Often, we hear athletes and those in difficult training periods talking about the need to “carb up” before a workout or endurance event.  On the other hand, there are a lot of low-carb diets guaranteeing fast weight loss. How do you know when, how, and why to increase your carb intake as you pursue your fitness goals?  Let FitClub walk you through the basics and help you decide the best way to fuel your workouts.

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Carbohydrates are stored in the body’s liver and muscles as glycogen.  Glycogen is what gives your body energy to perform the demands placed upon it.  “Carb loading” is the process of eating more carbohydrates than normal for several days to increase your glycogen stores for endurance or improving your performance. Without enough glycogen, your body may fatigue before you have completed your workout.

When do you need to carb load?  Consuming more carbohydrates is not necessary if your workout will be ninety minutes or less.  If your workout is less than ninety minutes, you can maintain a normal diet without loading up on carbohydrates.  Carbohydrate loading is also unnecessary for strength training workouts, but essential for cardiovascular endurance training.  Marathon training, for example, requires carbohydrate loading, whereas even an intense strength training session probably won’t benefit from adding more carbs to your diet.

Carb loading is not an excuse to overindulge. Yes, chocolate, thick pasta sauces, and pizza have a high amount of carbohydrates.  No, these foods will not properly fuel your endurance workout.  Not only will these foods lead to unwanted weight gain during your training cycle, but they also contain a high fat content that may leave you feeling more sluggish than a diet without carbs.  If your workout requires increasing your carbohydrates, be sure to choose foods that are low in fat and high-quality carbohydrates like bread with jelly instead of butter, applesauce, bananas, and rice. If your goal is weight loss, staying tuned into the nutrition label will also help you properly track calories in and out during the course of your training.

When to start carb loading.  If your workout requires more carbohydrates than normal, you can’t get by with just a bowl of spaghetti the night before.  According to Mayo Clinic, to ensure that you have enough carbohydrate stores available during your training, you need to start one to three days before your big workout.  This timeframe gives your body enough time to convert the carbohydrates to the glycogen that your body can use as fuel during your workout.  Temporarily reducing your fat and fiber intake and increasing your sleep and hydration levels will also help your body push through a more difficult workout.

Carb loading isn’t for everyone, but it can be necessary if you’re pushing yourself to complete an endurance workout or training for an endurance event like a marathon or a triathlon.  Have you carb loaded before an important training workout or event?  What worked (or didn’t) for you?