Supplementing carbohydrates will be useful in all sports, especially in endurance and and intensive work on mass. If you only get down to serious work on your body and condition, you need to ensure a proper caloric balance. When intense movement becomes a daily routine in your schedule, what you eat cannot be dictated by whim, greater or lesser appetite on a given day or bad habits. Your need for carbohydrate – rich, nutritious meals increases as you exercise more and more regularly.

Source  of Energy

Carbohydrates are our primary source of Energy. The point is simple: muscles need glycogen, and this comes from carbohydrates ingested with food. Muscles tired of prolonged, strenuous work need more glycogen then when at rest. Important factors influencing the proper adjustment of the carbohydrates level in the diet are body weight, muscle mass and the type and regularity of physical activity.

It is assumed that people exercising moderately need about 5-7g of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight, while those who choose regular and intense sessions may need even 7 – 12g. Let’s put it in specific  examples. Suppose, as part of your plan, you focus on an intermediate, one – hour full – body workout from YouTube. If you weigh 65kg, you should ingest 325 – 455 g of carbohydrates thtoughout the day. Now imagine that you weigh 80kg and you regularly burn calories on your jogging path. Once you jump into your outfit, you go out for a two – hour run. In this case, you need up to 960g of carbohydrates per day! It is almost a kilogram of carbo products, and yet the diet does not consist only them.

 

How does it work?

The above should help you understand how to calculate your needs and make you aware of the difficulties of a well – thought – out diet of active people. To get the right amount of carbohydrates, you need to eat regularly and wisely. Carbohydrates supplements meet the needs of active people, making it easier to replenish muscle glycogen and build a diet. Thanks to them you will avoid the feeling of overeating, with a too abundant plate or a dengerous caloric deficyt that leads to muscle catabolism. Those who train with endurance are well aware of the effect of decreased efficiency caused by „consumption”of glycogen available immediately. You can jump into second gear only with easily digestable carbohydrates in stock.

 

When to use carbohydrate supplements

In general you can reach for carbohydrates supplements whenever  you know that you lack some carbo-calories for the proper level of nutrition. Before the actual training, you should find time for a meal, preferably approx 3 hours before exercise. If for some reason your meal was not complete or sufficient, it is worth taking a liquid form of suplement around the training – it will digest and absorb quickly, without burdening the digestive system. This rule applies to everyone, regardless of the type of effort.

If your training lasts more then an hour, increasing Energy reserves and replenishig glycogen during  exercise will affect your endurance and subsequent regenertaion. Simply put: if  you care about muscle mass and endurance, and you work hard on it, maintaining an adequate level of blood glucose is important to you, then the carbohydrate suplement should be in your training bag. And after the session? Glycogen regenerates most intensively up to two hours after training. If you exercise every day, you need to replenish your carbohydrate reserves at this point to fight for exactly the effects you dream about. The best way to regenerate will be a healthy meal (you can rather count on a post – workout appetite!), and the fastest way to get a quick or partial carbo – boost will be a carbohydrate supplement.

Remember, however, that no preparation can replace a balanced diet, and supplements for athletes complement the menu (for everyone) and make it easier for those who exercise regularly.