Substrate utilization during endurance exercise in men and women after endurance training

We investigated the effect of endurance training on whole body substrate, g lucose, and glycerol utilization during 90 min of exercise at 60% peak O-2 consumption ((V) over dot O-2 (peak)) in males and females. Substrate oxida tion was determined before and after 7 wk of endurance training on a cycle ergometer, with posttesting performed at the same absolute (ABS, W) and rel ative (REL, %(V) over dot O-2 (peak)) intensities. [6,6-H-2]glucose and [1, 1,2,3,3-H-2]glycerol tracers were used to calculate the respective substrat e tracee flux. Endurance training resulted in an increase in (V) over dot O -2 peak for both males and females of 17 and 22%, respectively (P < 0.001). Females demonstrated a lower respiratory exchange ratio (RER) both pretrai ning and posttraining compared with males during exercise (P < 0.001). Gluc ose rate of appearance (R-a) and rate of disappearance (R-d) were not diffe rent between males and females. Glucose metabolic clearance rate (MCR) was lower at 75 and 90 min of exercise for females compared with males (P < 0.0 5). Glucose R-a and R-d were lower during exercise at both ABS and REL post training exercise intensities compared with pretraining (P < 0.001). Female s had a higher exercise glycerol R-a and R-d compared with males both pre- and posttraining (P < 0.001). Glycerol R-a was not different at either the ABS or REL posttraining exercise intensities compared with pretraining. We concluded that females oxidize proportionately more lipid and less carbohyd rate during exercise compared with males both pre- and posttraining, which was cotemporal with a higher glycerol R-a in females. Furthermore, enduranc e training resulted in a decrease in glucose flux at both ABS and REL exerc ise intensities after endurance exercise training.