Browse the evidence

Female athletes should maintain an energy availability of 40–45 kcal/kg fat-free mass per day to sustain eumenorrhea, bone health, and metabolic function, as habitual low energy availability leads to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) or the Female Athlete Triad.

Calculate your daily energy needs by adding your basal metabolic rate to the energy cost of your exercise. Ensure the remaining calories (Energy Availability) are at least 40-45 kcal per kg of fat-free mass. If you are skipping meals or restricting calories to lose weight, you risk losing your period and bone density. Prioritize fueling your training to support your body's structural integrity.

Female endurance athletes should consume 8-10 g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight in the 3 days leading up to an event (carbohydrate loading) to maximize muscle glycogen stores, with particular emphasis on this strategy during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.

Three days before your big race or long event, increase your carbohydrate intake to 8-10 grams for every kilogram of your body weight. This means eating more pasta, rice, and fruits than usual. This strategy fills your muscle glycogen stores, giving you more energy for the event. This is especially important if you are in the luteal phase (second half) of your menstrual cycle, as your body may burn through glycogen faster.

Female athletes should consume 1 g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight in the hours prior to aerobic exercise to maximize carbohydrate availability, as pre-exercise feeding is likely more important during the follicular phase when carbohydrate oxidation rates are elevated.

One to four hours before your aerobic workout or race, eat carbohydrates equal to 1 gram per kilogram of your body weight. For example, if you weigh 60 kg, eat 60 grams of carbs (e.g., a banana and a small bowl of oatmeal). This helps ensure you have enough fuel for your muscles, especially if you are in the first half of your menstrual cycle.

Female athletes should consume 500-1000 mL of a 6% carbohydrate solution per hour during prolonged endurance exercise (>90 minutes) to experience ergogenic effects, regardless of menstrual cycle phase.

If you are exercising for more than 90 minutes, drink 500-1000 mL of a 6% carbohydrate solution (like a sports drink) every hour. This helps maintain your blood sugar and energy levels, improving your performance. This strategy works regardless of where you are in your menstrual cycle.

Female athletes should rapidly consume at least 0.75 g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight immediately following prolonged exercise to maximize muscle glycogen resynthesis rates.

Right after your long workout, eat carbohydrates equal to 0.75 grams per kilogram of your body weight. For example, if you weigh 60 kg, eat 45 grams of carbs (e.g., a chocolate milk and a granola bar). This helps your muscles recover and replenish their energy stores quickly.

Using the 10:1 ratio of total carbohydrate to fiber to identify whole grain products selects foods with significantly higher fiber, lower sugars, lower sodium, and lower likelihood of trans-fats compared to other common identification criteria like the Whole Grain Stamp or 'whole' listed as the first ingredient.

To choose healthier whole grain products, look for items where the ratio of total carbohydrates to fiber is 10:1 or lower. This simple metric identifies products with more fiber, less sugar, less sodium, and fewer trans-fats than those identified by common labels like the Whole Grain Stamp or simply listing 'whole grain' first. Always check the nutrition facts panel to confirm.

Intensive lifestyle interventions, such as the Look AHEAD program, can produce significant long-term weight loss (6%) in people with type 2 diabetes, and are generally cost-effective compared to population obesity trends.

For individuals with severe obesity and type 2 diabetes, intensive lifestyle interventions like the Look AHEAD program can lead to significant long-term weight loss (6%) and are cost-effective. Consistency and intensity are key.

Consuming carbohydrates 3-4 hours before exercise significantly increases muscle and liver glycogen content and improves endurance performance compared to fasting, whereas consuming carbohydrates 30-60 minutes before exercise causes transient metabolic perturbations (hyperinsulinemia, hypoglycemia) that do not impair performance and may be beneficial.

Eat a carbohydrate-rich meal 3-4 hours before your event to maximize energy stores. If you need to eat closer to exercise (30-60 mins), choose a small snack or drink to avoid stomach issues; the resulting blood sugar dip is temporary and won't hurt your performance, and the fuel will likely help you.

Ingesting carbohydrates during prolonged exercise improves performance by maintaining plasma glucose and sparing liver glycogen, regardless of whether the CHO is consumed in a single bolus or multiple smaller feedings, as long as the total amount is sufficient.

During long events (over 1 hour), consume carbohydrates (sports drinks, gels) regularly. It doesn't matter if you take a big gulp or small sips; your body absorbs them at a similar rate. Withholding fuel will hurt your performance.

Consuming carbohydrates immediately after exercise maximizes the rate of muscle glycogen re-synthesis, which is critical when recovery time between sessions is short (4-8 hours), although total glycogen storage over 24 hours is similar regardless of feeding frequency if total intake is sufficient.

If you train twice a day or have a competition the next day, eat carbohydrates immediately after your session to replenish energy stores as fast as possible. If you only train once a day, you can wait for your next meal without worrying about performance.

Insufficient or fragmented sleep reduces skeletal muscle protein synthesis rates and promotes a catabolic hormonal environment (elevated cortisol, reduced testosterone/GH), leading to potential loss of lean mass and strength over time.

Prioritize 7-9 hours of sleep nightly to protect muscle mass. Sleep loss directly reduces your body's ability to build muscle (protein synthesis) and shifts hormones toward breaking it down (catabolism). If you are training hard, poor sleep undermines your gains more than you might think. Consistency in sleep duration is as important as consistency in training.

High-intensity interval training (HIT) performed 3 times per week for approximately 15 minutes total induces rapid improvements in cardiovascular fitness, skeletal muscle mitochondrial density, and insulin sensitivity in previously untrained individuals.

If you are new to exercise or short on time, try High-Intensity Interval Training (HIT). Perform 4-10 bouts of 30 seconds to 4 minutes of intense effort, with 1-3 minutes of rest in between, 3 times a week. This totals about 15 minutes of intense work and can rapidly improve your fitness and insulin sensitivity.

Low-load (30% 1RM) high-volume resistance exercise until volitional failure stimulates muscle protein synthesis at rates similar to high-load (90% 1RM) exercise, making it suitable for maintaining lean mass in previously untrained and elderly individuals.

If you are elderly or new to resistance training, you can maintain muscle mass by performing low-load exercises (using bodyweight or light bands) until you reach muscle failure. Combine this with a daily protein intake of 1.2 g/kg body weight for best results.

Regular physical exercise training significantly improves insulin sensitivity and reduces cardiovascular risk factors (including blood pressure, HbA1c, and lipid profiles) in subjects with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, or type 2 diabetes.

Engage in regular physical activity, prioritizing aerobic exercise for metabolic syndrome components. Aim for higher volumes (approaching 170 minutes/week) if possible, as duration appears to drive insulin sensitivity improvements more than intensity alone. Combine exercise with dietary changes for best weight maintenance results. Do not abandon exercise if scale weight changes are modest; the cardiovascular and metabolic benefits (lower BP, better insulin sensitivity) are significant even without major weight loss.

Combined aerobic interval training (AIT) and weight loss via low-energy diet (LED) produces superior body composition improvements (weight, fat mass, waist circumference) compared to AIT alone in overweight CAD patients, while both interventions yield similar improvements in VO2peak and lipid profiles.

For overweight CAD patients, combining aerobic interval training with a short-term, supervised low-energy diet yields significantly better fat loss and waist reduction than exercise alone. Both approaches improve heart health (VO2peak, lipids), but adding a calorie-restricted diet is crucial for body composition goals.

Weight loss significantly reduces the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, with a dose-response relationship where greater weight loss leads to greater decreases in estrogen and increased sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG).

If you are postmenopausal and overweight, losing even a small amount of weight (more than 5% of your body weight) can significantly lower your risk of breast cancer. This happens because losing fat reduces the amount of estrogen your body produces and increases the protein that binds up remaining estrogen, protecting your breast tissue. You don't need to reach an 'ideal' weight to see benefits; the act of losing weight itself changes your hormonal environment in a protective way.

In-season Enhanced Negative Work-based Training (ENT) using a flywheel device significantly improves change of direction (COD) ability in semi-professional soccer players, whereas traditional weight training does not.

If you are a semi-professional soccer player in-season, adding one weekly session of flywheel-based eccentric training (focusing on controlled braking during squats) can significantly improve your change of direction speed. Traditional weight training at the same volume does not provide this specific benefit. Focus on controlling the descent phase of the squat to mimic the braking forces used in soccer.

Enhanced Negative Work-based Training (ENT) improves the hamstrings-to-quadriceps (H:Q) ratio in semi-professional soccer players, potentially reducing injury risk, while traditional weight training does not.

To reduce hamstring injury risk, incorporate flywheel-based eccentric training into your weekly routine. This specific type of training improves the balance between hamstring and quadriceps strength, which traditional weight training fails to do. This is particularly important during the competitive season.

Self-weighing as an isolated intervention is not effective for weight loss, but adding it to a multi-component behavioral weight loss program significantly improves weight loss outcomes compared to programs without self-weighing.

Do not rely on self-weighing alone to lose weight; it is ineffective as a standalone strategy. Instead, incorporate daily or weekly self-weighing into a structured behavioral weight loss program that includes diet and exercise goals. Adding self-weighing to such a program significantly enhances weight loss outcomes compared to programs without it. You do not need to weigh yourself daily to see benefits; weekly weighing is equally effective when combined with other behavioral strategies. Be aware that accountability (knowing someone is monitoring your progress) may further improve results.

Adding accountability to self-weighing interventions significantly increases weight loss compared to self-weighing without accountability.

If you are using self-weighing as part of a weight loss program, consider adding an accountability component. This could involve sharing your weigh-in data with a coach, friend, or support group. The evidence suggests that knowing someone is monitoring your progress leads to significantly greater weight loss than self-weighing alone, even within a behavioral program.

Low physical activity (sedentariness) is independently associated with higher prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular risk factors, with sedentary individuals showing higher BMI (28 vs 27 kg/m2) and obesity prevalence (37% vs 26%) compared to active individuals.

Sedentary behavior is strongly linked to obesity and diabetes risk. If you are inactive, your risk for these conditions is significantly higher than if you are active. This is especially true for women, who were found to be more sedentary than men in this study. To mitigate risk, increasing physical activity is a primary modifiable factor.

High-frequency self-weighing (≥3 times per week) is a significant predictor of clinically significant weight loss (≥5% baseline weight) in commercial weight-loss interventions.

Weigh yourself at least three times a week. Do not weigh daily if it causes stress, but do not skip weeks. Consistency is the key predictor of success. Use the data to adjust your behavior, not to judge your worth.

Logging food intake on at least three days per week is a significant predictor of clinically significant weight loss (≥5% baseline weight).

Log your food on at least three days a week. You do not need to log every single day to see results. Consistency in logging, even if partial, is a strong predictor of weight loss success.

Achieving a minimum of 60 highly active minutes per week is a significant predictor of clinically significant weight loss (≥5% baseline weight).

Aim for at least 60 minutes of high-intensity activity per week. This can be broken into short bursts. This level of activity is a strong predictor of reaching a 5% weight loss goal.