Bursts of energy! Usain, Kipchoge, and You

Let's look at a picture of Usain Bolt - the greatest 100 meter distance runner of our generation.

And let's compare that with Eliud Kipchoge - the greatest distance runner of our generation.

The differences in body composition are obvious - Usain is far more muscular than Eliud. But why? The answer is: Bioenergetics. So why do you need to know about it? Because this is the kind of esoteric stuff that helps you understand how to lose weight, or add strength, or develop a lean body, or a muscular one. Yes, I am starting another series of articles - this series is based on my learnings on fitness and health.

Coming back to Bolt and Kipchoge and why they look so different while doing almost the same thing (running!)... Sure, there are plenty of articles on the internet that talk about some fast-twitch muscles versus slow-twitch muscles and so on, but underneath it all, the key point is bioenergetics -the study of the energy systems of the body. And in there, the first thing to learn about is a molecule called ATP.

The full form of ATP is a mouthful - adenosine triphosphate, but for the purposes of our discussion, only the 'tri' part of the discussion is important - 3 phosphates.

ATP is stored in the cells of the body and it functions as the 'energy' molecule - it stores energy. When the cell is required to do work, it needs energy and that's when ATP comes into play.

Let's take an example: you are sitting on your sofa, reading this article. Not too much energy being used. But your heart is still beating, your body is still expending energy to maintain your core body temperature. How are the cells of your body generating the energy required for this?

Now, you suddenly jump out of your bed and run to the kitchen - the coffee pot is boiling. How did the cells generate the energy needed for that brief run?

Very simply, the cells of the body contain ATP. As and when energy is needed, the cells bring ATP into contact with another chemical - creatine phosphate, which quickly reacts with ATP, converting ATP into two chemicals - adenosine diphospate and phosphate. This reaction also releases energy, which is then utilized by the cell. This energy availability system is call the ATP-CP system or the phosphagen system.

Now, here's the thing: the stores of ATP in the cells are pretty small, so the immediate release of energy consumes ATP pretty quickly. Generating more ATP takes time. The bigger your muscles, the more ATP they contain (muscles are also cells). So, if you need a big burst of energy for 6-10 seconds, having larger than normal ready stores of ATP becomes useful. This is why Usain Bolt is so muscular - he needs a huge burst of energy for 10 seconds or so.

Comparatively, Eliud Kipchoge requires sustained energy for a very long time - 2 hours plus. The ready stores of ATP in the muscles have almost zero benefit here and instead Kipchoge uses different systems of energy release and usage - something that I shall write about in later articles. But here's a brief bit - while ATP-CP uses no oxygen, systems that are needed for long term energy usage need oxygen - and they also consume carbohydrates and fat.

So whats the big lesson here? The big lesson is that big muscles are both developed by and useful for short bursts of intense energy. You want to have great big bursts of strength and speed? Focus on intense exercises that build muscle.

Oh yes, pro tip: remember that I mentioned ATP requires creatine phosphate to break down into ADP and phosphate? You need to make sure that your cells have enough creatine phosphate, so if you are working on strength exercises and building muscle, have a creatine monohydrate supplement a couple of hours before exercise.

Next time, I will talk about the glycogen system - the energy system that keeps us going beyond 10 seconds, and also burns carbs!