Articles
Fueling: The “F” in EFS
By Dr. Luke Bucci, PhD
Discover how your body turns every carb source into glucose in order to generate ATP and power muscles. Also learn why increasing ATP production is much (much!) more complicated than simply gobbling up glucose.
Branched-Chain Amino Acids: Fuel for the Finale
By Dr. Luke Bucci, PhD
When used correctly, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) help improve exercise performance after hours of grueling effort. Late in the race, deep in the training session – those times when you need an extra reserve of energy the most.
When to Cram Carbs In an Ultra-Endurance Event
One of the most frequent questions we get is how much carbs do I need to take (or, often, how much can I take) during my long-duration events, races, or training? This blog is a follow-up to the previous blog about increasing carbs/hour during endurance exercise, where Dr. Bucci answered that question. One thing he didn’t cover in that last blog is that, with higher carb intake, timing is everything, so in this blog, Dr. Bucci addresses when to go big on carbs.
PharmaGABA®: Unparalleled Innovation for Unparalleled Performance
Research shows the brain plays a significant role in fatigue and exercise tolerance. Our latest formulations of EFS and EFS-PRO expand the focus beyond simply supporting your body to buttressing up mental toughness—often the final hurdle an athlete has to overcome whether they’re training alone or competing.
Dehydration & Muscle Cramps
The most common complaint fielded at First Endurance about endurance training is cramping, known officially in scientific literature as Exercise-Associated Muscle Cramping (EAMC).
In this blog installment, Dr. Bucci explains how First Endurance products use the latest scientific research and a refusal to accept axioms in product formulation in order to actually prevent dehydration cramps, not just treat them once they occur.
The Glycemic Index & Carbohydrate Fueling
The Glycemic Index (GI) is a characteristic of carbs in different foodstuffs that affects choosing what carbs to use during long-term exercise. Since glucose is by far the main sugar in the bloodstream, glycemic index tracks the change in blood glucose levels for 4-6 hours after eating on an empty stomach, and it’s measured by administering 100 grams (about a quarter pound) dry weight of a specific carb source. The area under the curve for the rise in blood sugar from 100 grams of glucose is defined as a GI = 100.
Amino Acids, Exercise, & Immune Health – Timing Is Everything
We typically associate amino acids with rebuilding muscles and post-training recovery, so why are amino acids important for immune function? Because your immune system operates differently from muscles, nerves, and other organs; it uses amino acids as energy, even preferring them to glucose and fats.
The immune system’s major amino acid fuels are glutamine and the branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine, which we’ll just lump together as BCAAs for this blog. Because of their known importance for immune cells, research has focused on these amino acids and immune function in long-term, strenuous exercise.
Debunking The Myth: Sports Drinks Claim To Hydrate Better Than Water
Cyclic Cluster Dextrin: A Superior Carbohydrate For Endurance
Cyclic Cluster Dextrin is turning out to be a premier form of carbohydrates for extending exercise performance, probably by not having the drawbacks of other carbohydrate sources. CCD’s unique molecular structure gives it the ability to not have gastric side effects and to help prevent central fatigue (feeding the brain) that other carbohydrates cannot do as well. CCD – a better mousetrap for delivering carbs during endurance exercise.
