Should you eat the same amount of calories on rest days?

How should athletes eat when they aren’t training?

If you want to perform well at your sport, and stay lean, you have to keep working at it. 

Interested in reading more about how to lose fat and build muscle, read this blog here.
Remember when you thought you could just eat really well until you hit your weight goal and then your body would just magically stay healthy and look really lean forever?

Sadly it doesn't work that way .

Getting results, is one thing, but keeping results, now thats a skill. The secret? Consistency. Yes BORINGGG *insert teenage eye roll.

Why do you think I bang on about habits and behaviours like a parrot all the time? Because it matters.

If you don't practice the habits that will get you those outcome goals, you won't keep those results.

So how should I eat on rest days then?

Because performance nutrition is - as the name implies - for sports performance, on the days when you aren't training, you don't need to eat like you would a training day.

Before you get excited and start ordering Domino's, remember that the purpose of having a recovery meal is to replenish your glycogen levels that have been depleted during trainig, this means that for NTD (non training days) you technically don't need to eat as much carbs.

This is why I have my clients 'Carb Cycle'. Eating your carbs at the right times, not only helps you to recover faster, but those carbs also get used for energy when you need it, which means you aren't storing extra energy that will get converted into body fat.

Knowing when, what and how much to eat of each macro could be the thing that makes or breaks your performance.

Don’t just focus on the protein.

The mistake I see many athletes make is only focusing on the protein, when it fact, when it comes to sports performance, what could impact your energy levels with almost immediate effect is your carbs.

Knowing how to eat for the right volume of movement is the key to longterm success.

So what should a NTD (non training day) look like?

Keep the NTD definition simple, if you are doing stuff that isn't normally what you would classify as your typical training then its technically just an 'active recovery day'.

Yoga, short runs, fun hikes, casual bike rides, are all active recovery. Obviously everyone's level of 'recovery' will look a little different, but generally if you are training in lower volumes than you normally do, there is no need to eat 300g of carbs on that day.

How much carbs should I eat on a rest day?

As a guide, since carbs are really the only thing you need to adjust on NTD’s, you can aim to hit 1-1.5g of carbs per lb of bodyweight.

Again this is just a guideline and a jumping off point but the exact amount you need will depend on how active you are on your non training days.

Conclusion

To answer the question ‘should you eat less on rest days?’ Here’s what I’d say to that: eating in a way that aligns with your training volume is important if your goal is to increase performance and keep a healthy fat to muscle ratio. This means that on the days that you aren’t training, you should be eating slightly less carbs.

Since carbs are the macronutrient superhero for performance, if you aren’t lifting heavy and/or sprinting up a hill, there is no need to the eat the same volume of carbs that you would normally do on a training day.

With that said, you could try increasing your fat intake and focus on those healthy fats to help you manage any inflammation caused by overtraining.

For a guildeline as to how much fats you should consume for your volume of trainig and your goals check out the blog Everything You Need To Know About Dietary Fats.

As always if you’re struggling with knowing exactly how to eat for your goals I’m just a click away.

Have a great week folks!