In a paper published in The Journal of Physiology, Helge, Stallknecht, Richter, Galbo, and Keins from Copenhagen shed light on fat oxidation during exercise and physical activity. Their observations suggest that fat oxidation during exercise reflects a fine interplay between the cardiovascular, neurological, endocrine and muscle metabolic systems.

During exercise and physical activity, the primary fuels used by muscles are carbohydrate and fat. When mild exercise is performed there is a tendency to burn relatively more fat and less glucose, but as exercise becomes more intense, a higher fraction of the energy demands of the muscle are supplied by glucose, until at the highest intensities almost only carbohydrates are used. Is this shift in fuel source a property of the muscle itself, or does it represent the interplay between what is happening in the muscle and the exercise-related responses in the rest of the body”

The study, performed at the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre at the University of Copenhagen, examined muscle fuel utilisation in response to graded exercise performed with only one leg. Nine healthy males performed one-leg exercise at 25, 45, and 85% of maximal workload. Their results showed that, when only a small mass of muscle is contracting, and blood flow and oxygen supply are not limited by central circulatory capacity, the shift in fuel source from fat to glucose as exercise intensity increases does not occur.

The Journal of Physiology findings show that the adaptations in the rest of the body are the key to this fuel source shift during whole body exercise. They also help scientists understand why athletes “hit the wall” during events like the marathon, and they have implications for the adaptations made in middle-aged adults who are using exercise to prevent or treat conditions like diabetes and obesity. If the mechanisms can be fully understood, it may be possible to develop agents that allow fat oxidation to be maintained even during intense exercise with a large muscle mass.

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Soccer has always been known as a great alternative to jogging as a great form of exercise but a new study seems to show that Soccer is actually much better as a form of exercise than jogging.

University of Copenhagen sports scientist Peter Krustrup and his colleagues conducted their research on 37 men. The researchers strapped heart monitors to their chests and compared blood samples and muscle tissue before and after matches and jogging sessions. The men were split into groups of soccer players, joggers, and couch potatoes.

After 12 weeks, researchers found that the body fat percentage in the soccer players dropped by 3.7 percent, compared to about 2 percent for the joggers. The soccer players also increased their muscle mass by almost 4.5 pounds, whereas the joggers didn’t have any significant change

So why these results? Well I think that the excitement that people feel when playing a team sport helps but more importnantly to play soccer means to jog around some and sprint some and the faster-slower type exercise confuses you muscles and helps you get in a much better workout.

Do you agree? Now that winter is coming it would be a great time to look into one of those fun indoor soccer leagues.