You have probably heard me talk about how you have virtually unlimited calories stored on your body and how tapping into our own energy is the key to performance and health.

In today’s video I am going to show you HOW you:

• can tap into your fat as energy through beta-oxidation

• can use your glycogen storage sustainably for optimal performance

• can use your liver to make both ketones and even glucose from fat to meet the metabolic needs for performance without catabolizing muscle protein.

Understanding this physiology is KEY towards achieving your health & performance potential.

Bear in mind, I am not suggesting that gels, shotblocks, liquid nutrition,etc do not have a place. They do, however, what you need to be aware of is how a high carb diet actually limits your fat burning potential while causing damage to your body.

Here are 2 scientific details you need to know about your body:

Fact 1 -  Fat molecules have 5 times the energy than Ketones or Carbs

That is why fat adapted athletes have seemingly unlimited energy .

Fact 2 - Understand  Acetyl-CoA - the molecule that creates energy

All roads lead to Acetyl-CoA, this is the molecule that feeds into the Krebs cycle to produce energy.  The substrates can be fatty acids, glucose or ketones (as BOHB).

The image below depicts how all energy sources feed into Acetyl-Coa through specific pathways.

Fats need beta-oxidation to produce Acetyl-Coa.  Ketones utilize the enzyme Thiophorase to convert them to Acetyl-CoA, while Glucose utilizes glycolysis and Pyruvate Dehydrogenase to make Acetyl-CoA.

Now, let’s look at how a High Carb and Ketogenic Diets affect your physiology, and why there is an alternative.

The 3 Metabolic States of Exercise

1. Excess Glucose State

This is where the limited internal glucose/glycogen supply is turned up, and where the limitless Fat Tank and Liver “on demand” are turned down .

Conditions:

1. High Insulin

2. High Glucose

3. No circulating ketones

4. Restricted beta-oxidation

2. Keto - The Efficiency / Conservation State

This is very practical and healthy, but has limitations when it comes to outright physical performance.

One of the problems with prolonged Keto is a noted lack of top end performance. It is marked by the following conditions.

Conditions:

1. Low Insulin

2. High Insulin sensitivity

3. Clinical blood ketone levels

4. Lower circulating glucose / blood sugar

5. Impaired Pyruvate Dehydrogenase for glucose sparing effect, which also limits high intensity performance.

3.  The OFM / Performance State

With OFM we optimize and balance all three internal energy systems, so that you can access the energy you need to perform when you need it.  

This is why you have sustainable performance with OFM.  Optimizing your fat metabolism makes your glycogen store much more sustainable for that upper end performance, while use of “Strategic Carbs” is like rocket fuel using significantly less

Like the Keto state OFM is marked by low insulin and high insulin sensitivities, however, unlike keto, OFM leverages insulin sensitivity through use of Strategic Carbs for that performance push!

So, now that you understand how your physiology is suppose to work, how do you get yourself back to the performance physiology we are meant to have?

It starts with you, the individual. While we all share a common physiology each of us has a unique set of circumstances and variables which makes achieving your performance physiology highly individualized.  As I have outlined in this video, Individualism is a key tenet of OFM. You are not a commodity.

This is why we work with you as an Individual to mentor and empower you to understand your own physiology -  to get the right balance for you to harness the energy you need to perform at your best in every way.

If you want to speak with one of our coaches about how you can become fat adapted and tap into this endless storehouse of energy click here