Carbohydrates and running belong together like summer and sun, cinema and popcorn or pot and lid. But despite this, the fear of carbohydrates is still everywhere and many runners are often afraid of consuming enough carbs. In this article, you will find out why carbohydrates are so important and how you can determine the correct amount for yourself.
Why do runners need carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates provide a lot of energy that is available quickly. This is why you burn a lot of carbs when running. You can increase your performance and improve your recovery with carbohydrates both during training and during racing.
This macronutrient helps you maintain your blood sugar levels during exercise and Muscle glycogen to replenish or conserve. Carbohydrates also reduce the stress response to exercise in your body and ensure that you feel less exhausted and have more energy available for your life and training.
What happens if you eat too few carbohydrates?
A runner who consumes too few carbohydrates has many disadvantages that you should definitely be aware of. These can include the following things:
- Reduced performance
- Exhaustion and fatigue
- Poorer regeneration
- Disorders of the menstrual cycle such as hypothalamic amenorrhea
- Increased tendency to sports injuries such as stress fractures
- Increased hunger, lack of satiety
- Unwanted weight loss (if total energy intake is too low)
- Excessive hunger and resulting weight gain (if total energy intake is too high)
Low Carbohydrate Availability – Risk to your health
Most people are now familiar with the term “Low Energy Availability(LEA) or “RED-S”. This is about insufficient energy availability for the sporting demands that you meet every day. This phenomenon can have numerous health consequences, including injuries, reduced performance, stress fractures and disruptions to the menstrual cycle.
But in addition to pure “low energy availability” there is also “low carbohydrate availability”. This can have the same consequences as LEA, even if you consume enough energy, and mainly affects women. This problem occurs when you do not eat enough carbohydrates.
Weight gain due to too few carbs – how can that be?
There is another phenomenon that I observe again and again and seems completely counterintuitive to many people:
Weight gain caused by insufficient carbohydrate intake.
This may sound strange and illogical at first, but it’s true. So be sure to read on to fully understand it!
Of course, there is no magic mechanism that will make you gain weight from “too little” energy or carbohydrates. If you consume less energy than you burn, you will lose weight. PERIOD.
But why do some runners still gain weight when they consume too few carbs?
If your carbohydrate intake does not match your daily consumption, many people become extremely hungry or remain hungry even after a meal. Your body then craves the macronutrient that it is missing. This sometimes leads to you overeating other things and perhaps reaching for very fatty foods. Despite this, you still do not feel full because your body actually needs carbohydrates.
Overall, this leads to a calorie surplus and weight gain, even though you may feel like garbage.
How many carbohydrates for runners?
Your daily carbohydrate needs depend mostly on your activity level.
But other things can also increase the need for Carbohydrates for runners These include, for example:
- Training intensity: the higher the intensity, the more carbohydrates you burn while running
- Body weight: the heavier you are, the higher your energy and carbohydrate needs will be, as your daily intake is based on your body weight
- Daily activity: very high daily activity leads to increased energy consumption
- Muscle mass: the more muscle mass you have, the more carbohydrates you need as a runner and the more of them you can store
- Gender: Women are typically lighter and less muscular and therefore usually have lower energy and carb requirements
- Heat and humidity: high temperatures and humidity require more carbs
- Altitude: at very high altitudes you burn more energy and carbohydrates
To determine your exact daily carbohydrate requirement as a runner, you need to experiment a little and find your individual sweet spot. This requirement can fluctuate and change over time depending on your training workload and intensity.
The following guidelines apply as a guide for your daily needs:
| activity | Carbohydrate requirement per day |
|---|---|
| low intensity & skills training | approx. 3-5g carbohydrates/kg body weight/day |
| Moderate training (e.g. 1 hour/day moderate intensity) | approx. 5-7g carbohydrates/kg body weight/day |
| Higher training volume (e.g. 1-3 hours/day moderate to high intensity) | approx. 6-10g carbohydrates/kg body weight/day |
| Extreme training volume (e.g. 4-5 hours/day moderate to high intensity) | approx. 8-12g carbohydrates/kg body weight/day |
How many carbohydrates do you need while running?
If you run a lot, it’s not just your daily carbohydrates that are important, but also those you consume before, after and during your workout.
If you’re running for less than 45-60 minutes, you don’t necessarily need to consume extra carbohydrates. Your normal pre- and post-workout meals are generally sufficient.
For runs that last longer than 60-90 minutes, nutrition is not only important before and after training, but also during it. If you run for longer than 90 minutes, your body’s glycogen stores will be completely used up. This has a negative effect on your performance, makes you feel exhausted and tired, and results in poorer recovery afterwards.
The following guidelines apply to the supply of carbohydrates for running:
- Before running: 1-1.2g carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight
- While running: 30-60g carbohydrates per hour
- After running: 1-1.2g carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight
Carbohydrate intake before running
The meal before running is best eaten 1-3 hours beforehand and can include some protein, fat and fiber depending on individual tolerance. However, fats and fiber in particular should be consumed with caution.
Carbohydrate intake while running
During a longer run, you should start consuming easily digestible carbohydrates after 15-30 minutes. Gels, dates, bananas, squeezable snacks or other readily available carbohydrate sources that you tolerate well are best. Individual tolerance must always be tested here.
I always recommend consuming carbohydrates every 15-30 minutes during such long runs. Depending on the time interval, tolerance and training intensity and duration, the following values result:
- every 15 minutes 7.5-15g carbohydrates
- every 30 minutes 15-30g carbohydrates
Remember that you should not start consuming carbohydrates only when your performance is already declining or your glycogen stores are already depleted! The goal is to conserve your glycogen stores right from the start.
What kind of carbohydrates do you need if you run a lot?
There are different types of carbohydrates: complex or long-chain carbohydrates and simple or short-chain carbohydrates.
Both carbohydrate sources have their place and can be part of your diet as a runner.
Complex Carbs
Complex carbohydrate sources include fiber-rich foods such as:
- Vegetables
- Fruit
- Legumes
- Whole grains and products made from them.
These carbohydrates are generally preferable in the everyday diet, even for runners, because they have a higher nutrient density, contain important secondary plant substances and promote digestion. They are also digested more slowly and therefore cause blood sugar levels to rise more slowly.
The disadvantage of these carbohydrate sources is that they are digested more slowly and can therefore lead to digestive problems during training. This is why simple carbohydrate sources come into play before, during and after training.
Simple Carbs
Simple carbohydrates are easier to digest and provide you with energy very quickly. We find these in, for example:
- Sugar
- Honey
- sweets
- Gels
- Sports drinks and juice
- applesauce
- White flour products such as white bread, toast, white pasta, rice
- and more processed foods.
What is carb loading and how does it work?
When we talk about carbohydrates while running, we obviously also have to talk about the popular principle of carb loading.
Carb loading is a strategy to completely fill up your carbohydrate stores shortly before an important competition or event in order to be able to perform at your best on the big day.
Carb loading is not something you do all the time in your everyday life as a runner, but rather something you use specifically to get the most out of yourself on day X. Carb loading is most relevant for events lasting 90 minutes or more. Carb loading does not have quite as much of an effect for shorter competitions.
A proven strategy for carb loading before a competition is the following:
- 8-10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight for 1-3 days before the endurance event or
- 10-12g/KG body weight for female athletes
You can also combine these strategies for “glycogen supercompensation” with a moderate training session of 90-120 minutes about 6 days before the event. The goal of this session is to completely empty the glycogen stores. For once, you don’t supply yourself with additional carbohydrates during or before the run.
This approach can further maximize glycogen stores.
Conclusion – Carbohydrates when running
If you’re a runner, you may burn a lot of carbohydrates during your workout. While you generally don’t need to make any major adjustments to your daily diet if you’re only training a small amount, your need for carbohydrates can increase significantly if you train intensively and for long periods of time.
Too little carbohydrate intake can make you less efficient and make you feel more tired and exhausted. Sometimes too little carbohydrate intake can even lead to weight gain if it causes you to eat more fats and exceed your daily energy balance despite a lack of carbohydrates.
