from CHO, with approximately 15% from fat and
15% from protein. However, the proportionalcon-
tribution of CHO, fat and protein to athletes’
diets may not be vastly different from that of
non-athletes. At first, this paradox may seem
confusing. This is because the amount of dietary
CHO consumed should not be determined
merely as a proportion of total energy intake, but,
instead, should rather be based upon the absolute
amount of CHO consumed relative to the
athlete’s body mass (BM). Often a ‘low’ percent-
age of dietary CHO when calculated from a
higher than normal total energy intake results in
adequate CHO provision. For example, Costill
(1986) reported that a sample of 22 long-
distance runners consumed a diet containing
only 50% CHO. At first sight, this CHO intake
might be considered too low for distance
runners, but as their total energy intake was
nearly 50% higher than would be expected for
individuals of similar size, a more than adequate
amount of CHO (375 g · day–1or 5.7 g · kg–1body
mass · day–1) was being consumed.
The question as to what constitutes an ‘ade-
quate’ CHO intake has been addressed by
several recent studies (Lamb et al. 1990; Simonsen
et al. 1991; Sherman et al. 1993). The general con-
sensus is that providing athletes are ingesting
5–6 g CHO · kg–1body mass · day–1, they are prob-
ably not compromising their training capacity.
Acute supplementation of the normal diets of
trained athletes with additional CHO will,
however, elevate muscle glycogen stores and
improve performance in competition (for review,distance running 551
Table 42.1The dietary intakes of well-trained male distance runners. Adapted from Hawley et al.(1995a).
CHO: Fat: Protein:
Body mass: Energy: g (%) g (%) g (%)
Athletes n kg MJ (kcal) [g◊kg-^1 ][g◊kg-^1 ][g◊kg-^1 ]
Runners 10 — 17.3 (4121) 526 (50) 161 (35) 144 (15)
Endurance runners 56 69 13.5 (3226) 403 (50) [5.84] 122 (34) [1.76] 78 (16) [1.40]
Distance runners 35 — 12.64 (3020) 374 (50) 115 (34) 119 (16)
Distance runners 10 — 12.7 (3034) 372 (49) 115 (34) 129 (17)
Marathon runners 4 61 13.84 (3309) 361 (44) [5.92] 137 (37) [2.24] 158 (19) [2.59]
Marathon runners 19 64 14.9 (3570) 487 (52) [7.6] 128 (32) [2.0] 128 (14.5) [2.0]
Table 42.2The dietary intakes of well-trained female distance runners. Adapted from Hawley et al.(1995a).
CHO: Fat: Protein:
Body mass: Energy: g (%) g (%) g (%)
Athletes n kg MJ (kcal) [g◊kg-^1 ][g◊kg-^1 ][g◊kg-^1 ]
Endurance runners 18 52 9.00 (2151) 296 (55) [5.69] 62 (29) [1.19] 86 (16) [1.65]
Distance runners 17 — 8.48 (2026) 252 (48) 87 (38) 74 (14)
Distance runners 18 50 8.95 (2135) 224 (47) [4.48] 89 (39) [1.78] 74 (14) [1.48]
Distance runners 41 55 7.84 (1870) ——70 (15) [1.27]
Distance runners 9 53 9.21 (2193) 333 (59) [6.28] 66 (27) [1.25] 73 (13) [1.38]
Marathon runners 19 53 9.62 (2295) 248 (44) [4.68] 99 (40) [1.86] 80 (16) [1.50]
US distance runners 51 52 14.9 (3570) 323 (54) [6.2] 89 (33) [1.7] 81 (13) [1.5]