Do carbs make you stronger in the gym?
The Effect of Carbohydrate Intake on Strength and Resistance Training Performance: A Systematic Review
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Eating carbs before a workout only helps if you haven't eaten all day or if you're doing a ton of sets. If you're already fed or eating the same calories as others, carbs don't make you lift more or grow bigger muscles.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 520 / 100
Evidence Score
The highest quality evidence. These studies systematically search, appraise, and synthesize results from multiple individual studies, providing the most reliable summary of current knowledge.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Eating carbs before a workout only helps if you haven't eaten all day or if you're doing a ton of sets. If you're already fed or eating the same calories as others, carbs don't make you lift more or grow bigger muscles.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 520 / 100
Evidence Score
The highest quality evidence. These studies systematically search, appraise, and synthesize results from multiple individual studies, providing the most reliable summary of current knowledge.
Publication
Authors
Henselmans M, Bjørnsen T, Hedderman R, Vårvik FT
Related Content
Claims (9)
Increased carbohydrate intake enhances intramuscular glycogen storage, thereby improving resistance training performance and volume capacity.
Whether you eat a lot of carbs or very few, as long as you're getting enough calories and protein, your strength and muscle growth won't be different after 3 months of lifting weights.
Eating carbs before a workout when you haven't eaten all night might make you feel like you can lift more—but it's probably because you feel less hungry or think you're getting energy, not because your muscles actually have more fuel.
Eating carbs before or during a normal weightlifting session doesn't make you stronger or let you lift more reps, as long as you've eaten recently and aren't doing super long workouts.
Whether you eat a lot of carbs or very few, as long as you’re eating the same total calories and protein, you’ll gain the same amount of strength and muscle over several months of weightlifting.