Episode 192: Do Time-Crunched Cyclists Benefit From Super High Carbohydrate Intakes?

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

The pros are eating 120 grams of carbohydrate per hour in some races and hard training sessions. Should you consume that much? Would you perform better if you did? In Episode 192 of The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast, Outside Magazine's Sweat Science columnist Alex Hutchinson joins Host Adam Pulford to discuss the latest trend toward super-high carbohydrate intakes during exercise.
Topics in this Episode:

• History of carbohydrate fueling recommendations
• Endogenous vs. Exogenous fueling
• When would more carbohydrate be beneficial?
• Why might more carbohydrate not be better?
• Super-high carbohydrate for elites vs. masters and amateur cyclists
• Why replace 30-40% of energy expenditure on performance days
• Practical carbohydrate fueling recommendations for Time-Crunched Cyclists

Resources:

• Youtube video of this episode
• Alex's Twitter(X) @sweatscience
• Website: https://sweatscience.com/
• Resources:
  - Alex’s Article on Outside:
  - Study: Assessing exogenous carbohydrate intake needed to optimize human endurance performance across sex: insights from modeling runners pursuing a sub-2-h marathon
  - Study: Increased exogenous but unaltered endogenous carbohydrate oxidation with combined fructose-maltodextrin ingested at 120 g h−1 versus 90 g h−1 at different ratios

Guest: Alex Hutchinson, PhD
Alex Hutchinson is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist and Outside’s Sweat Science columnist, covering the latest research on endurance and outdoor sports. His most recent book is the New York Times bestseller Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. Before becoming a journalist, he completed a PhD in physics at the University of Cambridge and worked as a researcher in the National Security Agency’s Quantum Computing group. He also competed for the Canadian national team in track, cross-country, road, and mountain running. He lives (and runs) in Toronto.
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Host
Adam Pulford has been a CTS Coach for more than 14 years and holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. He's participated in and coached hundreds of athletes for endurance events all around the world.

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Chapters

1. Episode 192: Do Time-Crunched Cyclists Benefit From Super High Carbohydrate Intakes? (00:00:00)

2. High Carb Fueling for Endurance Athletes (00:00:07)

3. Fueling and Performance in Endurance Sports (00:08:38)

4. Nutrition and Fueling for Endurance Athletes (00:17:02)