Carb targets for hard and easy training days (g/kg explained)
Updated 24 October 2026 · General information, not medical advice
“How many carbs should I eat?” has no single answer for someone who trains, because the right amount on an interval day is not the right amount on a day off. The sports nutrition position statements solve this by giving carbohydrate in grams per kilogram of body weight, scaled to training load. This guide explains those ranges, how to map them onto hard, easy and rest days, and why a fat-loss phase sits at the low end.
It is general information for healthy adults, not medical or nutrition advice. If you have diabetes or another medical condition, are pregnant, are under 18, or have a history of disordered eating, please get individual advice from a qualified professional.
The published ranges
The 2016 joint position statement from the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada, building on the review by Burke and colleagues (2011), sets out daily carbohydrate needs by training load:
| Load | Typical training | g per kg per day |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Low-intensity or skill-based activity | 3–5 |
| Moderate | Moderate exercise, about 1 hour a day | 5–7 |
| High | Endurance work, 1–3 hours a day at moderate to high intensity | 6–10 |
| Very high | 4–5+ hours a day at moderate to high intensity | 8–12 |
Both sources stress that these are starting points to adjust to the individual and to the goal of each session, not fixed prescriptions. Burke 2011 in particular frames carbohydrate as something to match to the work you are doing on a given day, rather than a constant daily habit.
Why grams per kilogram, not a percentage
Many diet plans give carbohydrate as a share of calories, such as 40 or 50 percent. That works poorly for athletes, and worse during a cut. When total calories fall, a fixed percentage gives you less carbohydrate on exactly the days you need it most. Grams per kilogram ties the number to your body size and your training, and stays meaningful whatever your calorie budget is.
Mapping the ranges to your training days
Most recreational athletes do not train at the same load every day, so it helps to sort days into a few buckets:
- Hard day: intervals, a race-pace session, a long run or ride, or a heavy lifting session lasting 45 minutes or more. This sits in the moderate-to-high bands.
- Moderate day: about an hour of steady training or a normal strength session. The bottom of the moderate band.
- Easy day: a short recovery spin, an easy jog or mobility work. The light band.
- Rest day: no training. The position statements are written for training days and do not give a separate rest-day figure, so the bottom of the light band is a reasonable floor rather than a published target.
Why a cut sits at the low end of each range
During a fat-loss phase, total energy is limited. Protein stays high and constant; the ISSN position stand (Jäger 2017) and Helms 2014 both point to higher protein intakes during an energy deficit to help preserve lean mass. Fat needs a sensible minimum. That leaves carbohydrate as the flexible part of the budget, and there is only so much room.
The low end of each band already covers the training volume of most recreational athletes. If you train more than about two hours a day, compete soon, or notice key sessions falling apart, the low end may be too low: that is a sign to eat more on hard days or to slow the rate of loss, not to push through.
A worked example
PlatePace starts from the low end of each band: 3 g/kg on rest days, 4 on easy days, 5 on moderate days and 6 on hard days. For a 70 kg athlete that looks like this:
| Day | g/kg | Carbs (g) | From carbs (kcal) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rest | 3 | 210 | 840 |
| Easy | 4 | 280 | 1,120 |
| Moderate | 5 | 350 | 1,400 |
| Hard | 6 | 420 | 1,680 |
The difference between a rest day and a hard day is about 210 grams of carbohydrate, or roughly 840 kcal, which is larger than the total calorie difference between those days in a typical cutting plan. That is deliberate: some of the room on a hard day comes from the daily budget rising, and some comes from carbohydrate taking a larger share while protein stays fixed.
When the calorie budget is tight, something has to give. PlatePace keeps protein first and a minimum amount of fat second, and trims carbohydrate to fit the day’s budget. On a heavy hard day in a deep deficit, that can mean landing a little under 6 g/kg. If that happens often, it is a signal that the deficit may be too aggressive for your training load.
Timing matters more on hard days
The total for the day is the main lever, but on hard days timing helps too. Both Burke 2011 and the 2016 joint statement discuss eating carbohydrate in the hours before a demanding session and including some afterwards to support recovery, especially when sessions are close together. In practice: put a decent share of a hard day’s carbohydrate in the meals around the session, and if a hard session is early in the morning, count the previous evening’s dinner as part of the fuelling.
On rest and easy days timing matters much less. Spread food in a way that keeps you full and makes it easy to hit your protein.
Keep it honest
Grams per kilogram is still an estimate. Food labels, portion sizes and logging all carry error, and two people of the same weight can respond differently. Treat the numbers as a starting range, watch how your sessions feel and how your weekly weight trend moves, and adjust from there. The companion guide on eating on rest days vs training days when cutting covers how to set the weekly budget these carbohydrate targets fit into. You can also read the FAQ for how PlatePace shows ranges instead of single numbers.
Sources
- Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. American College of Sports Medicine, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Dietitians of Canada joint position statement: nutrition and athletic performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016;48(3):543-568.
- Burke LM, Hawley JA, Wong SHS, Jeukendrup AE. Carbohydrates for training and competition. J Sports Sci. 2011;29(S1):S17-S27.
- Jäger R, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) position stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:20.
- Helms ER, Aragon AA, Fitschen PJ. Evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2014;11:20.