Dubai has become a city of endurance athletes. Everyone is training for something: a marathon, an Ironman, a cycling challenge, a “casual” 90-minute run before work. And yet half of these hyper-active humans are doing all of this on two eggs, iced coffee, and a spiritual belief that carbs are the enemy. If you walk into any cycling café at 7 am, you will see the same thing: slim people in lycra discussing intervals while silently surviving on 1,200 calories and the hope that fat loss is just one more deficit day away.

I know this because I lived like that too. I did it proudly. I hit 2.5 grams of protein per kilo of body weight like a bodybuilding monk. I avoided carbs with the moral conviction of a Victorian nun. I genuinely believed bananas were “too sugary.” And for months I wondered why I was tired, slow, hungry, irritated, sleepy, and — my personal favourite — losing muscle instead of fat. My cycling didn’t improve. My running felt heavier. My heart rate climbed like it was trying to escape my chest. But I kept telling myself I was doing everything “right.”

The truth is simple: if you do endurance sports and avoid carbs, you are sabotaging yourself. You are training on an empty tank, forcing your body to perform without fuel, and confusing “discipline” with “self-harm.” Carbs aren't the problem. Under-eating is.

Endurance sports rely on glycogen, the stored form of carbohydrates in your muscles and liver. Up to 80% of your energy in runs and rides comes from carbs. When glycogen is low, your body can't maintain intensity; it can't oxidise fat efficiently; it can't recover. Studies show under-fueled athletes have a drop in VO₂max, slower lactate clearance, more perceived exhaustion, and a higher release of cortisol — the hormone that both kills recovery and preserves body fat. So while you are punishing yourself by avoiding rice, your body is happily storing fat for survival. Congratulations.

I only understood this after one particularly long ride where my legs were fine but my brain felt like a melting USB drive. I bonked so hard I briefly considered calling a taxi and pretending the bike wasn’t mine. Out of pure desperation I ate carbs — real ones, fast ones, joyful ones. Haribo. Coke. A gel that tasted like exotic fruit salad and chemical warfare. And suddenly, power returned. Clarity returned. Happiness returned. It was like discovering religion, except the prophet was a Snickers bar.

Ever since, I have been deep-diving into actual endurance nutrition — the boring scientific kind, not the Instagram kind. Here is what the research says: everyday endurance athletes need 5–7 grams of carbs per kilo of body weight. High-volume athletes need 6–10 g/kg. During long training sessions, you need 30–90 grams of carbs per hour, depending on intensity. Yes — per hour. No amount of “clean eating” will save you if you try to ride 100 km on spinach leaves and protein shakes.

And it isn't just about quantity — timing matters. Carbs before training give your muscles glycogen to work with. Carbs during training keep your brain alive. Carbs after training replenish stores and support muscle repair. The body isn’t dramatic; it just wants fuel. Preferably every few hours. Preferably not from air.

Let’s talk about what types of carbs actually work. “Slow” carbs — rice, pasta, potatoes, oats, fruit, grains — build glycogen throughout the day. They keep your energy stable and your performance sharp. “Fast” carbs — gels, candy, juice, Coke, white bread with honey — exist for training. You don’t get bonus points for eating almonds during a 3-hour ride. You get dropped from the group.

Signs you aren't eating enough carbs are painfully recognisable: elevated heart rate in easy zones, heavy legs, sleepiness, irritability, sugar cravings, random bloating, plateaued fat loss, and that wonderful personality shift where you start hating everyone for existing. For women, under-fueling can also affect the menstrual cycle. For men, it affects testosterone and performance output. For everyone, it affects joy.

Dubai’s fitness culture is intense, and most people here train like semi-professionals while eating like an influencer food blogger. It doesn’t work. You can't build endurance, strength, or mental resilience while starving. You can't perform on discipline alone. Muscles need glycogen. Brains need glucose. And yes — athletes need sugar.

Carbs don’t make you slow. Under-fueling makes you slow. Carbs don’t make you puffy. Stress does. Carbs don’t sabotage endurance. They are literally the thing endurance runs on.

So eat the rice. Eat the pasta. Eat the Haribo on the climbs. Fuel your body like someone who actually expects it to perform. Because once you stop fighting carbs, your body stops fighting you — and that is the moment every endurance athlete in this city suddenly becomes faster, happier, and stronger.

And more importantly: less angry.