids, Body Weight, Dietary Carbohydrates, Dietary Fats, Dietary Proteins, Physical Exertion, Glycogen, Humans, Leg, Male, Muscles, Tritium, Water
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
