Ask what you are fuelling
A short lifting session after lunch and a long workout after an overnight fast are different situations. Carbohydrates help fuel exercise and are stored as glycogen in muscle and liver, but that does not establish one ideal intake for everybody. Before copying a diet, consider the session you actually do, when you last ate and the rest of your training day.
Two reviews, a more useful picture
A 2022 systematic review in Nutrients included 49 studies. Most did not find better strength-training performance with higher carbohydrate intake; possible benefits appeared particularly with fasted training, high volumes and twice-daily sessions. A separate 2022 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine included 21 studies and found an overall benefit for session volume, with benefits more likely in sessions exceeding 45 minutes and after at least eight hours without food. The reviews asked overlapping, not identical, questions.
Neither a magic cutoff nor a muscle guarantee
Forty-five minutes is a research subgroup, not a biological switch that makes a snack necessary at minute 46. Studies differed in participants, protocols and comparison meals. Completing more repetitions in a test also does not prove that a particular carbohydrate dose will produce more muscle over months. The evidence supports considering context rather than automatically removing carbohydrates or adding a sports drink to every workout.
Make the question practical
Compare similar sessions and note their duration, your previous meal, hunger, digestive comfort and the repetitions completed. This is a useful conversation starter with a qualified sports dietitian, not a controlled experiment. Bread, oats, rice and fruit are ordinary food options; no special product is required just to include carbohydrates. Avoid judging your whole diet by one disappointing session. If training demands change substantially, review overall energy intake as well as any single nutrient.