Carbs vs Protein For Endurance - Which Is Better?

Endurance athletes and those who do a lot of cardio (eg. runners, cyclists, swimmers) have different nutritional needs compared to those who are trying to achieve strength and muscle hypertrophy.

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:31 What happens to a muscle during exercise
03:22 Glycogen and fat as 'protein sparers'
03:42 Comparing a mixed, high carbohydrate and high fat diet for endurance training
05:06 Recovery after an endurance event
05:27 Role of protein during recovery
06:14 Take home points

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Endurance exercise burns through a lot more calories (per unit of time) than resistance training, and the fuel needed to sustain cardio is predominantly glycogen utilised by the aerobic system. This is in contrast with resistance training which relies on mainly the Creatine Phosphate and the Glycogen-Lactic Acid system for short bursts of muscle power.

The body preferentially uses glycogen and fat for energy. While protein can be broken down to make glucose (a process called gluconeogenesis), this process is not as efficient as using glycogen or fat to produce ATP. That's why glycogen and fat are referred to as 'protein sparers'.

Athletes on a high carb diet start off with much higer levels of muscle glycogen prior to exercise. This higher levels of glycogen is associated with longer time to exhaustion as compared to a mixed or high fat diet. So for endurance, a high carb diet easily outperforms a mixed or high fat diet.

A high carb diet leads to faster recovery of muscle glycogen compared to a high fat or mixed diet

Studies have shown that a high protein diet does not improve performance, but can improve blood markers of muscle damage and subjective muscle soreness.

Take home points:

1. Endurance athletes should focus on a high carb diet, with one study recommending 6-10g/kg/day of carbs.
2. It takes 48 hours to build up muscle glycogen stores even on a high carb diet. So it is better to avoid strenuous exercise for at least 2 days prior to a endurance event.
3. Protein may assist with recovery. One study recommends an intake of 0.25 g/kg of protein per hours of endurance exercise.
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 #cardio #fitness #docunlock

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Key References

Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology 13ed (2015), chapter 85 (p1085-89)

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Video credits:

Music:
Track: Enigma — KV [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus

Track: Blue — Declan DP [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus

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[XalTheMagkas]

What you guys need to remember from this video is that *THE MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL*

[erikknudsen]

I'm a cycling coach and athlete. This video is spot on! A lot of my athletes don't consume enough carbs during rides though, and as soon as we able to bump that up (like 90g/hr on long hard rides) we see big improvements.

[dinocres]

Man, what a hidden gem this channel is. Extremely clear and researched

[chuck]

This is exactly the kind of info I've been searching for...for about 3 days. AND referenced. Two thumbs up!👍👍

[supercake]

Listening to DMX is all the nutrition you need before a workout

[brownhorse]

I am a cyclist (racing) and was on very strict ketogenic diet for 12 months. Fantastic ketone levels and general well being. The recovery was marginally good compared to carb diet. But the high intensity power output suffered significantly (about 30% less power) and hit the "wall" after couple of hours. Went back to normal high carb (low GI) diet and about 2.5 hours high intensity ride with few climbs felt fantastic. Muscle glycogen is such a precious commodity in high intensity sport. Not going back to keto!

[wilowhisp]

I'm 40 years old. I run ultra marathons, usually 50k. I rock climb, fence, do yoga every day, and practice jujitsu. I live on a high carb vegan diet and never run out of energy. Just make sure you're getting good carbs, not refined sugar or white bread.

[itsamelouija]

Personally I fuel my muscles with Metallica

[Bdogbeets]

Finally some one can actually explain carbs I been searching for so long

[lakvirtrader]

If you follow a great personalized diet like the Agoge diet, you do not even have to use supplements to build muscle.

[kristoffziegler]

great video, now I understand why I effectively lost more fat with marathon running as compared to HIIT, as I am always on high carb diet because protein diet is expensive ..

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[saurabharaiyer]

Have given this video to at least 10 friends of mine for pre race prep. Thanks for explaining this wonderfully

[dontscotty]

“Okay, now explain it to me like I am a five year old” - Michael Scott

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[karamjitsingh]

Excellent presentation. I've saved this to watch again. Thank you.

[awemanyfit]

For me as an athlete who plays football which need high endurance and outburst of pace sometimes for a whole 90 minutes I eat High carb Moderate protein and Low fat diet. And I feel very good and so much better doing straneous works than when I eat only much nuts, sliced cucumbers and carrots in just two slices of bread mixed with peanut butter(low carb diet).