Nutrition for Athletes - Coca-Cola

Carbohydrates for training
and recovery
athletes’ medical information
Carbohydrate, once considered the “backbone”
of sports nutrition, has become a topic of
debate and differing opinions. Around the world,
it typically accounts for about half of our total
energy intake. In fact, surveys show that the
best endurance athletes in the world (the
Kenyan and Ethiopian distance runners)
consume diets that are particularly high in
carbohydrates. Meanwhile in many Western
countries, media reports state that
carbohydrates make us fat and unhealthy and
the most popular diet books are based on low
and moderate carbohydrate eating plans. Many
athletes are now confused.
It is true that sports nutrition experts have
continued to evolve the recommendations for
carbohydrate intakes for athletes as well as the
language used to describe them. A central idea
that hasn’t changed, however, is the importance
of the body’s stores of carbohydrate as a source
of fuel for the muscle and brain during exercise.
In many types of sport, low levels of
carbohydrate stores are a factor in fatigue and
reduced performance. Furthermore, strategies
to ensure that stores are increased result in
performance enhancements. This will play a key
role in competition nutrition.
There are several updates in the way
we now think about carbohydrate needs
in the everyday or training diet:
The athlete’s carbohydrate
needs are closely tied to
muscle fuel costs of their
training. The training load
changes from day to day,
over the various microcycles
and macrocycles in the periodised training
calendar, and at different points of the athlete’s
career. Therefore, the new message is that
rather than having a static dietary intake,
athletes should vary their carbohydrate intake
according to the rise and fall in muscle fuel
needs. Some general targets are suggested, but
should be fine-tuned according to the athlete’s
energy budget and feedback from how well they
are training.
A further refinement is that athletes should
particularly target the days where it is important
to train hard, at high intensity or with high
quality, to ensure that they have adequate
muscle carbohydrate (glycogen) stores to fuel
these goals.
A great way to assist carbohydrate intake
to track with muscle fuel needs is to include
additional carbohydrate in meals or snacks
before and after a workout. This means when
training needs increase, so does carbohydrate
intake. Consuming carbohydrate intake during
lengthy sessions will also add to the day’s
carbohydrate target as well as specifically
provide fuel for the workout. Many athletes
should take this opportunity to practise
competition strategies for eating and drinking
during the event.
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