Most people who come into endurance sport get the training part sorted long before they get the eating part sorted. You can follow a marathon plan or a sportive programme to the letter, but if you turn up to a three-hour session with a banana and a vague sense of optimism, the last hour is going to hurt far more than it needs to. The frustrating thing is that fuelling is actually the easiest variable to control — it just gets ignored because nobody explains the basics in plain terms.
This guide covers endurance nutrition for beginners from first principles: what your body burns, how much you need per hour, what to eat before, during and after, and how to build a fuelling strategy you can actually stick to. No jargon, no pseudoscience — just the numbers and habits that work.
Quick answer: for sessions over an hour, aim for 30–60g of carbohydrate per hour, building towards 60–90g per hour on long efforts over 90 minutes using mixed glucose and fructose sources. Start fuelling in the first 20–30 minutes and eat by the clock, not by feel. Practise the plan in training — never debut it on race day.
What Your Body Actually Burns During Endurance Exercise
Your body runs on two main fuel tanks: fat and carbohydrate. Fat stores are effectively unlimited — even a lean athlete carries tens of thousands of calories of it — but fat is slow-burning fuel. It can only be converted to energy at a modest rate, which is fine for easy-paced efforts but nowhere near enough once you push above roughly 70% of your maximum effort.
Carbohydrate is the fast fuel. It is stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver, and the catch is that the tank is small: most people hold around 400–500g of glycogen, roughly 1,600–2,000 calories. At a steady endurance pace you can burn through most of that in 90 minutes to 2 hours. When it runs out, you hit the wall — cyclists call it bonking, runners call it hitting the wall, and everyone agrees it is miserable. Your pace collapses, your mood collapses with it, and no amount of willpower brings the power back.
The entire point of a fuelling strategy is to keep that carbohydrate tank from emptying. Everything else is detail.
The Numbers: How Much Carbohydrate Per Hour
Here are the working figures used across endurance sport, and they are worth memorising:
- Under 60 minutes: you do not need to fuel during the session. Your existing glycogen covers it. A normal meal a couple of hours beforehand is enough.
- 1 to 2 hours: aim for 30–60g of carbohydrate per hour.
- 2 to 3 hours: aim for 60g per hour as your baseline.
- 3+ hours: trained guts can absorb up to 90g per hour using mixed carbohydrate sources (glucose and fructose together), because the two sugars use different absorption pathways in the intestine.
For context, a single energy pastille or chew typically carries 4–5g of carbohydrate, a banana around 25g, and a typical gel 20–25g. So "60g per hour" might look like a dozen pastilles spread across the hour, or a gel plus half a banana plus a few chews. The format matters far less than the total — pick whatever your stomach tolerates and your pocket carries.
One crucial habit: start fuelling in the first 20–30 minutes, not when you feel tired. By the time you feel empty, you are already 30–45 minutes behind, because carbohydrate takes time to digest and reach your bloodstream. Fuel by the clock, not by feel.
| Session length | Carb target | What that looks like |
| Under 60 minutes | None needed | A normal meal 2–3 hours beforehand covers it |
| 1–2 hours | 30–60g per hour | 2–4 FTP pastilles per hour (2 pastilles ≈ 30g), or a gel plus a banana |
| 2–3 hours | 60g per hour | Roughly 2 FTP pastilles every 30 minutes, fuelled by the clock |
| 3+ hours | Up to 90g per hour | Mixed glucose and fructose sources, drip-fed every 15–20 minutes |
Before and After: The Bookends That Make It Work
Pre-session eating does not need to be complicated. For a morning long ride or run, a carbohydrate-based breakfast 2–3 hours beforehand — porridge, toast and jam, a bagel — tops up liver glycogen that depletes overnight. If you train straight after waking, even 20–30g of quick carbohydrate 15 minutes before you start makes a measurable difference.
Afterwards, the priority is restocking. The standard guidance is 1–1.2g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight in the first hour post-session, plus 20–25g of protein for muscle repair. For a 70kg athlete that is roughly 70–85g of carbs — a proper meal, not a snack. This matters most when you train again within 24 hours; if you have two rest days, timing is far less critical than total intake.
Hydration threads through all of this. As a starting point, drink 500–750ml per hour in moderate conditions, more in heat, and include electrolytes (mainly sodium, 300–600mg per hour) on sessions over 90 minutes or in warm weather.
Make 60g an hour effortless
Mixed Fruit Energy Pastilles — small, dose-flexible fuel in a 1kg bulk pack.
Building a Strategy You Will Actually Follow
The best endurance nutrition for beginners is the plan you can repeat every week without thinking. Here is a simple framework:
- Write down your longest weekly session and calculate the carbohydrate target: duration in hours multiplied by 60g.
- Choose one or two fuel formats you genuinely like eating. If you dread it, you will skip it. Pastilles and chews work well for beginners because you can dose them gradually rather than committing to a whole gel at once.
- Set a schedule: something every 20 minutes is easier to remember than hourly totals. At 60g per hour, that is 20g every 20 minutes.
- Practise in training, never debut on race day. Your gut is trainable — regular fuelling during sessions genuinely increases how much carbohydrate you can absorb without discomfort — but it adapts over weeks, not days.
- Keep notes. Two lines after each long session: what you ate, how you felt. Within a month you will have a personalised playbook.
Expect some trial and error. Gut discomfort in the first few fuelled sessions is common and usually resolves as your digestive system adapts. If a particular product consistently upsets your stomach, switch formats before abandoning the fuelling plan itself.
What We Use at FTP Endurance Fuel
We built our range around exactly the problems described above. Our Mixed Fruit Energy Pastilles are designed for dosing flexibility — small, individually manageable pastilles you can eat one at a time, which makes hitting a 60g-per-hour target far easier on a beginner's stomach than downing full gels. The 1kg bulk pack also works out significantly cheaper per gram of carbohydrate than boxed single-serve products, which matters when you are fuelling several long sessions a week.
For recovery-focused sessions, our Tart Cherry Pastilles add Montmorency tart cherry, which contains anthocyanins — polyphenol compounds studied for their role in reducing exercise-induced oxidative stress and muscle soreness. If you are not sure where to start, the taster pack is a low-commitment way to test whether pastilles suit your gut before buying in bulk.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many carbs per hour do I need for endurance training?
For sessions of 1–2 hours, aim for 30–60g of carbohydrate per hour; for 2–3 hours, use 60g per hour as your baseline. On efforts over 3 hours, trained guts can absorb up to 90g per hour using mixed glucose and fructose sources, because the two sugars use different absorption pathways.
What should I eat before a morning long ride or run?
A carbohydrate-based breakfast 2–3 hours beforehand — porridge, toast and jam, or a bagel — tops up the liver glycogen that depletes overnight. If you train straight after waking, even 20–30g of quick carbohydrate 15 minutes before you start makes a measurable difference.
Do I need to eat during sessions under an hour?
No. Your existing glycogen stores cover efforts under 60 minutes, provided you have eaten a normal meal a couple of hours beforehand. Save the in-session fuelling for longer workouts.
Why do I get stomach problems when fuelling during exercise?
Gut discomfort in the first few fuelled sessions is common and usually resolves as your digestive system adapts — the gut is trainable over weeks, not days. Start with gradual doses (small formats like pastilles help), and if a particular product consistently upsets your stomach, switch formats before abandoning the fuelling plan itself.
Fuelling well is not complicated, but it is a skill — and like every skill in endurance sport, it rewards consistent practice. Start with 60g of carbohydrate per hour on your next long session, fuel by the clock, and take notes. Your last hour will thank you. When you are ready to stock up, browse our bundles for the best value way to fuel a full training block.
Mixed Fruit Pastilles 1kg
Dose-flexible bulk fuel for every long session of the week.
£44.99
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Tart Cherry Taster
A low-commitment way to test whether pastilles suit your gut.
From £5.49
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