Sports Fitness ATP

Session 7 Objectives SOLs: 11/12.1, 11/12.2, 11/12.3, 11/12.4, 11/12.5 Objectives The will understand the importance of good nutrition. The student will understand the correlation between eating and exercise performance. The student will define and understand the sources of ATP. The student will learn how ATP acts as a source of energy during sports performance. The student will learn how both carbohydrates and fats are utilized to form ATP. The students will learn why and how lactic acid is formed during strenuous activity.

Adenosine Triphosphate Daily, you acquire energy from foods in the form of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. You cannot use the energy from these molecules directly; they must first engage in chemical reaction pathways that break them down to capture some energy in so-called “high-energy molecules.” By far, the most important high-energy molecule is adenosine triphosphate or, more commonly, ATP

Adenosine Triphosphate When energy is needed to power an event in our body it is ATP that is used directly. So, the energy in carbohydrate is used to generate ATP, which in turn can directly power an energy requiring event or operation in our body.

Adenosine Triphosphate Not all of the energy released in the breakdown of carbohydrates, protein and fat is incorporated in ATP. Body captures only about 40 to 45 percent of the energy available in those molecules in the formation of ATP. The remaining 55 to 60 percent of the energy is converted to heat, which helps us maintain our body temperature The final product of the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and fat is primarily carbon dioxide, which we then must exhale,

Sports Fitness Latic Acid

As you perform strenuous exercise, we begin to breathe faster as we attempt to shuttle more oxygen to our working muscles. When this happens, the working muscles generate energy anaerobically. (w/o oxygen) This energy comes from glucose through a process called glycolysis, in which glucose is broken down into a substance called pyruvate. When the body has plenty of oxygen, pyruvate is further broken down for more energy. But when oxygen is limited, the body temporarily converts pyruvate into a substance called lactate, which allows glucose breakdown and thus energy production to continue.

Latic Acid The working muscle cells can continue this type of anaerobic energy production at high rates for one to three minutes, during which lactate can accumulate to high levels. A side effect of high lactate levels is an increase in the acidity which disrupts metabolic pathways.  The metabolic pathways that permits the breakdown of glucose to energy perform poorly in this acidic environment.

Latic Acid On the surface, it seems counterproductive that a working muscle would produce something that would slow its capacity for more work. In reality, this is a natural defense mechanism for the body; it prevents permanent damage during extreme exertion by slowing the key systems needed to maintain muscle contraction. Once the body slows down, oxygen becomes available and lactate reverts back to pyruvate, allowing continued aerobic metabolism and energy for the body’s recovery from the strenuous event.