Energy Nutrition And Endurance
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When participating in events that require plenty of endurance, it's important to learn how to manage the reserved energy in your body. But since we don't know how much energy we really have, managing it won't be an easy thing to do.
Store Your Energy
Food that we consume everyday provides us with the energy nutrition that we need. The complex carbohydrates we get from eating bread or rice are converted into glucose, and this is what gives us the energy we need each day. Extra glucose that you don't need is turned into glycogen and placed in your muscles and liver. These excess glucose, or glycogen, are then stored as fat.
How do We Use Energy?
When we exercise, the available energy is quickly used by our body. The stored glycogen reserves are then drawn out, helping us in terms of endurance. Unfortunately, when it comes to storing glycogen, our body's ability to do so is limited. When the stored glycogen decreases, the body then relies on stored fat for its extra energy. Unfortunately, it takes time to turn this fat into energy and it's not as effective as glycogen. If you notice that during the later stages of the event the athlete tends slow down it's mainly because they're using fat as energy and burning energy at a very fast rate.
Knowing How Far You can Go
Athletes that weigh around 150 lbs have about 1800 calories as glycogen stored in their bodies. They can use this glycogen for about 2 -3 hours, depending of course on the intensity of their activity. Marathoners stop at miles 18 - 20 simply because they've used up their reserved glycogen. This is where training comes in, it conditions the muscles to store more glycogen. With training, the body also gets conditioned to burn away fat whenever the available glycogen reduces.
What are Nutrition Supplements
A lot of athletes rely on gels and power bars during events to help build up their energy stores. But it all depends on the whether or not they would work. During marathons, some runners like myself don't like to use gels or power bars because it's very hard to digest. It's advisable to try them out during training. There are newer products, like Hornet Juice or FRS, that are getting more popular. They're easier to digest and provides more energy to the athlete.
But there is no substitute for proper training. Energy nutrition supplements aren't enough to help you do your best during an event, you really need to train hard for it. Experienced athletes that are trained for endurance have knowledge on how to pace themselves properly. Don't go too fast at the start unless you want to use up all your available energy. Training and using proper nutritional supplement during the event will help you achieve your very best.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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