Fueling Athletes Research Paper

People who exercise more will have different diets to those who do not exercise. Carbohydrates are very important for athletes as it provides fuel. Carbohydrate is stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles, and released when needed during exercise. It is easily broken down to provide energy. The other source of energy is fat, but this cannot be converted into energy as quickly as glycogen.

The concept of energy intake and expenditure refers to the amount of calories per day that an individual consumes, and is the chemical energy in foods which can be metabolized to produce energy available to the body. As stated before energy is obtained from the foods we eat and is used to support an individual’s Basal Metabolic Rate, energy is measured in calories or joules as both units are very small they are multiplied by 1,000 and referred to as kilocalories. Different foods provide us with different amounts of energy, and the potential fuel sources available to exercising muscles are fats – 1 gram fat =9.0kcal = 23kJ,

The main advantage of sports drinks is their high electrolyte content. During exercising, you lose electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, phosphate, calcium, magnesium and chlorine as you sweat. Eess sweating an result in low electrolyte levels which causes nausea, muscle cramps, dizziness and confusion. When just consuming water, it doesn’t replace these lost electrolytes. This is fine for short periods of exercise but after an hour these lost electrolytes an become problematic Replacing lost fluids with plain water doesn't replace electrolytes, but this isn't usually an issue when you exercise for only a short time, but it can become an issue when you exercise for more than an

Carbohydrates will fuel your body and enable it to perform heavy exercises. Eat slow digestible carbohydrates. This is because slow digesting carbohydrates will help you to sustain during your workout session, it will also prevent your body to use in energy from muscles. This will give you better endurance and power to finish your workout session. You have to consume these carbohydrates at least one hour before your workout session. Your body will get enough time to convert these carbohydrates into energy for fuel. You can consume whole-wheat pasta, brown rice and oatmeal, as they are slow digesting carbohydrates.

What is carbohydrate loading? Carbohydrate loading, also known as carbo loading, is when the body is depleted of carbs and then overloading the body with carbs at one time. To carbohydrate load the body must be depleted of carbs for a few days. Doing this tricks your body into thinking that there is a problem with your glycogen stores. Glycogen is a form of carbohydrate that is stored in the liver and muscle cells. It is used when you exercise. It eventually runs out and your performance levels drop as fatigue sets in. for the next two or three days, after depleting your body of carbs, you overload on carbs because your body will store more glycogen because it still thinks there is an issue

Depending on the intensity of the exercise the body gets carbohydrates from muscle glycogen. This process starts in the liver and then it travels through blood; to go to the appropriate areas. This only occurs when the blood glucose levels are low, to breakdown stores of glucose. During low intensity fuel is coming from fats.

Percentages of energy from each substrate as power output increases Table 1. Showing volume of expired gas, VO2, VCO2, and RER at each different stage Summary Overall, the carbohydrate utilisation increased and fat utilisation decreased as the power output increased. This is what we were expecting to see as said by Romijn et al (1993, p389). The cross over point occurred when the power output was at 60W. This is when carbohydrates becomes the predominant source of energy instead of fats as mentioned in Brooks and Mercier (1994). We expected to see carbohydrate utilisation increase when intensity increased as muscle glycogen is more readily available compared to fats during short bouts of exercise (Balsom, Gaitanos, Söderlund & Ekblom, 1999, p337).

more water. Water is the best drink which will hydrate the body during and after exercise.Water

Carbohydrates are actually good for you and come in two types. There are simple and complex carbs. Simple carbohydrates are found in honey, sugars, candy, jams and much more. The simple carbohydrates include monosaccharides and disaccharides. These two are converted into glucose to fuel muscles and the brain. Complex carbohydrates are found in greens, whole grains, starchy vegetables, lentils, beans and peas. Eating carbohydrates before you exercise will increase your glycogen and give you a little energy boost to beast through your sets.

Research shows the existence of a relationship between the pre-exercise levels of glycogen and the capacity of exercises for the enduring activities. Glycogen is essential for athletic activities. During the first hours after exercise, re-synthesis of glycogen in depleted muscles is high, if there is sufficient supplementation of the carbohydrates (Kuipers et al.1987). According to Friedlander et al. (2006), the use of fat in the body increases during mild exercises but reduces during exercise of high intensity. The factors that modulate the substrate and metabolic responses set by the flux of energy include gender, the duration of exercising, training status, and balance of energy. Due to the increased percentage of the energy expenditure

Second, carbohydrates act as body fuel. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the riders. It is stored in the muscles so that

The results of the comparison between the three protocols (training fasted, training carbohydrate rich breakfast, training fat rich breakfast) showed that RER was significantly higher after consuming a breakfast (carbohydrate breakfast0.88±0.03; fat breakfast 0.76±0.04) when compared to the fasted state (0.81±.02), this can be explained because of an increase of carbohydrate utilization after consuming food. An expected outcome from the study proved that RER was increased by food intake, suggesting a shift of substrate utilization from lipids to carbohydrate (Paoli et al., 2011; Keogh et al., 2007). The RER was highest when consuming a carbohydrate breakfast and lowest when in the fasted state. This was expected as the participants were using more carbohydrates as an energy source proving that training when fasted

It is commonly known that athletes sacrifice their bodies for the benefit of the sport. However, the increased demands from coaches, parents, and others motivate these athletes to adopt harmful practices, such as extreme dieting and weight loss. Athletes most often susceptible to implementing such behaviors are body builders, boxers, wrestlers, ballet dancers, and gymnasts. These athletes are notorious for becoming fixated on their weight and body composition. Consequently, there are major concerns regarding the health of these individuals as a result of weight loss techniques utilized to improve performance (Anderson, Barlett, Morgan, Brownell, 1995). More specifically, wrestlers lose large amounts of weight rapidly before competition. Typically, wrestlers lose weight prior to competition in order to enter into a lower weight class division (Kiningham, Gorenflo, 2001). The primary reason for this behavior is to gain an edge on their competition (Kiningham, Gorenflo, 2001). Common methods of weight loss among wrestlers include: food restriction, vomiting, diet pills, and diuretics (Kiningham, Gorenflo, 2001). These extreme dietary habits are often promoted by coaches, parents, and medical professionals (Kiningham, Gorenflo, 2001).

Throughout a normal day, the body uses glucose in the form of energy. The glucose that the body uses is attained from carbohydrates that one receives from a meal eaten during the day. However, when glucose begins to run out, especially if a person is rigorously exercising, and is not “restocked,” the body must use its energy supplies, glycogen. Glycogen is one of the most important polysaccharides in the human body. It is the body’s stored energy; with the highest storing sites being the muscles and liver. Glycogen is important to the liver because it is able to provide a backup supply of glucose so that blood glucose concentration is maintained at a sufficient level to supply the brain during times of starvation. Glycogen's function in sustaining blood-glucose levels is imperative because glucose is essentially the only fuel source used by the brain. The primary function of muscle glycogen is to supply fuel for the contraction of the muscles during exercise. However, insufficient amount of glycogen in the liver and muscles can lead to numerous diseases, diseases like Glycogen Storage Disorders (GSD).

1. Juice. Your body uses up its sugar reserves whenever you work out, so it’s important to replenish after you hit the gym. The best and healthiest way to do this is to drink fruits and vegetables, which are naturally high in sugar content. In addition, juices are high in carbohydrates, amino acids, and electrolytes, all of which help repair and restore your tired muscles. If you want to make sure that your juices are as natural as they can be, you can invest in a juicer so you can have full control over what and how much fruits you want in your juice.