Energy for a body builder and non-body builder alike usually comes from carbohydrates and fats. In all normal metabolic processes, the carbohydrate sources of energy account for 90% of the body’s requirement of energy, especially among non-body builders. For body builders however, and other athletes who are in intensively active lifestyles, carbohydrate sources of energy are sometimes inadequate. And to add on to the energy supply, some non-carbohydrate sources of energy argument.

There are however very many misconceptions and fallacies that circulate in the body building industry today, about resultant muscle wastage when the body starts using of energy substrates from non-carb sources. This usually happens during the heavy during heavy and highly intensity weight exercises that are part of their daily training routines. It is said that the moment the body starts to get energy from any other source besides the car sources, then you are wasting your muscles away and soon, you will see your muscles shrinking. To an extent, this believe is based on a misinformation since no matter how much carbs you ingest there is still a proportion of your energy expenses that will be processed from non-carb sources.

The idea is to limit these catabolic processes to a bare minimum, where proteins do not get used up for energy in a way that delimits growth. When the body starts breaking down the muscle tissues themselves, the catabolic processes have been allowed to go too far. Ideally, the extra source of energy that is accrued from non-carbs ought to come from excess amino acids and not muscles. Let’s understand the process clearly and then derive conclusive recommendations.

When a body builder engages in a consistent weight workout, some percentage of the expended energy is derived from non-carbohydrate sources. This withstands irrespective of the amount of carbs you have in the system. When muscle are engaged in intense lifts, pushes and pulls, the tissues use up stored adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a chemical substance that is very vital in supplying emergency reserves of energy in all animals. The first few minutes of a workout usually need more energy than the muscles have processed and more than they can processes in the instant. The ATP comes in to provide the start off energy before muscle tissues gear up their metabolism. And actually, this is where warm ups help before starting out on intense weight training exercises.

It is amino acids that produce and maintain this vital source of energy. With enough aminos in the system, at no time will the body get as far as breaking down muscles since there is enough reserves in the body to keep it going before additional energy is supplied. The actual compound that helps replenish the ATP stores is called creatine phosphate (CP) and CP is directly derived from the amino acids. The worst happens when the amino acids and the carb sources are both absent in the body during the heavy demand for energy. This gives you one more reason to get your proteins high in the diet.

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