Our body’s primary source of fuel during exercise are carbohydrates. Our body does have some storage of carbohydrates in our liver and muscles, but these stores are limited, which means, if we are out for longer periods of time, we want to make sure to fuel the exercise we are doing. This means eating carbohydrates.
Generally it is recommended to start fueling workouts if they are longer than about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Remember to always eat something before exercising as well!
So, what should we eat and how much should we eat to ensure that those energy levels stay topped up?
1. Timing
You want to try to aim for small, frequent feeds to make your life easier. Aim to have something small to eat every 20-30 minutes. This will make it easier for you to get in what you need.
2. Quantity
The quantity of carbohydrates varies from person to person because we all have different tolerances and it is also dependent on body weight. A good guide to follow is aiming to take in 0.8-1g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight per hour of exercise.
For reference:
- 1 medium banana contains about 15g of carbohydrates
- 1 standard oat bar contains about 15-20g of carbohydrates
- Most gels contain about 20g of carbohydrates
- 1 medjool date contains about 5g of carbohydrates
- 1 slice of bread contains about 15g of carbohydrates
An example:
Karla weighs 60kg so she should aim for about 48g-60g of carbohydrates per hour, split up.
She chooses to fuel with bananas and gels. A medium banana contains about 15g of carbohydrates and her gel contains 25g. So she will have one or the other every 20min, which will give her an hourly carbohydrate intake of 55g of carbohydrates.
P.S. Remember to stay hydrated! see our next post!