Energy Substrates By David Ng Tio


 Dancing is a form of exercise, and when a person is exercising, he needs energy. But where does the energy come from? This is where energy substrates come in. Energy substrates are contained within the food that we eat. From foods with high-fat content to vegetables, energy substrates are present within them. Energy substrates will affect your body when exercising for short durations to long periods of time. But you may ask, what are energy substrates?


Energy substrates are molecules that provide starting materials for bioenergetic reactions, including phosphagens (ATP and creatine phosphate), glucose, glycogen, lactate, free fatty acids, and amino acids. Basically, energy substrates are the food we eat on a daily basis. Inside those foods, there are carbohydrates and fat. Depending on the exercise, either carbohydrate, fat, or both will be expended for energy. This is why athletes in different sports have different diets. For example, a runner who specializes in short-distance running will have a diet consisting of more carbohydrates. This is because the runner utilizes the glycolytic system, a system that produces energy quickly but not over a long duration. The main energy substrate for this system is carbohydrates. Another example is a marathon runner. When running a marathon, a lot of energy is needed to finish the race. This is where the oxidative system plays its part. The oxidative system is mainly used for long-duration exercises because it produces energy slowly but produces it over a long period of time. The substrate this system needs the most is fat, carbohydrates, and protein. 


In a nutshell, energy substrates are the “foods” for ATP. Depending on the food we eat, different systems for producing ATP will be more efficient compared to other systems. This is why athletes of different kinds of sports have different kinds of diets. So depending on which exercise you are doing, eating a certain kind of food will be more beneficial to your exercise, thus also benefiting your body. 

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