The body can be seen as a very complex machine. It performs many different functions throughout the day that you may be unaware of. When it comes to working out, the body works in this beautiful harmony to make sure you have the energy you need to get through the workout, and can even still be working for you after your workout to help you get to your goals.
Maybe you are like many people who underestimate the importance of getting even the simplest of understanding of how your body works. This may be preventing you from hitting the goals you want to hit. Knowing your body is a crucial step in getting the body you want.
One of the many processes that take place in the body, especially for athletes, is fat oxidation. When you work out, your muscles use energy, which they derive by metabolizing fats and carbohydrates. Fats supply much more energy than carbohydrates, but fat metabolism is slow. When muscles need a steady, long-lasting fuel source, they rely largely on fat. When exercise intensity goes up, fat remains part of the fuel mix, but the emphasis shifts toward quicker burning carbs.
In the fat oxidation process, carbon atoms are cleaved off of fatty acids that are shuttled to the mitochondria of muscle cell. The mitochondria are scene as the “power house” of the cell where all the energy and activity of that cell takes place. When all the carbon atoms that make up the fatty acids are all cleaved off, the oxidation is complete of that cell. The oxidation of a single fatty acid molecule may cover over a hundred molecules of ATP (the energy currency of your cells). ATP is the direct energy source that muscles use to contract. The oxidation of a single molecule of glucose, or blood sugar, yields only about 36 molecules of ATP, making fats a much richer source of energy for your muscles than carbs.
Supplementation can help out with the promotion of fat oxidation to help out with your workouts. Fat oxidation is awesome too because the process continues hours after you are done working out! 1UP Nutrition’s men and women fat burning products Pro Ripped Max and Make Her Lean Max all help out with the process and promotion of fat oxidation.
Learning your body is important and understanding the body and its processes in general are just as important. Fat oxidation is something you want to know about, so you can lose that body fat in no time!
