Exercise Physiology: Nutrition and Skeletal Muscle Metabolism

Dear Colleagues,

Being physically active is well-known to be beneficial for our physical and mental health. Exercising regularly not only improves muscle function and muscle energy metabolism, but also the function of other organs and tissues such as the liver, the pancreas, the brain, and the adipose tissue, among others. Muscle contraction requires an increase in energy supply to muscles, especially when muscle glycogen stores become depleted. It is thus well-recognized that carbohydrate supplementations the day before and during exercise are beneficial for exercise lasting more than 1 h.

Athletes and coaches have long sought to adapt the diet of athletes to improve performance. For example, protein supplementation during exercise may reduce muscle soreness and damage, while protein supplementation after exercise may increase myofibrillar synthesis. Ingestion of caffein an hour before exercise is also well-recognized to improve muscle metabolism and exercise performance, probably through its positive effects on the Na+/K+ pump, the release of Ca2+ from sarcoplasmic reticulum, and the catecholamine response. However, other nutrient supplements believed to be effective in improving muscle metabolism and performance lack evidence of such an effect in the scientific literature. This is the case for n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which have been suggested to improve exercise performance, but there is still little evidence in the scientific literature that supports their positive effect. Athletes also commonly consume antioxidant supplements, but there is a lack of evidence of their positive effect on skeletal muscle metabolism. Therefore, how nutrition alters muscle metabolism during physical exercise or as a response to exercise training needs further investigation. Furthermore, little is known regarding the sexual dysmorphism related to the effect of different nutritional supplements on muscle energy metabolism in response to exercise. In addition, how health status can affect the muscle response to different nutritional supplements needs further investigations.

The objective of this Special Issue is to publish original articles, short communications, reviews, and comments on the role of various nutrients on the alteration of skeletal muscle energy metabolism in the context of acute or chronic physical exercise. The studies can range from nutrition intervention in humans performing exercise to the study of molecular events in exercised skeletal muscle in response to different macro- or micronutrient supplements. Both research in a healthy context and in the context of various pathologies will be considered. Articles focusing on the different muscle responses to certain nutritional interventions in the context of exercise according to biological sex are strongly encouraged.

Dr. Céline Aguer
Guest Editor

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• physical exercise
• nutrition
• macronutrients
• micronutrients
• skeletal muscle
• mitochondrial function
• glucose metabolism
• fatty acid metabolism
• ketone body metabolism
• amino acid metabolism
• biological sex dysmorphism