Nutrition - Carbs

Nutritional needs get a whole lot easier to understand if you have a basic understanding of your energy systems and the fuels each energy system uses. Your body has 3 - the ATP-PCr, the Glycolytic and the Oxidative systems.

The ATP-PCr System produces immediate energy and so is able to assist in instantaneous muscle contraction for short periods of high exertion exercise.The Glycolytic System, producing ATP through the breakdown of glucose. The Glycolytic system resynthesises ATP at a faster rate than the Oxidative system, and produces energy for short bursts of activity lasting up to around 2 minutes. The Oxidative System takes longer to be activated through activity than the other energy systems, however it has a higher energy producing capacity and so is utilised in endurance activities. Dance utilises all three energy systems, depending on the specific activities being performed; all three systems use carbohydrate as their main, if not sole, source of fuel.