There are two ways to explore the processes your body uses to produce energy. You can start with the fuels involved. This approach points the way toward the diet that promotes optimum aerobic performance. Or you can start with the circumstances under which each energy process makes its greatest contribution. First, let’s look at fuels.

     ATP- Adenosine TriPhosphate- is a special molecule whose structure allows it to store a lot of energy. It's like a compressed spring. Break bonds that hold an ATP molecule together and you release the energy, just like letting the spring go. Energy from ATP breakdown directly fuels every physiological process in your body. Without ATP, none of those processes could take place.

    At any time, you only have about 3 ounces of ATP distributed throughout your cells. That's only enough for a 6 second all out sprint. So how can you run an 8-second sprint, or a 400-meter, or a 6-minute wrestling match? Enter other fuels. Through several physiological processes, carbohydrate, fat, and protein continuously participate in the creation of new ATP production.

This is how it works:

Thanks to whatever carbohydrates (bread, pasta, etc.) you've eaten over the past few days, you have about 375 to 475 grams worth of carbs stored in your body.

Roughly 325 grams are stored as glycogen, a simple sugar, in your muscles.

Another 90 to 110 grams are stored as glycogen in your liver.

The remaining 15 to 20 grams are floating around as glucose in your blood.

     Each of those grams of carbohydrate contains 4 calories of energy, which means you have roughly 1500 to 2000 calories available from your carb stores, or about enough to power a 20 mile run. All that carbohydrate can be used to produce new ATP. In fact, for every molecule of glucose (carbohydrate) you put in, you get 36 molecules of ATP out, via a process called aerobic glycolysis.

     Fat, on the other hand, contains more than twice the potential energy of a gram of carbohydrate. Figure that the well nourished adult male carries about 15% of his weight in fat, which means that he's got enough available calories to keep him running for 119 hours! Does this mean we should belly up to a can of lard for dinner every night? Certainly not.

    Besides the obvious heart-ravaging implications of this diet, fat can only be used to produce energy in the presence of a carbohydrate (and oxygen). What this means to a wrestler is that the body burns off the fat we built up on the off season and uses it for energy, but only in the presence of a good healthy high carbohydrate diet.

     The main function of protein is to supply amino acids for a myriad of bodily functions that need them, especially during high intensity training. Research shows that the more intense the exercise, the greater the percentage of energy supplied by protein breakdown. This protein comes from amino acids in the blood, as well as protein from lean muscle. Luckily, we can keep the muscle we have by maintaining a high carbohydrate diet and including a source of lean protein, such as chicken, fish, or lean cuts of red meat.

     The point is that protein, fat, and carbohydrate all participate in the making of new ATP via various energy production processes. As wrestlers, we have to be concerned about the FUELS we put into our bodies. It just doesn't make sense to eat garbage like sugar cereal, drink soda, let alone eat candy while training. A good healthy diet will make you feel better, help you maintain weight, work at peak performance, and, most importantly, feel good.10/19/2000