Continuous glucose monitors for endurance athletes🩸
Wha the science actually says.
Application potential of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in elite endurance athletes without diabetes: What do physiology and current evidence tell us?
Study Details
This new review paper summarised the available evidence for CGM use in endurance athletes without diabetes identifying…
✅ Potential applications
❌ Limitations
📚 What the science actually says!
Here are the key findings ⬇️
Key Findings
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS ✅
⛽️ Fuelling practices – Assessing glucose responses to different carbohydrate intakes and fuelling strategies during exercise
🥖 Carbohydrate dosing research – Comparing effects of moderate (90 g/h) vs aggressive (>120 g/h) carbohydrate fuelling on glucose levels and performance
📈 Performance optimisation – Investigating whether higher or more stable glucose concentrations improve endurance capacity or perceived exertion
🌙 Recovery and sleep – Exploring links between under-fuelling, low nocturnal glucose, liver glycogen depletion and sleep quality
🧬 Next-generation sensors – Developing multi-metabolite (lactate, ketone) monitors for deeper insight into substrate use, fatigue and training load
LIMITATIONS ❌
⏱️ Time delay – Interstitial glucose lags behind blood glucose, especially during high-intensity exercise, reducing real-time accuracy
🎯 Accuracy variability – Affected by factors such as blood flow, temperature, altitude, hydration, and medication interference
🍚 Limited carbohydrate insight – CGM shows glucose concentration but not glycogen status or actual fuel availability to working muscle
😟 Data misinterpretation – Small, normal fluctuations may be over-interpreted, causing unnecessary worry or dietary changes
🚫 Practical and regulatory barriers – Currently banned in cycling competition, lacks approval for non-diabetic use, can be prone to sensor damage, difficult to interpret, and not yet equally accessible to all athletes
Conclusion
CGMs hold promise for research and potential insight into glucose trends in elite endurance athletes 🔍
But it currently faces major limitations in accuracy, interpretation, and physiological relevance 🚨
Reference
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s44410-025-00013-7
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