Metabolic Efficiency: Teaching the Body to Use More Fat

Bob Seebohar, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS

It's no secret that nutrition is important for athletic performance.
However, what is not well

known is that the body can be very inefficient in using its stored
nutrients.

The human body has an almost endless storage of fat that can provide energy
for many,

many hours of training. Sounds promising, doesn't it? However, what many
athletes don't

understand is that eating certain foods and following a well-planned
training program that

emphasizes aerobic training can teach the body to become more efficient at
using fat as

energy. Tapping into your abundant fat stores will mean that you have to
rely less on your

body's carbohydrate stores. This in itself may increase your time to
exhaustion and

prolonging fatigue by protecting your valuable glycogen stores. Without
proper

carbohydrate supplementation, you can deplete your glycogen stores in about
2-3 hours of

moderately intense exercise.

Interestingly, some research indicates that at lower intensities,
carbohydrate

supplementation decreases gene regulation for fat oxidation. In other words,
taking in more

carbohydrates during your race may actually decrease your body's ability to
use fat as

energy. Don't get me wrong, carbohydrates are very important but we can't
depend on

them to provide all of the energy we need during longer or higher intensity
training sessions

or competitions because it's impossible to completely replenish the calories
that are being

expended. This is why it is important to become more metabolically efficient
and teach your

body to use more of its stored fat.

Let me introduce the crossover concept. This physiological term describes
the relationship

of fat and carbohydrate oxidation with the intensity of exercise. As
exercise intensity

increases, the body prefers to use carbohydrate for energy. The crossover
concept can be

manipulated with proper training that focuses on low heart rate zone
training that specifically

trains the aerobic energy system.

What many athletes do not know is that the crossover concept can be further
manipulated

through proper nutrition training. Employing the concept of nutrition
periodization can

improve your body's ability to use fat.

That's correct. Eating the right balance of macronutrients at the right
times of the year will

elicit positive physiological adaptations on a cellular level that will
favor more fat oxidation

during exercise.

Science tells us that eating a higher carbohydrate diet will lead to an
increased amount of

carbohydrates being burned. It is a common misconception that a high
carbohydrate diet must be

followed during the competition season and in fact, this can be detrimental
from a metabolic

efficiency standpoint because the body is taught to oxidize more
carbohydrates and not fat.

It is extremely important to periodize your nutrition to match energy
expenditure throughout

your training year. At some points you will need less carbohydrates and
calories throughout

the day and training and the opposite is also true to a certain point. What
should be first

and foremost in your nutrition goals is to develop your body into a
metabolically efficient

"machine" so you can best use the 80,000+ calories stored as fat and
preserve the <2,000

calories stored as carbohydrate.

Here are two easy ways to accomplish this as the off-season is approaching:

#1: Periodize your nutrition.

Don't use sports nutritional supplements now. They are not necessary. Shift
your

nutrients so you have ample protein, healthy fats and fruits and vegetables.

Significantly reduce your whole grain and starch intake. You do not need
them if your

energy expenditure is low.

#2: Train aerobically.

If you are in fact in your off-season, have fun with your exercise program
and stay

aerobic. Keep the heart rate low to moderate as it is aerobic training that
helps to

induce the positive metabolic efficiency changes at the cellular level.

Laying your metabolic foundation by combining proper aerobic training at the
right time of

your training year combined with matching your nutrient needs to your
training load will

teach your body to become more fat efficient.

This was a very abbreviated article on a very exciting subject. In fact, I
have written an

entire book on this very topic that will be available in mid-November. I
would refer you to

this resource for a comprehensive understanding of this topic. Thanks for
reading!



UCANDOIT-Finalsmall

Debi Bernardes

USAT Level 2 Coach

USAC Level 3 Coach

8385 Tomahawk Drive

King George, VA 22485

(540) 709-1484