Carbs on training days vs rest days

Your food should move with your training. · 2 min read · Updated September 30, 2026

In short: Daily carb guidelines scale with training load: about 3–5 g/kg on light days up to 6–10 g/kg on 1–3 hour days. Tables by body weight and how to adjust meals without eating differently every day.

How we made this guide: we built it from the research below and checked every number against it: ACSM, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics & Dietitians of Canada joint position stand (2016).

Many runners eat roughly the same amount every day while their training swings from rest days to long runs. The guidelines scale carbs with how much you train.

The guideline

Training that day	Carbs per kg per day
Rest or light day	3–5 g/kg
About 1 hour a day, moderate	5–7 g/kg
1–3 hours a day, moderate to hard	6–10 g/kg
4+ hours a day	8–12 g/kg

ACSM joint position stand (Thomas, Erdman & Burke, 2016). Its lowest band is for light training days; it doesn’t set a separate rest-day number, so treat 3–5 g/kg as a rest-day reference, not a rule.

By your weight

Body weight	Light / rest	~1 h	1–3 h
110 lb	150–250 g	250–350 g	300–500 g
130 lb	180–290 g	290–410 g	350–590 g
150 lb	200–340 g	340–480 g	410–680 g
170 lb	230–390 g	390–540 g	460–770 g
190 lb	260–430 g	430–600 g	520–860 g

How to do it without two different diets

Keep the same meals and change the carb portion. A long-run day gets more rice, more pasta and a bagel after; a rest day gets the same plates with smaller carb portions. Protein and vegetables stay about the same.

Put your runs next to your meals

The easiest way to see whether your eating matches your training is to have both in the same place. We built My Track Record so a run and a meal are each one spoken sentence, on the same day view.

See your training and your eating side by side.
Get My Track Record on the App Store

By Andrew, founder of My Track Record. Andrew has been active all of his life across a variety of sports and continues to stay active through climbing, swimming, weight training, golfing, snowboarding, and more. He built My Track Record so logging food and training takes one spoken sentence and can support any activity. He puts these guides together from published sports science research cited on each page. About Andrew

Sources

Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Nutrition and Athletic Performance: joint position statement of the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016;48(3):543–568. Source

General information for healthy adult runners, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or have a history of disordered eating, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing how you eat or use caffeine.