Sunday, July 4, 2021

Can Athletes Benefit from More Mitochondria?

Over the last couple of years, the term “mitochondria” has become a bit of a buzzword in the health and fitness community – but what are they, and how do they impact your health and performance?

Well, that is exactly what this article intends to find out.

What are mitochondria?

Thinking back to high school biology, you might remember that mitochondria are considered to be the “powerhouse” of your cells – but that doesn’t really do them justice.

In essence, mitochondria are cellular structures found within your muscle tissue that have the primary role of producing energy.

They use oxygen to convert the fats and carbohydrates found within your body into ATP (the “fuel” for muscular contraction. As such, they are essential for nearly every single physiological process in your body.

How are mitochondria used during exercise?

pushups

And this information should help you understand what they do during exercise.

As you perform exercise, you increase your rate of muscular contraction, which is a process that uses ATP. In response, your body increases blood flow to the muscle tissue to provide them with fats, carbohydrates, and oxygen, allowing for an increased rate of energy production.

Which is where your mitochondria enter the discussion.

These nutrients are transferred to your mitochondria (with oxygen) where they can be converted into ATP and continue to fuel your muscle tissue.

With this in mind, the size of your mitochondria, and the amount that you have within your muscle tissue, dictates how much exercise you can perform aerobically.

To keep it simple, people with more, and larger, mitochondria have greater capacity to produce energy aerobically.

As a result, they can work harder for longer.

It is for this reason that mitochondria are one of the most important factors considered by endurance athletes across the globe.

It is also important to note that while mitochondria are undoubtedly important for endurance athletes, they are also going to have a positive impact on any sport that has an aerobic component. This includes team sports, field sports, and even track and field events that last for more than 30 seconds.

In fact, the only sports that they are not really going to impact are those that are extremely short and explosive, such as weightlifting, powerlifting, sprinting, and throwing.

But that does not mean they are not important for these athletes – just that they are unlikely to impact their sport performance.

Related Article: The Next Best Supplement For Exercise Performance

Mitochondria and health

Interestingly, there are also several diseases linked to mitochondria health and number.

To keep it short and sweet, there is evidence to suggest that low levels of mitochondria within your muscle tissue can increase risk of cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, age-related declines in cognition, and whole body inflammation (Javadov, 2020).

As a result, they should be on your radar whether you are an elite athlete, or someone simply trying to optimize your health and longevity.

How does the quality of training impact mitochondrial adaptations?

We have already established that mitochondria are most important with respect to aerobic exercise – as such, it should come as no surprise that aerobic exercise is going to be our most important driver to create mitochondrial adaptation.

However, it is important to acknowledge that different types of aerobic exercise appear to cause different adaptations.

Traditional aerobic exercise performed continuously, at low to moderate intensities, and for long durations, have been shown to cause larger improvements in mitochondrial content (i.e., the number of mitochondria in your muscle tissue).

On the other hand, highly lactic interval training has been shown to cause larger improvements in mitochondrial size (MacInnis, 2017).

And as both factors have been shown to have a notable impact on health and performance, it is likely that a combination of both exercise regimes is going to be your best bet.

Does altitude training affect mitochondria?

man running on a mountain trail

Since the 1980s altitude training has become increasingly popular amongst athletes to increase aerobic performance.

In short, the further you get above sea level, the harder it becomes to extract oxygen from the air. This places the body under a constant state of aerobic stress that leads to adaptations that are not dissimilar to those driven by exercise.

These include increases in blood volume, red blood cell count, hemoglobin content, and oxygen carrying capacity.

Importantly, it also comes with mitochondrial adaptations.

In fact, research has shown that spending as little as 28 days at high altitudes can cause a 7 percent increase in mitochondrial number, suggesting that it could be one of the most efficient ways of boosting your mitochondrial function (Jacobds, 2016).

It is important to note that these adaptations appear to be maximized when people live at altitude and train at sea level, rather than the other way around.

Related Article: The Effects Of Altitude Training On Competitive Swimmers

Does heat training affect mitochondria?

Tired athlete

In conjunction with training at altitude, heat training has also become an incredibly popular method of accelerating the adaptations that occur with aerobic training.

However, it appears that if your goal is to maximize mitochondrial health and function, simply exposing yourself to heat rather than training in the heat is your best bet.

A recent study demonstrated that jumping in a hot sauna for 30 minutes per day can cause a rapid increase the growth and development of mitochondria irrespective of training – and that if you do it after training, these results are increased further (Tamura, 2014).

This provides further insight into why heat training and heat exposure are such hot topics now.

Tips to boost Mitochondria

So, taking all of this into consideration, we wanted to provide some simple tips that you can implement to boost the size and number of your mitochondria:

  • Exercise 3-5 times per week: this should predominantly be traditional endurance training, with the inclusion of 1-2 sessions of higher intensity interval training per week. Just note that this exercise will need to tax the aerobic system – so short sprinting exercises will not cut it here.
  • Heat exposure 2-5 times per week: if you have access to a sauna, then this is going to be your best bet – but even a hot bath will have some impact.
  • Get above sea level: now, this is not going to be easy for everyone, but if you can gain access to hyperbaric training facility, one session per week could be a viable option to help your mitochondrial health.

And there you have it – three simple tips to boost your mitochondria.

Final Message

Being the primary site of energy production for your entire body, mitochondria are one of the most important components of your cells, having a marked impact on both your health and your performance.

And now, using the tips outlined in this article, you can take some very deliberate steps to increase your mitochondria number and size, having a profound impact on your fitness in the process.

References

Javadov, Sabzali, Andrey V. Kozlov, and Amadou KS Camara. “Mitochondria in health and diseases.” (2020): 1177.

MacInnis, Martin J., and Martin J. Gibala. “Physiological adaptations to interval training and the role of exercise intensity.” The Journal of physiology 595.9 (2017): 2915-2930.

Jacobs, Robert A., et al. “Twenty‐eight days of exposure to 3454 m increases mitochondrial volume density in human skeletal muscle.” The Journal of physiology 594.5 (2016): 1151-1166.

Tamura, Yuki, et al. “Postexercise whole body heat stress additively enhances endurance training-induced mitochondrial adaptations in mouse skeletal muscle.” American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 307.7 (2014): R931-R943.

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How Athletes Can Beat the Heat

When it comes to athletic performance, there are few environmental factors as concerning as the heat.

Not only does it can derail your performance, but it can also put you under a serious amount of physiological stress, having negative implications on your health and function.

Which is why understanding how heat impacts your body, and what you can do about it, is so important.

How does extreme heat affect athletes?

women with hands on her knees bent over

It is well established that the heat can negatively impact the performance of middle and long distance runners, cyclists, and team sport athletes alike (Nybo, 2011).

But how?

The largest response associated with heat relates to thermoregulation.

In short, under hot conditions more blood needs to be distributed to the skin to help cool down the body. This increases the cardiovascular demand placed on your body, making it more difficult to deliver oxygen to the active muscle tissue and impairing performance.

Moreover, the stress placed on the body by extreme heat also appears to impact the function of key neurotransmitters found in your brain, which impacts muscular contraction.

As I am sure you can imagine, this further impairs performance.

Finally, it is important to remember that this heat stress, if left unaddressed, can lead to serious discomfort and even illness – making it a risk to both elite athletes trying to maximize performance and recreational exercises trying to improve their health and fitness.

Has climate change has increased extreme heat?

While extreme heat has always been a concern, over the last decade it has become even more of an issue.

With climate change, we are experiencing more frequent (and oftentimes longer) bouts of hot weather. This is making extreme heat a greater concern than ever before, and something that all athletes need to be aware of.

In fact, the next Olympic Games taking place in Tokyo in July 2021 is expected to be the hottest on record – making this a prominent issue.

Related Article: Get Outside and Exercise – Your Immune System Will Thank You

How to heat acclimatize

One important method of reducing the negative effects that heat has on athletic performance is to conduct heat training to acclimatize to the heat.

This has several important effects on the body – of which the two big ones are:

  1. Faster and more effective thermoregulation, and
  2. Better cognitive tolerance to the heat

Each of these can cause large improvements in your ability to tolerate the heat, improving performance and reducing heat risk.

The good news is that the time it takes to acclimate to the heat is not as long as you might think.

Evidence would suggest that doing around 30 minutes of exercise in hot temperatures – enough to raise your core temperature to around 38.5 degrees Celsius – and maintaining this for another 30 minutes will be sufficient to stimulate some heat acclimation.

In fact, there is even research indicating that spending the same amount of time in a hot sauna without exercise will also get an adaptive response.

Now, obviously a single session is not going to acclimate you to the heat – which is why you want to do this consecutively over the course of 5-10 days to ensure you get the desired response.

It is this process that will get you acclimated to the heat.

Male vs female adaptation

Runners

While the recommendations above do seem to hold true for most athletes, it is important to note that some research has suggested that females may acclimate to the heat a little slower than males.

With this in mind, if you are a female athlete looking to optimize your performance in hot temperatures, adhering to the above for 10 days rather than 5 would be your safest bet (Kirby, 2019).

Related Article: Opportunity Differences for Male and Females in Sports

How to tell if you’re suffering from heat exhaustion.

Taking all of this into consideration, we wanted to outline some of the key signs of heat exhaustion – which would suggest that exercise should cease as soon as possible (Leiva, 2020).

Possible sings of heat exhaustion include:

  • Cool, moist skin with goose bumps even despite being in the heat
  • Extremely heavy sweating
  • Feeling faint or dizzy
  • Excessive fatigue
  • A weak but rapid pulse
  • Low blood pressure
  • Muscle cramps
  • Nausea
  • Headache

While this is not exhaustive list (pun intended… lame, I know), and some of the signs do overlap with a normal exercise response, if you are experience a number of these symptoms simultaneously then it is in your best interest to cease exercise and get out of the heat before it gets even worse.

Remember, heat exhaustion does have the capacity to can progress to life-threatening heatstroke.

How to respond to heat exhaustion

female soccer player

Lastly, we wanted to outline what steps should be taken if you – or someone else – begins suffering heat exhaustion during an athletic event or exercise session.

  • Find a cool place to rest: Your first point of call should be to get into a shady spot, or even better, an air conditioned room where you can lie down and rest.
  • Drink cold water: having a cold drink will not only rehydrate you, but also help lower your core temperature. However, keep in mind that this should not be ice cold, but simply “cool”.
  • Implement cooling measures: if you have easy access to a cool shower, a cool bath, or damp towels you can out on your skin, then these should be on your radar. These are all effective methods of cooling you down even further.
  • Loosen your clothing: remove any tight and restrictive clothing to improve airflow to the skin.

Importantly, if you (or whomever you are helping) do not begin to feel better within an hour of implementing these measures, seek prompt medical attention as soon as possible.

Final Thoughts

Extreme heat is something that can not only impact your ability to perform, but it can also put your health at risk – which is why heat training has become one of the most important steps you can take to boost your performance and improve your safety.

But if you are training in the heat, remember to pay attention to the signs of heat exhaustion and be as safe and as smart as possible.

The heat is a dangerous environmental factor – and something that deserves your respect.

References

Nybo, Lars, Peter Rasmussen, and Michael N. Sawka. “Performance in the heat—physiological factors of importance for hyperthermia‐induced fatigue.” Comprehensive Physiology 4.2 (2011): 657-689.

Kirby, Nathalie V., Samuel JE Lucas, and Rebekah AI Lucas. “Nine-, but not four-days heat acclimation improves self-paced endurance performance in females.” Frontiers in physiology 10 (2019): 539.

Leiva, Daniel F., and Ben Church. “Heat Illness.” (2020).

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