lation. However, recent research into CHO and
fibre has suggested that CHO intake recommen-
dations might be made on their own accord. Ath-
letes are one group who merit specific CHO
intake goals, in order to meet the fuel needs of
training, competition and recovery (see Chapters
7 and 8) including the following.
1 To maximize muscle glycogen recovery after
exercise to enhance daily training, or to ‘load’ the
muscle with glycogen before a prolonged exer-
cise competition, the athlete should consume a
diet providing 7–10 g CHO per kilogram of body
mass (BM) per 24 h (see Chapter 7).
2 To enhance early recovery after exercise, the
athlete should consume at least 1 g CHO · kg–1
BM within 30 min after the session is completed
(see Chapter 7).
3 To enhance fuel availability for a prolonged
exercise session (particularly competition), the
athlete should consume a CHO-rich meal pro-
viding 1–4 g CHO · kg–1BM during the 1–4 h
before the session (see Chapter 7).
4 To provide an additional source of CHO
during prolonged moderate and high intensity
events, the athlete should consume 30–60 g
CHO · h–1during exercise (see Chapter 8).
These guidelines are generally directed
towards athletes undertaking endurance exer-
cise, and need to be modified according to the
individual needs of the athlete and their sport.
Since athletes may range considerably in body
size (e.g. from a 35-kg gymnast to a 130-kg rugby
player), it is convenient to provide CHO intake
guidelines on the basis of BM and allow these to
be scaled accordingly. It has been relatively easy
to develop and validate the benefits of guidelines
addressing acute intake of CHO; for example, a
large number of studies have shown that the
ingestion of CHO during prolonged moderate-
to high-intensity exercise enhances endurance
and performance (see Chapter 8), and muscle
biopsy studies have determined the rate of
muscle glycogen storage following various
amounts and types of CHO intake (see Chapter
7).
The development of CHO intake guidelines
for the everyday diet of the athlete has been more
problematic. This is partly due to terminology,
and partly due to the failure of studies to provide
unequivocal evidence to support the recommen-
dations. Population dietary guidelines recom-
mending a CHO intake of at least 50–55% of total
energy are appropriate to address the health
needs and fuel requirements of athletes under-
taking a moderate training load. However, the
CHO needs of athletes with a heavy training or
competition schedule have been a recent source
of conflict. Firstly, some authorities have sug-
gested that athletes undertaking prolonged daily
exercise sessions should increase CHO intakes todietary carbohydrates 81
Fig. 5.1Athletes making food
choices may need guidance to
ensure that dietary goals are met.
Photo courtesy of Raymond
Besant.