Unleash Your Human Body Energy

Most physically strenuous activities, such as sports and workouts, are designed to strengthen the body, improve muscle tone, and further the body’s endurance. The achievement of all these goals are facilitated by the energy provided by the body. The primary actor in the entire process of the production and processing of energy for eventual usage is a molecule called adenosine triphosphate, otherwise known as ATP.

ATP is the primary molecule that is processed in the tricarboxylic-acid cycle, which is more popularly known as the Krebs cycle. While the names may appear complicated, the concepts are fairly easy to understand.

The first process involves carbohydrates that are consumed to be chemically broken down into glucose, the form of sugar that is usable by the body. These sugars are what produce ATP. Simple sugars, because of the simplicity of their chemical structure, break down faster and more easily. Complex sugars, on the other hand, take much longer to break down, which in effect creates a bigger volume of compounds that may be used in order to produce ATP.

As implied by this, therefore, it is important to understand that sugar is not bad for the body. However, excess sugar consumption, which would lead to the excessive stocks of glucose for energy, can be.

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

During the Krebs cycle, ATP is further broken down into adenosine diphosphate (ADP). In the process of this chemical breakdown, energy is released. The ADP that was previously created will later on pick up other molecules in order to make new ATP molecules. This starts the entire Krebs cycle anew. It is this entire process of releasing energy by way of breaking down ATP that powers the body’s processes, including cell repair, respiration, organ processes, and physical exertions.

Heat and carbon dioxide are some of the byproducts that result from the Krebs cycle. Heat is released, either through respiration or perspiration. Carbon dioxide is moved around the rest of the body, with some parts of it released during respiration.

In order to make exercising possible, ATP must be continuously produced and processed. There are three different “centers”, all of which produce ATP at varying rates.

The phosphagen system is the first of these, which is able to quickly replenish the ATP that has been used up. However, the phosphagen system can only do this for a short period of time. This center is best tapped by those who sprint and only make use of fast-twitch fibers. On the other hand, the glycogen-lactic system is able to produce ATP at a rate much slower than the phosphagen system, but can sustain energy provision that lasts some 90 seconds. On the other hand, it is aerobic respiration, or the regular process of breathing in oxygen in the body, that is able to produce ATP most sustainably. While this takes the slowest to produce ATP, it is the one center of ATP creation that is able to sustain ATP production for long, indefinite periods.

ATP is used up during physical activity. This is the reason why eating a meal after working out is advised, so that the body is able to gain access to building blocks of energy that can further produce additional energy to the body.

As you may have seen already, the body is a complex interconnection of various systems that all interact so that the body may regulate itself.

Technorati Tags: Adenosine diphosphate, Adenosine triphosphate, ATP, body energy, Carbon dioxide, energy, Fitness, Human Body Energy, Respiration