be a good analogy, but it helps you understand the intricacy of the topic if we give you an example. Supposedly, you are going to travel to an address in a city. You only know the name of street. Do you really think that you would be able to arrive in your destination without a map or asking others?
Obviously, you cannot and you are well aware of that.
You would need a map showing your directions as to how to get there. The districts and streets on a map are the key landmarks and signs that would assist you find your direction to your destination.
The same goes for manipulating your energy systems in the body. To understand the energy systems and the ways they work is highly important. Therefore, if you do not know how those energy systems are related to each other, you will have difficulty finding your directions to get the most out of your energy systems and manipulating them in your favor.
Working with professional athletes and teams and leading them during the World Championship competitions and the Olympic Games for the past 30 years, Abazar Habibinia MD, the founder of the Canadian Academy of Sports Nutrition, did come up with the idea of “Energy Map” for the first time ever.
Energy Map
Energy map is the design of metabolic reactions of the energy systems and their interrelationships and connections to each other. On the energy map, every energy system is considered an “energy zone or energy district”.
The energy map is composed of 5 energy zones (see the map below):
Zone 1: ATP – PCr System.
Zone 2: Anaerobic Glycolysis.
Zone 3: Krebs Cycle.
Zone 4: Fatty Acids Oxidation.
Zone 5: Protein Breakdown.
Advantages of Energy Map
- It shows the interrelationships of the energy systems.
- It helps you find the dominant and non – dominant energy systems.
- It demonstrates how the order of energy zones changes based on intensity and duration of the sport or exercise you are involved in it.
- It shows the energy system should be manipulated first.
For detailed information about zones 1, 2, 3, and 4, see “Energy Systems“.
For energy systems used in different sports, see each sport under the section of “Athletic Events“.
You may see below the “energy map in the body” and the interrelationships of the energy zones:
