I would say almost 95% of the athlete’s that come to me for nutrition consultation underfuel their workouts. Most use only water. However, carbohydrates have an important role in sports. They are the preferred substrate of our muscles, they delay fatigue and are very important during long and/or hard workouts. There is a reason why we should consume carbohydrates during training. Without sufficient energy supply, your performance decreases earlier, i.e. you won’t do as many repetitions as with more energy intake and your speed will slow down earlier due to lower glycogen stores. At the same time, your RPE will rise making a workout feel harder.
You can still have a recovery drink or recovery meal after your workout and double the serving of carbohydrates. But the carbohydrates you ingest then, won’t change [improve] the quality and efforts you performed during the previous workout. Your muscles would have needed the substrate while they were working, not when the work is done. That’s why: for best performance outcome, make sure you fuel your workout. The better the training quality, the better the outcome.