Carb Stacks, Carb Toolkits & RED-S: The Athlete's Guide to Fueling Before, During and After Exercise
With major championships taking place this summer, we're seeing incredible performances—but we're also seeing athletes sidelined by injury, illness and fatigue.
Injury is rarely caused by one factor alone. Training load, recovery, sleep, previous injuries, stress and nutrition all interact to influence performance.
One of the biggest factors athletes can control every day is how they fuel.
Yet one of the most common misconceptions in sports nutrition is that carbohydrates are an "all or nothing" nutrient.
Many athletes save carbohydrates for race day, cut them on rest days, or believe carb loading means eating one huge bowl of pasta the night before competition.
It doesn't.
Performance nutrition is about availability, timing and consistency.
That's where carb stacks and carb toolkits come in.
What is a Carb Stack?
A carb stack is your personalised carbohydrate strategy before, during and after exercise.
Instead of relying on one meal or one food, you build ("stack") carbohydrate intake across the day and around training to match your body's changing energy demands.
Your carb stack depends on:
- Training volume
- Training intensity
- Session duration
- Race distance
- Recovery time
- Personal goals
- Gut tolerance
- Environmental conditions
No two athletes need exactly the same carbohydrate strategy.
What is a Carb Toolkit?
Your carb toolkit is the collection of foods and sports nutrition products you use to build your carb stack.
Different situations require different carbohydrate sources.
Some are ideal before training.
Others are easier to tolerate during long races.
Others help replenish glycogen afterwards.
A carbohydrate toolkit might include:
- Rice
- Potatoes
- Pasta
- Bread
- Bagels
- Oats
- Pancakes
- Bananas
- Fruit
- Dried fruit
- Fruit juice
- Sports drinks
- Energy gels
- Chews
- Carbohydrate-rich energy bars
The more options you have available, the easier it becomes to fuel consistently throughout the season.
Why Carbohydrates Aren't "All or Nothing"
Many athletes still think:
"I'll save carbs for race day."
"I'll eat low carb on recovery days."
"One massive pasta dinner will carb load me."
Unfortunately, these habits often lead to inconsistent carbohydrate availability and, over time, inadequate energy intake.
Instead, carbohydrate intake should rise and fall with training demands.
Current sports nutrition guidelines recommend approximately:
| Training Load | Daily Carbohydrate |
|---|---|
| Light | 3–5 g/kg/day |
| Moderate | 5–7 g/kg/day |
| Endurance | 6–10 g/kg/day |
| Heavy training or carb loading | 8–12 g/kg/day |
The harder you train, the more carbohydrate your muscles require.
Building Your Carb Stack Before Competition
For endurance events lasting longer than 90 minutes, athletes should aim for approximately:
8–12 g carbohydrate/kg/day
for one to three days before competition while reducing training volume.
This helps maximise muscle and liver glycogen stores before race day.
Choose familiar, lower-fibre carbohydrates such as:
- White rice
- Pasta
- Bread
- Bagels
- Pancakes
- Fruit juice
- Sports drinks
Five Race Week Mistakes
1. Starting Too Late
Carb loading begins one to three days before competition—not with one large dinner the night before.
2. Eating Too Much Fibre
High-fibre foods increase fullness before you've consumed enough carbohydrate.
During carb loading, choose easier-to-digest options.
3. Relying on One Meal
Muscle glycogen is built over multiple meals and snacks—not one oversized dinner.
4. Trying New Products
Never experiment with new:
- Bars
- Gels
- Sports drinks
- Supplements
Race week is about familiarity.
5. Confusing Carb Loading With Overeating
Carb loading isn't an excuse to eat everything.
High-fat takeaway meals often provide lots of calories but relatively little carbohydrate.
Focus on carbohydrate-rich foods instead.
Fuel During Exercise
As exercise duration increases, so does carbohydrate demand.
For endurance events lasting longer than two hours, many athletes benefit from:
60–90 g carbohydrate per hour
Some highly trained athletes tolerate even more after appropriate gut training.
The key is practising your race nutrition during training—not on race day.
Recovery Starts With Carbohydrate
Recovery nutrition is often associated with protein.
Protein is important.
But replacing glycogen comes first.
When another training session is scheduled within 24 hours, recommendations include:
- 1.0–1.2 g carbohydrate/kg/hour
- 20–40 g protein
- Fluids
- Electrolytes
Together these support:
- Glycogen restoration
- Muscle repair
- Immune function
- Adaptation
- Recovery
Did Carb Loading Work?
Two common signs include:
✔ A temporary increase in body weight (around 1–2 kg) as glycogen stores and the water stored alongside them increase.
✔ Feeling energised on race morning rather than flat, hungry or sluggish.
Does Everyone Need to Carb Load?
No.
Events lasting less than around 90 minutes rarely require a formal carb-loading strategy.
Normal glycogen stores, combined with a suitable pre-event meal, are usually enough.
Carb loading provides the greatest benefit before prolonged endurance events lasting over two hours.
Carb Stacks, RED-S & Long-Term Athlete Health
Carb stacks aren't just about race-day performance.
They're also about protecting long-term health.
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) develops when athletes consistently don't consume enough energy to support both training and normal physiological function.
Carbohydrate restriction alone doesn't cause RED-S.
However, because carbohydrates are often the first nutrient athletes reduce, low carbohydrate intake frequently contributes to low energy availability, making it much harder to meet overall energy needs.
Over time this can affect:
- Recovery
- Bone health
- Hormone production
- Menstrual function
- Testosterone
- Immunity
- Training adaptations
- Performance
Carbohydrates aren't something to fear.
They're one of the foundations of athletic health and performance.
Where RED-Scue Fits Into Your Carb Toolkit
At RED-Scue, we believe athletes need more practical ways to fuel—not more pressure to eat less.
After experiencing RED-S myself, I realised there were plenty of protein-focused snacks on the market, but very few convenient, carbohydrate-first options designed specifically for athletes.
That's why we created RED-Scue.
Made with naturally carbohydrate-rich cassava and plantain, every RED-Scue bar provides approximately 38 g of carbohydrates to help athletes fuel training, racing and recovery.
Whether you're topping up before a morning run, fuelling during a long ride or replenishing glycogen after a tough session, RED-Scue is designed to fit alongside whole foods, sports drinks, fruit and recovery meals as part of a flexible carbohydrate toolkit.
No single food creates performance.
Consistent fuelling does.
A Practical Carb Stack
Before Training
- Bagel
- Banana
- RED-Scue Vanilla
During Long Sessions
- RED-Scue Orange Zest
- Sports drink
- Energy gels
After Exercise
- RED-Scue Chocolate
- Milk or yoghurt
- Rice-based meal within the next few hours
The Bottom Line
The best athletes don't think in extremes.
They don't fear carbohydrates.
They don't rely on one pre-race meal.
Instead, they build a carb toolkit full of practical carbohydrate options and use it to create a carb stack that matches their training, racing and recovery.
Because great nutrition isn't all or nothing.
It's personalised.
It's flexible.
And it's built around giving your body the carbohydrates it needs to perform at its best.
