As training gets longer or more demanding, having enough carbohydrate available becomes increasingly important. Your body stores carbohydrates as glycogen in the muscles and liver, giving you a readily available source of fuel when training intensity picks up.
During harder exercise, glycogen is broken down to glucose and used through glycolysis to produce ATP, the energy your muscles need to keep performing.
Highly branched cyclic dextrin (HBCD) is a carbohydrate made from starch that has become popular as a workout fuel. It provides carbohydrate for energy, but its highly branched structure also gives it some useful properties when mixed into a drink.
HBCD solutions can have relatively low osmolality, and research has found that HBCD-based drinks move through the stomach quickly and are generally well tolerated during exercise. That can make cyclic dextrin easier to drink throughout a hard workout without feeling like a heavy, sugary drink is sitting in your stomach.
Research also suggests some potential performance benefits. Studies have found lower perceived exertion and improved performance during endurance exercise. A 2025 resistance-training study found that 45 grams of cyclic dextrin consumed during training improved repetition velocity in men, although the same benefit wasn’t found in women.
There’s a recovery benefit to carbohydrates as well. After a hard training session, glucose from carbohydrates is used to replenish the muscle glycogen that was depleted during exercise. The sooner you need to perform again, the more important that replenishment becomes.
For a quick workout after eating normally, you probably have plenty of stored fuel. But for longer sessions, high-volume training, endurance work, or short recovery periods between workouts, cyclic dextrin provides an easy way to get more carbohydrate and keep your training fueled.
- Conrad RN
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