Diets high in carbohydrates are essential for athletes, but as discussed in Carbohydrates: The Body’s Core Fuel For Energy, finding the right balance of fuel for your body is about much more than what you eat. Properly preparing your body for work-outs is a balancing act of what sorts of carbohydrates you eat and when you eat them.

When you eat carbohydrates with a low glycemic index your body stores the carbohydrates as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and as glucose in the blood. Once stored, your body has a glycogen reserve of roughly 1,800 to 2,000 calories. This is enough to sustain you through 90 to 120 minutes of exercise. Failing to build this critical reserve of stored carbohydrates pre-workout can have significant effects on your performance.

Building Stores of Glycogen

To maximize your workout, it’s important to replenish your glycogen levels (stored carbohydrates) at least two or three hours before starting a moderate or intense work-out routine. Proper timing is required for a simple reason. Your body needs time to digest and store the food as energy.

Hours before exercising, begin storing up glycogen and glucose by eating a meal rich in polysaccharides. Otherwise known as complex carbohydrates, polysaccharides are starchy sugars contained in foods such as breads, pasta, rice and potatoes. Eating a combination of these foods pre-workout will give your body and brain adequate reserves to perform well for up to two hours. After the first 90 to 120 minutes of your workout, you’ll need to replenish your stores by consuming additional carbohydrates while exercising. Eating properly before, during and after your workout can have a dramatic effect on your athletic performance.

Before the workout, avoid simple sugars including mono saccharides and disaccharides. These are best for a quick boost of energy but don’t have the staying power of the complex carbohydrates. Simple sugars, including most fruits, are best following a work-out rather than before. Eating properly before a long workout can also help to stabilize the nausea that can occur with marathons, for example, and prevent low blood sugar which can cause fatigue and light-headedness.

Eating the Right Carbohydrates Pre-Workout

Properly fueling your body with carbohydrates before a workout gives you up to two hours of stored energy in the form of glycogen. If you’re engaging in an activity less than moderate exercise for a minimum of ninety minutes at a time, high glycemic index carbohydrates aren’t especially relevant. Your goal should be to consume enough complex carbohydrates ahead of time to give your body the proper fuel necessary.

Finding the right complex carbohydrates to eat before a workout is as simple as opening the pantry door, but determining how much to eat and when is a bit more complicated.

A moderately active person should be consuming 3 grams of carbohydrates for every pound of body weight per day. This is true if you’re training for 1 hour per day. If you’re exercising for 2 hours daily, you need 4 grams of carbohydrates per day. However, you don’t want to consume your full daily amount of carbohydrates before exercising.

Instead, plan to eat between .45 and 1 gram of carbohydrates per pound of body weight at least 2 hours before training. Ideally, you should be eating these carbohydrates 3 to 5 hours to give your body time to digest the meal and store the energy properly. The carbohydrates consumed pre-workout are part of your daily total.

For example, a 150 pound athlete should consume 68-150 grams of complex carbohydrates at least two hours before exercising. This translates to 2-4 cups of brown rice or beans.

Benefits of Pre-Workout Carbohydrates

Outside of your daily workout regime, fueling your body with the proper amounts of complex carbohydrates has additional long-term benefits. The brain is fueled almost entirely with glucose derived from the carbohydrates in your diet. Keeping a reserve of glucose and glycogen fuels the brain as well as the body.

Foods with a low glycemic index (GI) may also help lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Eating vegetables, whole grains and rice provides the necessary energy for your body, but also lowers your risk of diseases such as diabetes, controls your appetite more effectively and helps you avoid adding body fat.

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