Element 2.2 Energy for exercise
Element 2.2 Energy for exercise
How much energy do we require?
As a general rule an average adult male requires 2500 calories and average female 200 calories a day to have enough energy to live and work without putting on weight or losing weight. These are very general guidelines and the table below give a little more detail. It is important to remember everyone is different and an average 9 stone male who is moderately active is going to need a lot less energy than an average 18 stone active rugby player.
| Male | Female | |||
| KJ | Kcal | KJ | Kcal | |
| Age | ||||
| 15 to 18 Years | 11,500 | 2,750 | 10,000 | 2,380 |
| Adult Office Worker | 20,500 | 2,500 | 9,000 | 2,140 |
| Adult Laborer | 14,000 | 3,330 | 11,000 | 2,620 |
| Retired OAP | 9,000 | 2,150 | 7,000 | 1,670 |
Metabolism
When you eat the nutrients in food are broken down in your digestive system. This produces energy and heat. Energy is delivered to the muscles which requires oxygen. Everyone is different and some people have a much higher metabolism than others. Your metabolism is effected by what you eat as it is much easier to digest some food than others. It is possible to increase your metabolism and there is much research which shows eating 5 small meals a day is much better than eating 3 larger ones.
Working out how efficient my metabolism is
I weigh approximately 12 stone and am 31 years old. I used www.myfitnesspal.com to work out my resting metabolism. This is the number of calories you require just to live if you are sedentary and do not do any exercise. It worked out at my age weight and height I require 1750 calories. I did an experiment over a 3 month period recording everything I ate and every piece of exercise I did to see if in fact this number was accurate and surprisingly it was very accurate. If I eat more the 1750 calories over a period of time and don't do any exercise I put on weight. If I strictly eat 1750 calories but do moderate exercise every day for a period of time I lose weight. There is a mobile application that www.myfitnesspal.com offer which works on smart phones. The application is excellent because it is possible to monitor your eating and exercise at all times.
There are many fad diets out there but your body is a very simple machine, if you use more energy than your supplying it with it will start using its reserves. As we mentioned in the last section fat is the bodies reserve of energy and if you exercise your body will use that energy.
The relationship between energy, food and exercise.
I have found my metabolism is quite high and I seem to be able to digest food and lose weight quite quickly. My diet mainly consists of high fibre foods like brown bread and fruit. I tend to eat complex carbs like pasta and rice and stick mainly to white meats like chicken and fish. I also avoid drinks high is sugars and caffeine like red bull and other energy drinks unless its to assist with recovery from exercise.
Different types of food supply different sort of energy. For a quick fix sugars are a good source of energy. Many sports people who take part in exercise which requires a short high intensity activity will take on quick fix energy before they compete. Sprinters, javelin throwers and even rugby and football players require instant energy for explosive activity. Intense anaerobic exercise uses your bodies glycogen so it is important your bodies glycogen supply is full. Foods which contain high amounts of sugar and energy include chocolate, sweets and energy drinks. It is important not to go overboard with these though as your body will quickly turn any unused sugar into fat.
Aerobic exercise requires a very different type of food. Runners and long distance athletes require energy to be released over a long period of time. When taking part in endurance exercise your body uses more of your fat reserves so it is important to eat complex carbs like brown rice and pasta which release energy over a long period of time. Generally you should eat a high complex carb meal at least 2 hours before your take part in an endurance event. Most endurance athletes with eat a high calorie meal within 20 minutes of exercise in order to replace energy and glycogen lost during exercise this enables them to recover much faster. If you want to lose weight 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise is proven to be much more effective then 10 minutes of high intensity exercise.
