Everyone who is physically active strives to make the exercises performed by him as effective as possible. Hence, the vast majority of amateurs of systematic physical activity look for solutions that will help them achieve their goals faster. Unfortunately, on the Internet and not only on the Internet, you can find various types of pseudo-advice, the use of which will allegedly increase the effectiveness of training. One of them is fasting training, among others.
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In order to explain why fasting training is not only ineffective, but also dangerous to health, it is necessary to learn some theory related to human physiology. The human body needs energy to function properly. It manifests itself in the form of the so-called ATP (adenosine triphosphate). It is thanks to him that our muscles can contract, and other systems and structures of the body can perform their tasks. Energy (ATP) is stored mainly in the muscles, but its reserves will only last for about a second of physical effort. What’s next? Where does the body get ATP from to continue exercising, and how is it going to lack a pre-workout meal?
What does energy come from?
After the reserves of ATP accumulated in the muscles are depleted, it is re-synthesized from phosphocreatine. However, the energy generated in this way is enough to continue physical exertion for just 5-10 seconds. After this time, ATP is synthesized from all nutrients available in the body, i.e. carbohydrates, fats and proteins. What energy substrate will dominate the process of adenosine triphosphate resynthesis depends primarily on: the type of physical effort (aerobic / anaerobic), its duration, intensity, and the number of muscles involved in performing a given exercise (local / global effort).
Essential carbohydrates
Fats are oxidized primarily during cardio training, as they provide aerobic (aerobic) conditions. However, before the vast majority of energy is produced by fat burning, it is synthesized from carbohydrates for the first 20-25 minutes after starting cardio exercise. It is worth remembering that the body after the night, i.e. after about 10 hours without food intake, has a small amount of carbohydrates, as most of them have been used to support the cardinal processes of the body during sleep. They are only enough to maintain the basic functions of the body, and not for very intense training. It is also worth emphasizing that carbohydrates are a catalyst for the initiation of ATP production through the oxidation of fats.
Dangerous fasting training
Why is fasting training not only ineffective, but also dangerous to health? This is due to the fact that too low amount of carbohydrates in the body, especially muscle and liver glycogen and glucose prevents the initiation of fat oxidation. Hence, performing training on an empty stomach results in the fact that, after depletion of carbohydrate reserves, ATP is produced from the only source of energy available in such a situation, namely proteins. Due to the fact that after the night their amount in the body is also small, and the muscles need energy to perform their work, catabolic phenomena, i.e. ‘burning’ of one’s own body, occur very quickly (it is proteins that the human body is mainly made of). ). Precisely for this reason, under no circumstances should exercise be performed on an empty stomach, as it does more harm than good.
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Damian Yefremienko Coach
Master of physical education with a training specialty, graduate of postgraduate studies in dietetics and nutritional counseling at the Medical University in Poznań, doctoral student at the Department of Sport Theory of the University of Physical Education in Poznań, physical recreation instructor specializing in strength exercises, would-be physiotherapist. scientific. He hates mediocrity and cursory problem solving. Personalization and a holistic approach to the patient are “obvious obvious” for him. She loves to share her knowledge and is eager to expand it. He is most interested in all issues related to the physiology of exercise. Passionate about mountain tourism and new technologies
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