Episode 136 of the Institute of Performance Nutrition‘s We Do Science podcast! In this episode, Laurent Bannock discuss energy availability: from health to performance” with Jose Areta PhD, Liverpool John Moores University, UK).

Discussion topics include:

• Energy Availability (EA): an overview
• Energy balance, energy Deficit, and energy availability
• EA and impact on training adaptions including down-regulation of skeletal muscle protein synthesis and autophagy
• EA and impact on health (incl menstrual function and bone metabolism)
• Case study of an athlete in chronic low energy availability
• Training with low carbohydrate availability AND low energy availability

Key paper(s) discussed / referred to:

• Skeletal muscle glycogen content at rest and during endurance exercise in humans: a meta-analysis
• Effects of sleeping with reduced carbohydrate availability on acute training responses
• Case study: Resumption of eumenorrhea in parallel with high training load after 4 years of menstrual dysfunction: a 5-year follow-up of an elite female cyclist
• Modulation of autophagy signaling with resistance exercise and protein ingestion following short-term energy deficit