Carbohydrates: Fuel of Choice

Carbohydrate is the high-octane fuel for exercise and should provide at least 55 percent of an athlete's total daily calories. To get a bit more technical, you should consume approximately 3.0 to 4.5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight. Where do you fit in? If your sport is pretty low-key—not a lot of nonstop running around—you should aim for 3.0 grams. On the other hand, if you participate in a super-endurance sport that involves hours of heavy training each day, you should aim for 4.5 grams.

What does that mean, anyway?

Math time—grab a calculator. Take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 3.0 grams (for moderate intensity sports) and 4.5 grams (for strenuous endurance training). Obviously, these are two extremes; most exercisers and athletes fall in the middle. In fact, give yourself a range; play around and see where your body feels most vigorous.

For example: here's the carbo requirement for a 150-pound elite runner training several hours each day:

150 pounds × 4.5 grams = 675 grams of carbohydrate

Because 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories, we can now convert 675 carb grams into carb calories by using the following equation:

675 × 4 = 2,700 carbohydrate calories

Now, let's look at a typical 150-pound health club member, working out at a moderate intensity (approximately 45 minutes), 4–5 days a week:

150 pounds × 3.0 grams = 450 grams of carbohydrate

Now, convert into carb calories:

450 × 4 = 1,800 carbohydrate calories

As you can see, a more intense endurance exercise program will demand more carbohydrate. But keep in mind that the proportions of carbs, protein, and fat pretty much remain the same because in the end, you're taking in more of everything.

Develop Your Own High-Carb Diet

Need to boost your carbs? Take a look at the variety of foods you can choose from, and watch how fast you can rack up the grams.

The Starchy Carbs

Generally speaking, breads, grains, and other starchy foods contain approximately 15 grams (give or take a few) of carbohydrate per serving (1 slice bread, ½ cup pasta, 1 serving of cereal). These foods receive top billing for endurance athletes simply because it's easy to eat multiple servings in one sitting. For instance, a pasta entree can easily total five grain servings, and because one pasta serving contains about 20 grams of carb, five servings supplies a whopping 100 grams of carbohydrate. Clearly, this is the reasoning behind marathon runners “packing in the pasta” before the lengthy 26-mile run.

Fruits

Next up are fruits, also providing about the same 15 grams of carbohydrate per serving (1 medium fresh fruit, 1 cup berries/melon, 1/2 cup fruit juice). Why are they second? Athletes looking to load up on carbs can eat 10+ servings of grain more comfortably than 10+ servings of fruit. Remember, fruit has a lot of fiber and tends to fill you up more quickly. (You might be “bursting with fruit flavor” in more ways than one!) Incorporate a lot of fresh fruit into your regimen, but don't skimp on the grains and rely solely on fruit.

Milk Products

Milk products contain about 12 grams of carbohydrate per serving (1 cup milk, 1 cup yogurt) and can certainly boost your total carbs together with the starchy foods, fruits, and vegetables. What's more, milk pumps you with calcium, a key ingredient for maintaining strong, athletic bones.

Vegetables

Veggies provide approximately 5 grams of carbohydrate per serving (1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked) and are certainly packed with vitamins and minerals. Although veggies alone can't supply enough concentrated carbohydrate for increased requirements, they can sure jazz up your meals and add tremendous amounts of nutrition to your table.

Common High-Carb Foods	Carbohydrate Grams
Medium baked potato	51
Medium bagel	45
1 cup rice	44
1 cup low-fat, flavored yogurt	43
Power bars	42
1 cup beans	41
1 cup pasta (cooked)	40
Banana	27
Glass of O.J. (8 oz.)	26
1 cup cereal (ready to eat)	25
1 cup oatmeal	25
Granola bar	25
2 slices whole-wheat bread	23
2 fig cookies	23
10 crackers	21
1 oz. pretzels	21
1 cup low-fat yogurt (plain)	18
½ cup corn	17
1 cup low-fat milk	12
½ cup peas	11

Note that the carbohydrate grams are calculated for serving sizes that are commonly eaten, not the standard single serving sizes frequently listed throughout the book and within the new Dietary Guidelines.

All About Muscle Glycogen

Muscle glycogen is stored carbohydrate in your muscle. Imagine this: after you eat and digest a meal, the amount of carbohydrate that you immediately need will get used as fuel, but the rest (up to a point) will be stored in your muscles for future fuel. Athletes in ultra-endurance sports such as soccer, basketball, hockey, and distance running rely on high-octane muscle fuel for energy. In fact, between the grueling practice sessions and vigorous competitions, serious endurance athletes are constantly depleting and restoring their muscle glycogen stores, so they require much more carbohydrate-rich food than athletes involved in less aerobic activity (golf, archery, and martial arts).

Just because you don't compete in an ultra-endurance sport doesn't mean you can fumble in the carb department. Think about all of the laborious practice sessions that wrestlers, divers, or short-distance swimmers put in during the week. Bear in mind, it's not just the actual competition that matters, but the intensity of your training as well.

What happens if you don't replenish your muscle-glycogen stores? Simple: if you run out of glycogen, you run out of energy. The amount of muscle fuel you have determines how long you can exercise. As a car needs a full tank of gas before heading out on a long trip, an endurance athlete requires sufficient "muscle gasoline" to sustain the pace and go the distance. Always tired or run down? Obviously, a vigorous training schedule alone is enough to make you feel that way. You might also want to look into your carbohydrate consumption. Keep a food log and do the math; there could be an easy solution to your problem.

Personal Protein Requirements

It's true that athletes do need more protein than sedentary folks, but because most people already take in far more protein than the RDA, chances are you're A-okay. (You're okay unless you're one of those “carb-o-holics” who live on the “cereal-bagel-pasta” program, or you're trying so hard to carbo-load that you forget the other key ingredients for optimal performance.)

Athletes do need protein for that competitive edge. You learned the vital roles of protein in Your Personal Protein Requirements, but let's get sport-specific for a minute. Protein is essential for building and maintaining muscle tissue, as well as repairing the muscle damage you endure during hard workouts. Remember, dietary protein does not automatically build bigger muscles: you build bigger muscles through regular exercise and training. Dietary protein simply allows all your hard work to pay off. Following are the recommended daily intakes for protein. You'll see that athletes do have greater requirements than the RDAs for the general population. But keep in mind that your total proportion should still be higher in carbs, moderate in protein, and low in fat. This is because you're taking in more of everything.

Find your exercise category, and then multiply your weight (in pounds) by the number of grams to the right. After you do the math and know your personal daily requirements, keep a food log for a week and tally up your daily protein totals by checking your foods in the chart in Your Personal Protein Requirements..

Exercise Category	Recommended Daily Protein (Grams per Pound)
Sedentary folks	.36
Moderate exercisers	.36 –.5
Endurance athletes	.5 –.8
Strength athletes	.6 –.8
Growing teenage athletes	.6 –.9

Here are some examples:

• A 200-pound bodybuilder needs between 120 and 160 grams of protein daily.
• A 150-pound triathlete needs 75 to 120 grams of protein each day.
• A 14-year-old elite gymnast weighing 92 pounds needs 55 to 83 grams of protein each day.
• A casual 120-pound health-club member needs 43 to 60 grams of protein each day.

Notice that even though the growing gymnast might require more protein per pound than the bodybuilder, bodybuilders usually weigh a lot more and therefore tend to have greater protein requirements.

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Total Nutrition © 2005 by Joy Bauer. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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