Intro to Sports Nutrition: Chapter 2 - Why Mental Toughness Isn’t Enough in Endurance Sports

A Quick Refresher

To recap from chapter one, “Carbs” is a category that includes sugar. There are different types of sugars, but at the end of the day, your body is converting them to glucose to use as energy that it needs now, or to store for energy later (in a form called glycogen).  Glycogen = stored Glucose. Glycogen has a relatively small storage capacity in your body, and when capacity runs out, carbs can be stored as fat. 

I would push myself to my limit, but still get left behind on group rides...

Ok, but why is understanding what carbs are important? Many of us grew up with the idea that working harder in sports was a mental game. The idea was -  your mind pushed your body, and the tougher your mind was, the more your body would output. When I first started Triathlon I would go on long bike rides with a local Tri club. I would push myself to the limit, not consume any carbs, and get down on myself for not being mentally strong enough to keep pushing with the rest of the group. 

Your muscles literally rely on Glucose (and Oxygen) for energy. 

Hopefully what you’re picking up on is that the mental game is only part of the story. Don’t get me wrong, mental fortitude is important to tolerate discomfort that comes with pushing yourself to your limits. However, your muscles literally rely on Glucose (and Oxygen) for energy. 

Oxygen and Glucose help your muscles to work hard.

So how does this work? What does it really mean to say your muscles rely on glucose for energy? Well, you are always using your muscles to walk around, reach for things, blink etc. When you exercise, you are asking a lot of your muscles. Your muscles “working” really means they are repeatedly going through a cycle of contracting and expanding. This cycle is a complex biochemical process that consists of multiple phases. A major phase, the contraction part, requires something called ATP to work. How is ATP made? Through processes in your cells that use oxygen and, wait for it….Glucose! 

Without the right ingredients, you cannot simply will your way to success by being mentally tough.

Despite being a gross oversimplification, what this is all trying to explain is that working harder in exercise is a biochemical process that requires the right ingredients to work. Without the right molecular ingredients, you cannot simply will your way to success by being mentally tough. The idea that carbs and oxygen help make your muscles work is useful to have in the back of your mind when you take down a gel or some deep breaths in between intervals.

Stay tuned! 

Starting to get a little more intrigued by carbs and exercise? Well, stay tuned for Chapter 3, where I talk you through what has worked well for me in terms of increasing sports performance using Carbohydrates.