Why Do I Need Carbohydrates For Exercise?
Over the past few years carbohydrates seem to have picked up a bit of bad reputation. But for those that are physically active, it’s important to answer the question; why do I need carbohydrates for exercise? Carbohydrates have an essential role to play in providing the energy needed to exercise. We’re here to explain more about the importance of carbohydrates.
THE GENERAL FACTS
- Glycogen is the most efficient fuel for our body to use during exercise and it comes from carbohydrates. But we only have limited stores of glycogen in our muscles and liver to draw upon.
- Our stores only last for around an hour. When they are low or run out, we become tired and unable to train at the same intensity. This is because are body is now relying on our fat stores. Now this might sound great but fat is actually a much slower release energy store, which is not great when you are training hard.
- This is why when exercising for over 90 minutes, athletes are encouraged to take on board carbohydrates. This allows the maintenance of energy levels and training intensity.
Did You Know?
Research has found that eating carbohydrates during intense or prolonged exercise is one of the best ways to look after your immune system and reduce immunosuppression after training.
DAY TO DAY CARBOHYDRATES INTAKE
Like most things in nutrition, carbohydrate requirements differ dependent on an athletes daily energy expenditure, gender, type of training and training conditions (for example altitude ramps up energy expenditure).
Total daily intake of carbohydrates for someone in regular endurance training is usually 6-10g per kg of body weight. However this should change with daily training load. So on rest days it would be advised to reduce carbohydrate intake compared to big training day, as ultimately excessive unused carbohydrates stores turn to fat. The average person who maybe exercise for 1 hour or less a day would only need 3-5g per kg of body weight.
