Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 9

Research paper - Essay Example This is the overall purpose of this research. Skeletal muscle subjected to intense physical stress requires ready availability of energy resources and it is established that carbohydrate intake during exercise delays the onset of fatigue as it is a readily available source of energy. Only in the absence or deficiency of carbohydrates, other reserve sources such as body fat and protein are tapped under normal physiological circumstances. Oxidative metabolism in the skeletal muscle is upregulated by normal physiological mechanisms of gene transcription which increases the mRNA content of several genes in response to the demand imposed as a result of exercise. Carbohydrate intake is known to diminish this activity. Low availability of glycogen resources in endurance training is also known to stimulate gene expression in a manner which can prove beneficial to endurance performance. This physiological adaptation, the authors believe can be tapped for a better training method for athletes. They believe that exercise induced glycogen breakdown is maintained at an optimum level when exercise is done under fasting conditions and this facilitates energy provision from the oxidation of fat reserves in the body. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms can help develop better training programs for athletes, which was the indirect endeavor in this study. The authors’ hypothesis is pertinent to the currently available knowledge of skeletal muscle physiology as increased interest has been generated in this field due to the increasingly competitive environment in the international arena. Studies on trained athletes are numerous and the authors’ selection of healthy individuals from normal population in favor of actual athletes is an appropriate strategy as it can yield more pertinent data about skeletal muscle activity, which is already in pre conditioned and altered state