Al Ciampa
Level 7 Valued Member
This was sent to me:
Understanding the Underlying Purpose of the Energy Systems - Rebel Performance
It's a good read, and mirrors most of how I understand bioenergetics. I am curious in getting feedback and seeing where this discussion goes.
My initial thoughts, in no order of importance:
- from a philosophical perspective, there is too much talk of "purpose", and, assigning function as if biology is a free agent. My concern with this is that someone who shapes their thoughts with these ideas in mind can be led to erroneous thinking. I am not saying that this article is erroneous.
- his framing of this topic illuminates a very important concept to understand: bioenergetics is always functioning from most efficient to least efficient and, moreover, that it is "bottlenecks" which decide what the overall output is. In other words, oxidative phosphorylation is the default system at work (in most tissues), with supplementation from the glycolytic and CPr (phosphagic) systems. What kicks these latter two systems into high gear are the "bottlenecks".
The tightest bottleneck (in healthy skeletal muscle cells) is probably the collective NADs' ability to grab H+ and deliver it to the ETC (which he also pointed out as being overlooked by researchers). The idea that a lack of O2 as being the bottleneck, probably came out of medicine, while researching disease. In a healthy state, there is usually plenty of O2 around... it is the sharp increase in H+ resulting from an increase in movement intensity, that overwhelms the collective NAD.
- glycolytic function is not inherently "bad" or undesirable, it is the overwhelming amount of acid (H+) that is. This is a result of too high an intensity of work (doing too much in too little time), causing lots of ATP required to fuel the work. The acid load results from the cell's "use" of ATP. This also happens to occur when glycolysis is kicked in hard. It is simply an effect of rate: more is being produced than can be buffered.
The takeaway here is that is not anaerobic or aerobic... it is aerobic + supplementation. The mitochondrion is the "source". Mitochondrial function/health is the key to your performance, and the medical literature is suggesting the same about your overall health.
From a practical perspective, what does this article suggest?
- train in a manner that results in superior mitochondrial health and function, and by extension, aerobic function
- stimulate the growth of additional mitochondria in your fast twitch/white fibers
- ditto for your slow twitch/red fibers
- the diaphragm itself, and CO2 buffers a lot of acid: learn to control and properly breathe
- competition and/or measured events will create a lot of acid: train to buffer acid so you can compete at a higher level; if you train by competing, you will end up in ill health
What are your thoughts?
Understanding the Underlying Purpose of the Energy Systems - Rebel Performance
It's a good read, and mirrors most of how I understand bioenergetics. I am curious in getting feedback and seeing where this discussion goes.
My initial thoughts, in no order of importance:
- from a philosophical perspective, there is too much talk of "purpose", and, assigning function as if biology is a free agent. My concern with this is that someone who shapes their thoughts with these ideas in mind can be led to erroneous thinking. I am not saying that this article is erroneous.
- his framing of this topic illuminates a very important concept to understand: bioenergetics is always functioning from most efficient to least efficient and, moreover, that it is "bottlenecks" which decide what the overall output is. In other words, oxidative phosphorylation is the default system at work (in most tissues), with supplementation from the glycolytic and CPr (phosphagic) systems. What kicks these latter two systems into high gear are the "bottlenecks".
The tightest bottleneck (in healthy skeletal muscle cells) is probably the collective NADs' ability to grab H+ and deliver it to the ETC (which he also pointed out as being overlooked by researchers). The idea that a lack of O2 as being the bottleneck, probably came out of medicine, while researching disease. In a healthy state, there is usually plenty of O2 around... it is the sharp increase in H+ resulting from an increase in movement intensity, that overwhelms the collective NAD.
- glycolytic function is not inherently "bad" or undesirable, it is the overwhelming amount of acid (H+) that is. This is a result of too high an intensity of work (doing too much in too little time), causing lots of ATP required to fuel the work. The acid load results from the cell's "use" of ATP. This also happens to occur when glycolysis is kicked in hard. It is simply an effect of rate: more is being produced than can be buffered.
The takeaway here is that is not anaerobic or aerobic... it is aerobic + supplementation. The mitochondrion is the "source". Mitochondrial function/health is the key to your performance, and the medical literature is suggesting the same about your overall health.
From a practical perspective, what does this article suggest?
- train in a manner that results in superior mitochondrial health and function, and by extension, aerobic function
- stimulate the growth of additional mitochondria in your fast twitch/white fibers
- ditto for your slow twitch/red fibers
- the diaphragm itself, and CO2 buffers a lot of acid: learn to control and properly breathe
- competition and/or measured events will create a lot of acid: train to buffer acid so you can compete at a higher level; if you train by competing, you will end up in ill health
What are your thoughts?