Research
Macro partitioning
Carbohydrate intake of 10 g/kg/day for 36-48 hours prior to competition optimizes glycogen stores and improves sports performance without requiring prior depletion.
If you are an athlete preparing for a major event, eat 10 grams of carbohydrates for every kilogram of your body weight each day for the two days before the race. Keep your meals light, low in fat and fiber, and easy to digest to avoid stomach issues. You do not need to starve yourself of carbs beforehand.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
In athletes with good training status, it is not necessary to deplete these deposits previously, as was believed decades ago. In fact an intake or around 10 g CHO/kg/day during the previous 36–48 h would be enough [17].
Why this rating
The paper cites reference [17] but does not provide primary data or statistical analysis itself; it is a review chapter.
Source
Sports Nutrition and Performance
Raúl Arcusa Saura et al. · IntechOpen eBooks · 2019
DOI 10.5772/intechopen.84467
book_chapterCited 7×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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