Athletes, Boost your Training with The Right Carbohydrates at the Right Time

Learn what carbohydrates to eat, when and why to take your game to the next level!

It’s extremely common for athletes to come to me with issues of general fatigue, low energy on tough workouts, poor recovery from training, and general confusion about what to eat when. The biggest area of confusion is usually around carbohydrates. Which athletes need them? How much? When should they be eaten? SO MANY CONFUSING DETAILS!! 

TLDR: Carbohydrates are great for athletes but amounts are dependent on type of athlete, length and frequency of workouts, and even the goal of any one particular workout! Even keto athletes might need a small amount of carbs if they’re endurance athletes heading into long workouts.

What do carbohydrates do?

Carbs provide energy for an athlete to do work, in this case as exercise, training, or competition. Different types of athletes have different needs based on the type of exercise they do. See the chart below for guidelines based on type of athlete.

Here is a synopsis of daily needs for different types of athletes.¹

Intake	Type of Athlete	Needs
Light	Low intensity, skill/power based sports	3-5g/kg body weight
Moderate	Moderate intensity, team sports Minimum 1 hour/day	5-7g/kg body weight
High	Endurance sports Minimum 2-3 hours/day	6-10g/kg body weight
Very High	Ultra endurance sports Minimum 4-5 hours/day	8-12g/kg body weight

Keep blood glucose stable. This sounds contradictory, but it’s not! The body maintains normal blood glucose during exercise via a complicated process involving insulin, glucagon, somatostatin and a broad range of other hormones and processes. These include using fatty acids and lactate, fueling only active muscles, and utilizing fuel coming in from the outside.² What you consumed before starting exercise, the type and duration of exercise and any sports foods you consume during exercise can all play a role. 

Worried you might have high blood glucose levels or high insulin during exercise? Don’t. The muscles are primed to absorb that glucose WITHOUT insulin, so both glucose and insulin levels are fairly stable. There’s a bit of an increase if sports drinks and foods are consumed, but it’s minor. See the comment about the complicated process above.

Low blood glucose levels can be a problem if an athlete has diabetes, exercises immediately after a meal, was recently drunk 👀, does an extremely intense workout, is sick (in which case why are you training?!) or has been fasting or dieting. In other words, if the athlete is in a situation where there’s just not enough food for some reason or they have a non-standard insulin/glucagon/glucose system. 

What carbohydrates are useful here?

General healthy intake: Starchy carbs, fruits, veggies

These should be the basis of the carb portion of your meals.

Starchy carbs – Extended release or long-term energy. The carbohydrate comes in long chains or a huge number of branches of short chains, so any individual glucose molecule must be cut off to be used. Think grain-based foods and their derivatives (farro, spelt, corn, rice, bread, pasta, tortillas, rice cakes), legumes (beans, lentils, chick peas, soy beans, tempeh, tofu, split peas), winter squash (pick one, there are >100 varieties!), potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams, parsnips. 

Fruits and vegetables – shorter but still consistent energy. There’s a mix of very short chains of starch and simple sugars (at least in fruit), plus fiber to break down to get to the carbs. So intermediate in time to use for most fruits and vegetables. 

Less healthy intake: Hyperpalatable, highly processed foods

Easily absorbed, tasty carbs – Very fast energy. Use these for pre-workout and post-workout snacks, when fast absorption and little digestion required are benefits.

These are less beneficial for overall health because they don’t come with fiber, vitamins, minerals or the myriad of plant compounds that improve recovery, reduce inflammation and soreness and generally keep us functioning well. This also impacts the gut microbiota, changing the distribution to be less healthy. 

Before exercise: maybe a snack

If your workout is over 60-90 minutes, or if you haven’t eaten enough and are hungry heading into your workout, or if you’re a power/sprinter/team sport athlete that depends on having carbs at the ready, a snack with carbs will improve performance.¹

Consider low to moderate glycemic index foods here, so that you get extended release instead of a burst of glucose into the blood stream. This will give you more consistent energy during your session. 

During exercise: sports drinks and foods

These are specifically designed to provide rapid energy, usually from easily-absorbed carbs that don’t need to be digested or broken down much before being absorbed. Small, frequent amounts work well to avoid swings in energy. 

Endurance athletes need to train their GI tract to absorb carbs during exercise. Don’t train on one eating plan and race on a different one; the results won’t be the same. 

After exercise: eat for recovery

A mix of carbs and protein here helps with rehydration, rebuilding muscle glycogen stores and boosting protein repair. 

Aim for 0.3g/kg body weight in protein, 1-1.2g/kg body weight in carbs. AKA 1:3-4, or 1 part protein to 3-4 parts carbs in your post-workout snack or meal. Getting enough leucine here is key (see the blog post for leucine sources). 

What about going keto? 

Depends on the sport: if you’re in a power or sprinting or intermittent speed sport, keto might not meet your needs because fast actions are limited. The fast acquisition of ATP from carbohdyrates just isn’t available. Or go keto in non-competitive seasons only. 

Athletes who go keto still need carbohydrates, as the byproducts of burning carbs are required for burning fat – just in tiny amounts.

Issues with carbohydrates

There is a potential GI issues from eating carbohydrates, especially if training after having a meal high in fiber. Other athletes might have FODMAPs concerns. Adjust these foods (whole grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds) around workouts when possible or avoid the foods that cause the worst symptoms entirely. 

Really loving the sports drinks and foods. These aren’t designed for any time consumption! They’re specific for use during exercise, training and competition.

If you’re unsure what amount of carbohydrate you need to include in your sports performance menu, or unclear on when to eat those carbs, contact Dr. Schubert! If you feel that you have GI issues when training, check out our subscription services. They’re designed for just these issues as athletes get a lot of contact with Dr. Schubert while problem solving. If you’re an athlete working toward a goal race, Nutrition HeartBeat has a plan for that too! If you have serious GI issues during training or racing or competing, check out this article on Training the Gut!

Here’s the Leucine Blog again if you missed it above. If you want more information on volleyball, here’s a guest blog from intern Kelsey about volleyball players. 

References

1. Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance [published correction appears in J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017 Jan;117(1):146]. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016;116(3):501-528. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2015.12.006
2. Brooks GA. The Precious Few Grams of Glucose During Exercise. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020; 21(16):5733. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21165733