Carbs for days team!
This can get very personalized (based on height, weight, body fat percentage, activity level, and age) but here are my general guidelines.
Sedentary and training 2-3 times a week for 60 minutes or less or doing mostly lifting: eating 200 grams a day of high-quality carbs (potatoes, rice, yams, fruit, squash, starchy veggies).
*Sedentary = desk job with minimal activity outside of the gym
Sedentary and training 3-5 times a week for 60 minutes or less or doing mostly lifting: 200-250 grams a day of high quality (low glycemic index) carbs.
Sedentary and training 5+ times per week for 60 minutes or more: 250 grams a day with a mix of low GI and high GI carbs (i.e. whole food sources most meals, with specific high GI carb supplementation for training sessions lasting more than 75 minutes). You will also want to focus most of your carbs around your training.
Moderately active and training 2-3 times a week for 60 minutes or less: 250-300 grams a day of high quality (low glycemic index) carbs. This carb range will depend on your work/life activity. If you have an extremely active job (firefighter, server, construction worker) then start with 250g and increase as needed. Just make sure 85-90% of it is coming from whole food sources!
Moderately active and training 3-5 times a week for 60 minutes or less: 300 grams a day of high quality (low glycemic index) carbs. Again, refer to note above about activity level outside of the gym.
Moderately active and training 5+ times per week for 60 minutes or more: 300-400 grams a day with a mix of low GI and high GI carbs (i.e. whole food sources most meals, with specific high GI carb supplementation for training sessions lasting more than 75 minutes).
Extremely active: 350g- 450+g depending on training and work. If you’re a firefighter training for the CrossFit Games (think Sam Briggs) I am going to suggest 400g a day minimum- and then play with more depending on training and work schedule.
Try these recommendations and see how you feel! Set your protein at 1g per pound of body weight, fat at 65-75 grams, and get 4 to 6 servings of veggies a day.
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