If I have an hour workout, how would you suggest taking in the 250-300 calories (I know, orally) and what is the timing of the caloric intake? At the 30 min mark? Every 15 min?

Anonymous, Carolinas, USA

Answer: For workouts shorter than an hour, unless the workouts is a screamingly hard hammer session, you can generally get away with eating before and after the training session and just sipping on a sports drink during the workout.

The reason you can get away with not consuming significant calories during a one hour workout is because it is going to be hard to completely deplete  your glycogen reserves during such as short workout. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), “during exercise lasting less than 1 hour, there is little evidence of physiological or physical performance differences between consuming a carbohydrate-electrolyte drink and plain water.”

If you are going to go the minimal calorie routine during your short workouts you need to be vigilant that you are giving you are consuming adequate calories before and after your workout. Failure to do so, will result in glycogen depletion and, after a few workouts,  you may find yourself in a nutrition hole which can lead to overtraining.

If your workouts are longer than an hour, the story is completely different. With prolonged  or intense exercise longer than one hour, you need to keep yourself fueled or you will 1) start to deplete your glycogen stores 2) risk overtraining and 3) you wont be able to go as hard or as long as you should which may compromise your fitness.

According to the ACSM, for longer events and during intense training, consuming carbohydrate at 0.7 grams/kg/hr (approximately 30 to 60 grams) has been shown to extend endurance performance. Moreover, your nutrition intake should begin shortly after the onset of activity. Consuming a given amount of carbohydrate after two hours of exercise is not as effective as consuming the same amount at 15 to 20 minute intervals during the first two hours of activity. If the same total amount of carbohydrate and fluid is ingested, the form of carbohydrate does not seem to matter. Some athletes may prefer to use a sport drink whereas others may prefer to eat solid foods or gels and consume water.

Roch