Modern research allows athletes to consume up to 120 grams or more of carbohydrates per hour, thereby improving performance and recovery - provided that the gastrointestinal tract is specifically trained for this purpose.

Do you know how much sugar is in a liter of Coca-Cola? It's about 27 sugar cubes or 110 grams. That's how much sugar top athletes now consume when they are racing for several hours and have to perform at their best constantly. Every hour! The results are impressive: performance can be maintained for much longer and recovery afterwards is better. This means that they can start training again sooner and continue to develop their performance. 

Not all sugars are the same

But why couldn't we do this before? The breakthrough came from a scientific discovery that formed the basis for a completely new understanding of carbohydrate absorption. The body can absorb carbohydrates in two different ways, i.e., via two different transporters. Most people know that glucose, the simplest sugar, is absorbed via a specific transporter in the intestine. However, researchers have also discovered a separate transporter for fructose. This dual system allows the body to extract significantly more energy from carbohydrates without overloading the stomach or causing discomfort.

This discovery led to a fundamental change: athletes can now consume significantly larger amounts of carbohydrates without risking digestive problems. During intense exercise lasting more than an hour, consuming 120 grams of carbohydrates per hour can help minimize muscle damage, maintain performance, and significantly reduce recovery time.

Train your stomach

It is common knowledge that our muscles can be trained. However, the same applies to our digestive system: if large amounts of carbohydrates are consumed during exercise, the number of transporters for glucose and fructose is gradually increased. This allows you to absorb and consume more and more energy while experiencing fewer stomach problems.

So it's time to rethink: consuming carbohydrates during training does not reduce your adaptation to the respective training stimulus, but allows you to train at a higher level and recover faster.

Recommendations for practice

• No additional carbohydrate intake is necessary for light training sessions.
• For long or intense sessions, however, you should try to gradually get used to larger amounts of carbohydrates until you can consume more than 100 grams of carbohydrates per hour. This will improve the quality of your training and help you recover much faster afterwards.
• To enable this high intake during training and competition without causing stomach problems, you should train your intestines. Start with 40 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour and then increase the amount continuously from week to week.