Vinnie is a professional road cyclist participating in the 2020Giro d’Italia, a three-week race nearly 3,600 km in distance withsome stages exceeding altitudes of 2,700 m above sea level (i.e.,Stelvio Pass, Italy). As the newly hired head of thehigh-performance team, it is your responsibility to manage hispreparation for the event. You must demonstrate to your team afundamental understanding of physiology, the chronic adaptationsexpected from his training, and methods that could be implementedto improve the likelihood of success.
Q5)
The longest leg of the race is 228 km, during which energyintake is critical. Glycolysis and β-oxidation are processes thatbreak down carbohydrates (i.e., glucose, sucrose, fructose) andfatty acids, respectively.
- Individually, what is the total ATP yield from one molecule ofglucose and one molecule of palmitate?
- How did you reach these numbers (i.e., substrate yield anduse)?
Based on what you know about the yield and speed of these twopathways, do you recommend Vinnie ingest glucose or fatty acidsduring the race? (Hint, remember the cross-overconcept)
Q6)
During a casual chat with a sport scientist from another team,they suggest preparing “finish bottles†for the longer legs of therace. Along with a dose of painkillers, a “finish bottle†typicallycontains an ergogenic dose of caffeine (i.e., approximately 3 to 5mg·kg-1of bodyweight).
- As a sympathetic nervous system stimulant, what acutephysiological changes will likely occur following caffeineingestion at these doses?
Additionally, caffeine has a mild effect at mobilising freefatty acids. Please describe what is meant by mobilisation, and howthis may influence performance
