Fats and their energetic role

The role of macronutrients on energy release is certainly one of the most misunderstood topics among strength and endurance athletes. In fact, most sports nutrition specialists still place too much emphasis on the issue of Omega 3 and 0mega 6, too often forgetting that fats represent the most energy-dense nutrient with 9 calories/gram or 7 for MCT (Medium-chain triglycerides). Let's also say that if glucose represents the primary source of energy for your muscle cells, sugars as well as any polysaccharide (complex "oses" or "osides"), proteins or fats will end up fueling your muscles and organs. If we have long believed that fats were not recruited before at least 30 to 45 minutes of exercise, scientific research has finally proven that this was not the case. In reality, our cells use the three macronutrients to make energy from the first seconds even if priority is given to the simplest energy substrate to break down, that is to say glucose.

Fats, a macronutrient that is poorly understood and undervalued by strength and endurance athletes

Present in many foods, fats, or fatty acids, are an important source of energy. Fats are stored in specific cells, these are called adipocytes. Carbohydrates are stored closest to your muscle fibers in the form of glycogen, glucose chains. Fats are more than twice as dense as glucose or amino acids, with 9 calories/gram compared to 4 calories/gram for the other two macronutrients. Each kilo of fat accumulated in the body represents a little over 8,000 calories, which is considerable. This represents approximately 4 to 5 days of caloric intake for the body. In total, fats represent 12 to 25% of body weight of an individual, either a total of 80,000 to 130,000 calories .

Aside from their energetic role, fatty acids are also necessary for the production of our cell membranes, certain hormones, the storage of vitamins D, A and E, protection against the cold and our nervous system, since it is composed of fats. fatty acids therefore play an essential role in our body, which means that an extremely low level of fat is a serious problem, just as much as a state of obesity.

Body fat and its role in energy release, whether you are athletic or sedentary

Our fat reserves are significant, whether you're an athlete or a sedentary person. Obviously, dietary fat intake is less problematic or more easily manageable from a health perspective than for sedentary people. In this regard, athletes will generally be better able to assess their dietary intake of fatty acids. However, this is not an excuse to allow you to eat more fat than you need. In terms of macronutrient balance, fat intake should represent 25 to 30% of total daily calories out of an average intake of 2,500 calories.

The quality of fatty acids (balance between Omega 3 and 6) must also be taken into account. Saturated fatty acids, if they contribute to your energy intake, must be provided in balance with polyunsaturated (Omega 3 and 6) and monounsaturated (Omega 9 and Omega 7 ). Saturated fats do not pose a major problem for your health if you know how to eliminate them through your metabolic and physical activity, as long as you are not in Overweight . Trans fatty acids are certainly much more harmful to your health than saturated fats. However, regardless of the fats, it is mainly excesses that constitute a problem, regardless of the type of fat ingested. However, this is also true for carbohydrates or proteins. Regardless of the macronutrient considered, excess calories will necessarily be stored in adipocytes, the fat storage cells, and in the liver.

Fat use in endurance and strength athletes

In athletes, fats provide a denser caloric intake than glucose or amino acids (9 calories versus 4) but we must not forget that fatty acids also play an essential role in hormonal matters and androgens in particular. In recent years, scientific research has shown that the three macronutrients are used from the first second of exercise. However, glucose derived from muscle glycogen remains the majority since it is the easiest to metabolize into ATP and energy. phosphocreatine allows ATP to be renewed in the first few seconds of exercise. However, fat reserves do indeed constitute a reserve of energy that can be mobilized over time when exercise time is prolonged.

Your body uses all the energy substrates at its disposal. But the claim that fat is released over a long period of exercise is also a scientifically proven reality. To this end, endurance sports and long-term exercises are frequently cited as examples. However, resistance sports such as bodybuilding or mixed endurance/resistance sports such as cross training also rely on fatty acids for energy synthesis. cellular, when the exercise intensity is high or the training time is prolonged. To be more complete on the metabolic level, we should also talk about brown fat and white fat but that would complicate the debate.

The longer your workouts last, the more energy fatty acids provide you.

Obviously, when a high-volume strength training workout continues beyond an hour, fats will come into play. This is especially true since in this case, muscle glycogen stores will be significantly reduced. Fats and amino acids will then be used by our muscles to continue training. In some cases, saying that we should fuel the body with simple carbohydrates such as glucose chains or peptides (hydrolyzed micellar casein) is a complex and individual question. Overall, let's say that if your pre-workout food preparation is insufficient, a rapid energy intake during training could be considered in order to limit cortisol release, but if your energy reserves have been replenished, these immediate intakes of carbohydrates or peptides will probably not be necessary, or even counterproductive.

On the other hand, healthy fat intake (mainly vegetable fats or oilseeds such as hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, olives, flax, etc.) should be mainly taken during meals. This energy-dense intake also provides you with vitamin E as well as essential minerals (potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc.) for oilseeds. Whatever your sport, it is important not to minimize its importance, both in terms of energy and hormones. As you know, fats and cholesterol in particular, allow the synthesis of androgen hormones, including testosterone . This is one more reason to never reduce your dietary intake of fatty acids too drastically.

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