There are a several factors effecting energy intake and expenditure, I’ve already stated about activity levels and time but there are also things such as: somebody with more muscle mass will need more energy intake to cope for this higher mass- athletes have as a whole have a bigger muscle mass than the average person so they will need more energy to cope with this higher muscle mass. Climate can also affect the amount of energy needed- the higher the temperature the more energy needed to maintain body temperature, the body has to work harder in high temperatures because you respire faster and harder to pump blood to the surface of the skin, this means that when athletes are performing in high temperatures their body is working even harder than the average person to cope with the increased levels respiration. Age is also a big factor in energy intake and expenditure. Generally, young adolescents need a higher energy intake than the elderly due to the onset of puberty and growing, this also means that young athletes require even more energy to cope with puberty, growing and the increased levels of activity. Genes can also affect metabolism, some people have a naturally faster metabolism meaning that if an athlete with a slow metabolism is trying to perform a marathon it may be more difficult for them because their body will not produce the energy as fast as someone with a fast metabolism. In turn, this means that simple carbohydrates may have to be used to cover for the lack of complex carbohydrates which release energy at a slow rate.
How often we eat also affects our metabolism- our metabolic rate increases during the digestion of food. If we got too long without food; 5 hours for men and 3 hours for women then the body automatically thinks there is a food shortage and our metabolism begins to slow down- so, if an athlete doesn’t eat frequently enough their body will begin to slow down its metabolism and the chemical reactions within the body will slow down. This means that the body will not supply all the energy needed and the athlete will struggle to respire as easily. Eventually, the body will begin to break down fat for energy. Finally, the amount of nutrients we take in effects our metabolism. Our body needs a constant supply of nutrients in order to perform each individual chemical reaction, without these nutrients these chemical reactions can become insufficient and sluggish; athletes need a much higher intake of nutrients in order to perform effectively and to maximum potential.
Task 2
“Energy is the capacity of a body or a physical system for doing work.”
Taken from http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/dictionary/glossary_nhlbi.htm#e
Energy balance can come in three different categories: positive, negative and neutral. A positive energy balance is where your energy intake is higher than your energy expenditure; this in turn will lead to weight gain. This means that when an athlete is looking to gain weight for an event such as boxing where a boxer may look to move up a weight class in order to try new challenges. The boxer will deliberately manipulate his/ her diet in order to gain weight; they will take in more calories than what is needed. E.g. in order to gain 1 pound in weight, of muscle, you would require a positive deficit of 3,500 calories. This means that this boxer will take around a week for a boxer to move up from a flyweight to a bantamweight if they lose a pound a day.
A negative energy balance occurs when your energy intake is lower than your energy expenditure; this in turn will lead to weight loss. This is commonly seen in sports such as boxing where the fights and competitions are seasonal. Fighters such as Ricky Hatton can constantly be seen gaining weight whilst not in season and then losing it all very fast within the weeks that he prepares for his fight in. These athletes will deliberately manipulate their diets to ensure they expend more energy than what they take in to ensure they lose weight. Negative energy balance works the opposite from positive energy balance in the sense that is takes a negative deficit of 3,500 calories in
order to lose 1 pound of weight.
Finally, neutral energy balance is where your energy intake equals your energy expenditure. This leads to neither weight loss nor weight gain and is commonly found in sports such as football where athletes intend to stay at their ideal weight in order to perform their best.
Energy balance is very important in sports performance because it allows athletes to stay the right weight during heavy training and competition. However, it also provides athletes with a balance of nutrients essential for good performance e.g. carbohydrates provide energy and protein aids in the body’s growth and repair of muscle tissue. If athletes were to take in the wrong type of nutrients or didn’t take in enough of these nutrients then they would feel lethargic. On the other hand, if too much of this energy intake consists of fat then it will compromise speed, endurance and power because of the added fat cells to carry. Although it is very rare, nutrient supplements can lead to disqualification from competitions e.g. steroids are banned in certain competitions such as the NFL. In some sports such as rowing, an enormous amount of calories are burnt off during a simple five minutes competition- this means that each athlete will compensate to begin with the amount of calories that they expect to use up; the heart will b beating faster and harder which will require more energy.
Although energy balance can be used effectively to manipulate an athlete’s weight, it can have dangerous consequences. Negative energy balance can give dangerous effects such as leaving you feeling lethargic; this can lead to a diminished performance due to a lack of energy. Because this negative energy balance can leave you feeling lethargic, you will also have a higher perceived exertion. This means you will think you are working harder than what you really. This could mean that you are not training as hard as what you should be and may not reach your goals. On top of all this you have a reduced muscle mass; this may lead to lower levels of performance because your body just cannot cope with the task you are trying to do. However, the rewards of a negative energy balance are that you have less weight to carry and therefore certain attributes are increased naturally such as speed, acceleration and flexibility. It also allows less air or water resistance; this is essential in sports such as swimming where the swimmer needs a fine shaped body in order to move through the water easily. A low air resistance is also needed for divers to move elegantly through the air on their way down.
There are also good and bad effects of a positive energy balance; the good effects are that a positive energy balance will provide you with a lot of energy which is obviously essential in an athlete’s performance. Also, it will give you a lower perceived exertion, because you have more energy available at the end of your workout you will feel like you haven’t done as much as what you could have. This can leave to over exertion, possible dehydration and an increased fatigue. An increased muscle mass also occurs from a positive energy balance which is essential in sports such as weight lifting. Although this increased muscle mass is good for sports such as weight lifting it is not so good for sports such as football where only a certain limit of muscle mass is required. Finally, from this increased muscle mass you will have an increased weight and therefore gravity acts upon you more. This means that in sports such as sprinting there will be more resistance against the athlete in question. In sports such as swimming it is necessary to have a low air resistance in order to move through the air faster.