Exercise, muscle, and CHO metabolism

Abstract

Carbohydrates (CHO) are a key source of energy for contracting skeletal muscle during strenuous exercise and fatigue during such exercise often coincides with CHO depletion. Our current understanding of the importance of CHO for exercise metabolism has its foundations in classic studies in the early 20th century by Scandinavian physiologists and Bengt Saltin contributed significantly to that tradition. This brief review summarizes our contemporary understanding of key aspects of muscle glycogen and glucose metabolism during exercise, through the lens of seminal studies by Bengt Saltin.