Carbohydrates are the fuel for the human body, just like a car needs fuel. Carbohydrates are the sugars and starches that fuel our body, 1 gram of carbohydrates is equal to 4 calories of fuel. Our body has enough carbohydrates to fuel us for up to 90 minutes of work so depending on what you are training for, depends on how much carbs you need. if you are doing an event that is just over 90 minutes 1 - 2 days of carbo loading could be enough, if you are doing an event that is say 3 hours in duration 3 – 4 days of carbo loading should be needed. If you are exercising over 90 mins, take your body weight in pounds and then divide that by one third take and that is the amount of carbohydrates you need to take per one hour.
For proteins, the morning of an event consume 10 - 20 grams of protein in the 2 – 3 hours leading up to the event. If your event is going to go for 4 hours or more, then during the event you would need to consume 5 grams of protein per hour of the event. After any endurance event, immediately consume 10 - 20 grams of protein to help in tissue repair and cell recovery.
During the event aim for 200 - 500 milligrams of sodium. Some sports drinks can have 100 - 200 milligrams of sodium. Energy gels could have 25 - 200 milligrams per packet. After the event sipping on sports drinks can be more beneficial than sipping on water as they have the sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium needed to help in recovery.
When we exercise, we are sweating, our bodies are losing water through sweat as it helps regulate the bodies temperature. We need to replace this water when we are exercising so before, during and after your exercise, it is important to keep hydrated. An easy way to measure this, is to maintain a urine colour of pale yellow to clear.