Mitochondria. The energy stored in food comes in large denominations. In eukaryotic cells mitochondria are involved in the final stages of energy release from food molecules such as sugars.

Mitochondria transform energy from food into cellular energy. Exercise increases the number of mitochondria improving your body’s ability to produce energy. In other words, the more mitochondria you have, the more energy you can generate during exercise and the faster and longer you can exercise.

Present in nearly all types of human cell, mitochondria are vital to our survival. They generate the majority of our adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of the cell. Mitochondria are also involved in other tasks, such as signaling between cells and cell death, otherwise known as apoptosis.

A previously unknown advantage of exercise “We’ve found that mitochondria in endurance athletes are constructed in such a way that they generate more energy than mitochondria in non-athletes. In fact, our measurements have shown us that these mitochondria can generate around 25% more energy.

Carbohydrates or “carbs” (found in pasta, bread, cereal, rice, grains, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, milk, yogurt, etc.) are especially important for athletes because they supply the body with glucose for energy. Extra glucose is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen, your energy reserve.

A greater number of mitochondria means more ATP is produce, which allows aerobic respiration to, not only occur, but, occur at a faster rate, too. This is beneficial to endurance athletes because respiring aerobically allows them to avoid a build-up of lactate.

Running is a potent stimulus to proliferate mitochondria. Having more mitochondria in our muscles—along with the enzymes inside of them—increases our muscles’ ability to produce energy aerobically, shifting metabolism toward a greater reliance on fat when running at a specific pace.