Sugar consumption and effects

These notes combine advice from 46 reviewed passages across 18 workouts.

Overview

Coach’s claim

Sugar is in almost everything, including drinks, so fully removing it from the diet is difficult; dates, too, are a source of fruit sugar. In a small amount sugar plays a useful role: the body needs some of it, it works as fuel for the brain, and eating it in moderation is not a problem. [2] [7] [13] [18] [26] [44]

Coach’s claim

The picture changes with quantity. Constant high intake can stall weight loss, turn sugar into a source of fatigue, and create a pull comparable to a drug. The practical task is to keep the amount modest. [1] [3] [4] [7] [8] [11] [18] [19] [23] [26] [27] [34] [43]

Energy and fatigue

Coach’s claim

A small amount of sugar gives quick energy. A single piece of chocolate, for example, carries enough energy for about an hour of running. [22] [34]

Coach’s claim

The energy response is strongest with occasional sugar. After going without it for a period, a serving can produce an unusually strong effect, and occasional sugar is described as very enjoyable. [11] [41]

Coach’s claim

The body cannot put a very large sugar load to use all at once. A heavy amount, especially all at once or every day, leaves you tired, and with daily overconsumption sugar stops providing energy and simply adds fatigue. [3] [7] [11] [18] [26] [34] [43]

Health effects

Coach’s claim

Heavy sugar intake is linked to diabetes, fatty liver, and tooth decay, and it is not good for the liver. [23] [32]

Coach’s claim

At equal amounts, refined sugar is judged more harmful in the long term than snack foods such as chips. Chips at least sit on a food base like potato and their harm depends on quantity; refined sugar acts directly. [33]

Coach’s claim

Ice cream is one product to skip: it carries a lot of sugar and flour. [14]

Coach’s claim

Drinks loaded with sugar work the same way: a heavily sweetened drink, such as one made with honey and sugar cubes, can give a short-term boost but can seriously harm the body over the long term. Drinking sugary drinks in large amounts is harmful, and water or beet juice are much cleaner choices. [10] [15]

Coach’s claim

One claim about cola is that it turns the oxygen in the body into carbon dioxide. A story about a man who died after drinking seven liters of cola in a contest may be true or may be a tale spread by foreign companies; the truth is not known. Such contests should not be held. [9]

Coach’s claim

Consistently high sugar intake can keep weight from coming off. One young trainee who ate sugar constantly, including sugary drinks, was not losing weight. [1]

Cutting sugar

Coach’s claim

Take periodic breaks from sugar. The recommended pattern is seasonal: cut it out for a stretch, then come back to it. [42]

Coach’s claim

After a period without sugar, the taste comes back noticeably stronger and more enjoyable. People who eat sugar every day do not notice this effect, while competitors who have been off sugar for weeks can react strongly to a single serving, with wide eyes or a feeling close to fainting. [5] [17] [25] [37]

Coach’s claim

Physique competitors commonly eliminate sugar for long stretches in pursuit of sharper definition, cutting it entirely in the final months before a show and continuing for weeks afterward. [5] [25] [37]

Coach’s claim

Avoiding sugar makes muscle definition more visible, and the more consistently it is cut, the more defined the body becomes. For a completely defined physique, eliminating sugar is the clear route. [28] [45]

Sugar and training

Coach’s claim

Sugar habits alone do not decide how a body looks. Some successful athletes eat a lot of sugar and keep defined physiques into their forties, and a woman in her forties who eats a great deal of sugar keeps a good body because of exercise. Training settles the physique. [20] [30] [31]

Coach’s claim

Among the very good athletes the coach knows, most are dependent on either caffeine or sugar. [39]

Coach’s claim

Strong sugar cravings are normal when the body wants energy, and they can increase as training becomes more demanding. [21] [29]

Coach’s experience

In his own routine, the coach cuts sugar periodically, for stretches of about a week to two weeks and at times much longer, such as a month and a half. He returns to it afterward because he enjoys it. [6] [19] [27] [42]

After each break, the first taste of sugar feels dramatically stronger to him. He describes single servings after abstention as drug-like, comparing the feeling to heroin or cocaine. [6] [35] [36] [40] [42]

The first three days without sugar are the hardest for him; after that it becomes easier. [36]

The coach normally drinks water, or ayran at most. He keeps sugary drinks for before competitions and important events, because his body is unused to the sugar and reacts much more strongly to them. [12]

The coach enjoys sugar and feels his body asking for it. He considers sugar very harmful and keeps planning to quit, but cannot stop. [16] [22]

He considers unsweetened dark chocolate the better option but cannot get used to it, because his body keeps wanting sugar. [24]

Sugar triggers tooth pain for him; he says the pain would not come if he did not consume sugar. [38]

He also drinks beet juice himself and found it very good. [10]

Sources

1. 2024-01-13, 1478.4-1497.6s

Workout: workout:2024-01-13

Passage: passage:2024-01-13:000652-000660

2. 2024-02-14, 4668.2-4674.4s

Workout: workout:2024-02-14

Passage: passage:2024-02-14:001723-001724

3. 2024-04-05, 2802.0-2832.9s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:000873-000881

4. 2024-04-05, 2833.4-2838.4s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:000882-000884

5. 2024-04-05, 2839.2-2864.3s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:000885-000893

6. 2024-04-05, 2864.3-2876.3s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:000894-000900

7. 2024-04-05, 2876.8-2885.9s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:000901-000905

8. 2024-04-05, 2905.1-2911.4s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:000915-000918

9. 2024-04-05, 4248.9-4273.7s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:001458-001467

10. 2024-04-05, 4273.8-4323.8s

Workout: workout:2024-04-05

Passage: passage:2024-04-05:001468-001477

11. 2024-04-10, 109.4-119.7s

Workout: workout:2024-04-10

Passage: passage:2024-04-10:000021-000023

12. 2024-06-27, 4085.7-4103.0s

Workout: workout:2024-06-27

Passage: passage:2024-06-27:001499-001505

13. 2024-08-04, 3852.6-3881.9s

Workout: workout:2024-08-04-the-bar

Passage: passage:2024-08-04-the-bar:001285-001286

14. 2024-08-09, 537.0-551.8s

Workout: workout:2024-08-09

Passage: passage:2024-08-09:000194-000199

15. 2024-09-03, 1087.6-1120.3s

Workout: workout:2024-09-03

Passage: passage:2024-09-03:000375-000383

16. 2024-10-13, 3783.7-3793.2s

Workout: workout:2024-10-13

Passage: passage:2024-10-13:001207-001210

17. 2024-10-17, 3133.8-3138.1s

Workout: workout:2024-10-17-steel-grip

Passage: passage:2024-10-17-steel-grip:001069-001071

18. 2024-10-17, 3143.4-3150.9s

Workout: workout:2024-10-17-steel-grip

Passage: passage:2024-10-17-steel-grip:001073-001075

19. 2024-10-17, 3227.9-3250.6s

Workout: workout:2024-10-17-steel-grip

Passage: passage:2024-10-17-steel-grip:001108-001116

20. 2024-10-17, 3311.5-3327.2s

Workout: workout:2024-10-17-steel-grip

Passage: passage:2024-10-17-steel-grip:001141-001150

21. 2024-11-17, 3047.0-3058.0s

Workout: workout:2024-11-17

Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001032-001037

22. 2024-11-17, 3058.0-3074.1s

Workout: workout:2024-11-17

Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001038-001045

23. 2024-11-17, 3075.1-3079.9s

Workout: workout:2024-11-17

Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001046-001047

24. 2024-11-17, 3082.5-3093.4s

Workout: workout:2024-11-17

Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001048-001052

25. 2024-11-17, 3117.6-3138.1s

Workout: workout:2024-11-17

Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001063-001071

26. 2024-11-17, 3143.4-3150.9s

Workout: workout:2024-11-17

Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001073-001075

27. 2024-11-17, 3227.9-3250.6s

Workout: workout:2024-11-17

Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001108-001116

28. 2024-11-17, 3272.8-3278.8s

Workout: workout:2024-11-17

Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001123-001124

29. 2024-11-17, 3283.6-3299.6s

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Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001127-001133

30. 2024-11-17, 3312.2-3327.2s

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Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001142-001150

31. 2024-11-17, 3334.4-3346.9s

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Passage: passage:2024-11-17:001153-001159

32. 2024-11-28, 1384.0-1387.6s

Workout: workout:2024-11-28

Passage: passage:2024-11-28:000458-000459

33. 2024-11-28, 1397.3-1418.6s

Workout: workout:2024-11-28

Passage: passage:2024-11-28:000464-000471

34. 2024-11-28, 1444.6-1455.1s

Workout: workout:2024-11-28

Passage: passage:2024-11-28:000482-000484

35. 2024-12-29, 5027.2-5051.9s

Workout: workout:2024-12-29

Passage: passage:2024-12-29:001773-001781

36. 2024-12-29, 5067.4-5075.7s

Workout: workout:2024-12-29

Passage: passage:2024-12-29:001790-001795

37. 2024-12-29, 5081.2-5090.2s

Workout: workout:2024-12-29

Passage: passage:2024-12-29:001799-001804

38. 2025-01-02, 5332.6-5341.7s

Workout: workout:2025-01-02

Passage: passage:2025-01-02:001667-001670

39. 2025-01-02, 5362.5-5366.0s

Workout: workout:2025-01-02

Passage: passage:2025-01-02:001676-001677

40. 2026-01-11, 289.1-298.8s

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41. 2026-01-11, 301.0-318.6s

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Passage: passage:2026-01-11:000084-000091

42. 2026-06-28, 2768.3-2786.5s

Workout: workout:2026-06-28

Passage: passage:2026-06-28:001046-001053

43. 2026-06-28, 2798.7-2807.3s

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Passage: passage:2026-06-28:001059-001062

44. 2026-07-02, 708.2-713.5s

Workout: workout:2026-07-02

Passage: passage:2026-07-02:000274-000276

45. 2026-07-02, 2201.5-2216.0s

Workout: workout:2026-07-02

Passage: passage:2026-07-02:000760-000765