Macro partitioning
Strength-power athletes should consume 4–7 g/kg/day of carbohydrates, prioritizing strategic timing around training sessions over high total daily volume.
Eat 4 to 7 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight every day. Don't obsess on hitting 10g/kg. Instead, make sure you eat carbs before, during, and after your heaviest workouts to keep your energy up and muscles full. This matters more than just eating a huge amount of food all day.
Thus we would consider a range of daily carbohydrate intakes between 4 and 7 g · kg–1 body mass as reasonable for these athletes depending on their phase of training.
Why this rating
Based on observational data and physiological principles; explicit RCT evidence for optimal timing in strength sports is noted as lacking.
Source
Nutrition guidelines for strength sports: Sprinting, weightlifting, throwing events, and bodybuilding
Gary Slater et al. · Journal of Sports Sciences · 2011
DOI 10.1080/02640414.2011.574722
More from this paper
- Strength athletes should consume 1.6–1.7 g/kg/day of protein, distributed across 5-6 meals with ~20g high-quality protein per dose to maximize muscle protein synthesis.Good
- Post-exercise co-ingestion of carbohydrate and protein (approx. 20g protein + 0.8 g/kg/h carb) optimizes recovery by maximizing muscle protein synthesis and glycogen resynthesis.Good
Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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