ATP and the Energy Systems By EJ Taylan


Dancing is exercise. Shocking, I know. And just like any other exercise, dancing takes up energy from your body. As we all know, energy comes from the food that we eat, especially foods rich in carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein. But food isn't actually used directly as energy. When food is broken down, it releases energy, and that energy is what the body stores in molecules called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. And now people who had biology in high school just got PTSD. Bad jokes aside, ATP is what the body uses to do, well, anything. It's the main energy source of the body. It powers everything from muscle movement to body temperature regulation to DNA replication. Literally every cell in the human body uses ATP. 


Now you may be asking yourself, "How does the body produce all that energy?" Well I'm glad you asked. And if you didn't, well too bad you're getting the answer anyway.


The body has three energy systems that can produce ATP. The ATP-PCr or phosphagen system, the glycolytic system, and the oxidative or aerobic system. Now I'm not going to get into the mechanics of each one because you'd be bored reading it and I'd be bored writing it. All you need to know is that the ATP-PCr system is the system that just uses the already stored ATP in the muscles as well as a compound called creatine phosphate (PCr) to quickly create ATP, the glycolytic system breaks down glucose and glycogen into ATP, and the oxidative system uses respiration processes (aka breathing) to create ATP. The ATP-PCr and glycolytic system can produce a lot of ATP in a short amount of time, but can't do it for long. The oxidative system, meanwhile, can't produce ATP quickly, but it can do it for an unlimited amount of time. 


If you came out of that last paragraph confused, then let me put it this way. If the energy systems were CSGO weapons, the ATP-PCr system would be the AWP. High damage, but you only get one shot. The glycolytic system is the Scout. Lower damage than the Awp, but it can still one-tap for 200 and you can fire it faster. The oxidative system is the M4. It has a lot more bullets, has a much higher fire rate, but it also does 98 in 4. If you play Valorant, replace Awp with Operator, Scout with Marshal, and M4 with Phantom. If you play MOBAs then make your own analogy because CS chat is toxic enough for me.


All that aside, I hope you learned a thing or two about ATP and energy systems. ATP is extremely important to the body, so make sure that you eat enough everyday so that your body has the energy it needs to keep you alive. When exercising, make sure that you eat a lot a few hours before so that you have energy to burn, and remember to stay hydrated and take frequent breaks. 


Live well, laugh hard, stay safe, and keep dancing.

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