Smail Basic / 02 Feb 2006 06:44

There is a wide-spread belief that the primary way top-participants in the
flying competition get their competitive edge by feeding the birds special
secret diets. Since so many people seem to believe that diet is crucial to
success in the fly, it is not surprising that a large measure of fascination
and curiosity surrounds the feed-up. The feed-up is supposed to give young
birds nutritional boost just before a major event, such as a Flying Tippler
Competition.

The body has the ability to store carbohydrates, both as glucose in the
bloodstream and as glycogen in the muscles. Sound training can increase the
bird's ability to store carbohydrates as glycogen. The increased blood
volume of the birds may allow them to carry around larger amount of glucose
when they are highly trained. No matter how well the birds are trained, they
may well run out of stored carbohydrates at some point during the fly if not
properly fuelled. The point of the feed-up is to delay that moment of
depletion as long as possible, because when this happens, physical
performance diminishes rapidly.

There are many types of feed-ups commonly used with success. The one that I
prefer the most is that of Wilf Lovatt. Wilf Lovatt, an English gentleman,
was the first to fly his birds 20 hours. He practised a method, which
involves depleting the birds glycogen and glucose stores just prior to the
feed-up. This is achieved by first increasing the work outs to 5 hours about
the week before the Fly. The next step is to feed the birds very little in
the way of carbohydrate for two to three days, concentrating on food sources
high in protein such as Maple Peas while the exercise schedule is increased
again this time to 7 hours. This method reduces the level of stored
carbohydrates in the bloodstreams and works the muscles to their lowest
point. Finally three or four days before the Fly, the consumption of
carbohydrates increases while protein is correspondingly cut. The amount of
the fat in the diet during this time should be kept low at less than 25%.

Thus, carbohydrates make up almost all of the calories consumed. The theory
of this type of method is that only by depleting the body of its
carbohydrate stores can the blood and muscles optimally supersaturate with
glycogen.

Following these guidelines does not necessarily guarantee record
performance, but it may help your birds fly a great time.

Submitted by Smail Basic on 2 Feb 2006 / 6:44 AM