Whether you are a fitness enthusiast or a professional athlete, your body needs fuel to meet the demands of a rigorous workout. If you don't have the time for a home-cooked meal, eating a carbohydrate-rich energy bar like PowerBar can provide you with adequate fuel to keep your muscles working at 100 percent during training or competition.
Energy Metabolism
In addition to requiring ample oxygen and proper hydration, physical exercise requires energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate -- ATP. Muscles rely on a continuous supply of ATP molecules to perform at their best. When you eat, your body gets the nutrients it needs to produce ATP.
Your primary ATP fuel for moderate or intense aerobic activity comes from carbohydrates. At unusually high levels of expenditure, your body can also break down protein for extra energy. In cases of low-intensity exercise performed for long periods of time, most fuel comes from fat, although some carbohydrate-based energy is also produced.
PowerBar Energy
Eating a PowerBar energy bar before exercise can provide you with the fuel your muscles need to perform. These bars contain high levels of carbohydrates, with 38 to 45 g per serving, depending on the bar and flavor. If you are on a 2,000-calorie diet, this amounts to 13 percent or more of the daily recommended carbohydrate intake in one bar.
Most PowerBar snacks contain a combination of simple carbohydrates like sugars, which your body can break down very quickly for immediate fuel, and complex carbohydrates like whole grains, which take longer to convert to ATP. As a result, a PowerBar can give you adequate energy for short high-intensity performance as well as for longer endurance sessions.
Muscle Protein Synthesis
Athletic performance relies on strong muscles, and healthy muscles require protein. Your muscles can tear up and strain during exercise. The Mayo Clinic states that "protein is needed to build muscles and repair them after use." S. M. Phillips and co-authors state in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of American College of Nutrition that different dietary protein sources can variably affect the amount of new muscle protein synthesis after resistance training, with whey protein leading to greater muscle mass than soy protein.
PowerBar Protein
Most PowerBar energy bars contain milk or milk-derived whey protein as well as soy protein. Therefore, they can be helpful in supplying protein nutrition to stimulate muscle recovery after the exercise. The amount of protein varies with the bar and flavor. PowerBar ProteinPlus contains the highest amount of protein with 30 g. PowerBar Performance and Harvest bars contain 8 to 10 g of protein, which equates to 16 percent of the recommended daily intake for a person on a 2,000-calorie diet.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Nutrition and healthy eating; Nelson, J. and Zeratsky, K.; Feb. 2010
- Journal of American College of Nutrition:The Role of Milk- and Soy-Based Protein in Support of Muscle Protein Synthesis and Muscle Protein Accretion in Young and Elderly Persons; Phillips, S.M. et al.; Aug. 2009
- Powerbar.com: Products; 2011
- UCLA Center for Human Nutrition: Fuel Utilization During Exercise; Connelly, S. A. et al.;
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