Managing the reserved energy in your body is important if you’re going to take part in marathons and other events that needs endurance. This could be difficult, considering the fact that none of us know how much energy is in our body.

Store Your Energy

Food that we consume everyday provides us with the energy nutrition that we need. Consuming complex carbohydrates like rice and bread gives glucose and this is what is used to provide us with our much needed energy. Glycogen, which is excess glucose that is not needed, is stored in the 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. To help us keep going and endure certain events, our body uses the stored glycogen reserves. 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. This fat will take time before it can be converted into energy and unlike glycogen, it’s not as efficient. 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. Depending on the intensity, this stored glycogen is good for 2 -3 hours of effort. For example, a marathoner who has consumed their glycogen reserves wouldn’t be able to go on beyond miles 18 -20. 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.

How are Nutrition Supplements Helpful?

Power bars and gels are used by athletes to help improve their energy stores during events. But it all depends on the whether or not they would work. I personally don’t like power bars because I have a hard time digesting it during marathons. It’s advisable to try them out during training. FRS and Hornet Juice, which are newer products, are getting more popular. Not only are they easier to digest, but they also provide athletes with more energy.

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. They know that going too fast at the beginning means using up available energy. If you used nutritional supplement during the event and have done your training, then you could accomplish your best during that day.

About the author: Brenda Seal provides information about how to cure asthma attacks and natural asthma remedy on her site.