Mitochondria are small but they represent one of the new frontiers in massively giant athletic gains.
About 100,000 times a day, 35 million times a year and about 2.5 billion times in the average lifespan, that’s how many times your tireless heart beats to keep you alive. But there is much more to this picture of tirelessness. Mitochondria power every single heart beat.
An average human heart has about 10 billion individual cells and in each of those cells it is estimated there may be about 5,000 mitochondria. These are the little tiny microscopic structures that supply all the energy to keep your heart going. To put this in perspective consider this:
In a space the size of 1 centimeter cubed (about the size of a sugar cube) you can fit about 3,200 heart muscle cells. In that same space, there would be about 16,000,000 mitochondria.
If you lined up each of those mitochondria side by side, it would create a chain about about 16 meters long or about long as a big motorhome that sleeps 8.
If you place all the mitochondria in you heart side by side in a big chain, it would be long enough to wrap around the moon 5 times (50,000 meters).
There are a staggering number of mitochondria in your body.
Using all the mitochondria (estimated at approximately ten million billion, 10,000,000,000,000,000) in your body and laying them side by side, would form a chain 10 million kilometres long. That’s enough to circle the earth 40 times or travel back and forth from New York to London more than 2,200 times.
10 million billion mitochondria is like have a lot of oars in the water.
You have heard about cardiomyocytes the heart muscle cells, V02 max, fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibres, protein synthesis, the role of anabolic hormones like testosterone, high, low and medium intensity intensity training, the role of the central nervous system, meditation, deep tissue massage, and the dozens and dozens of other aspects related to improving athletic performance. All are valid and relevant. But that is the status quo. Improved mitochondrial function may just be the next and most significant area of focus for those seeking big athletic gains.
Mitochondria are central to every breath, every thought, and every muscle movement you make. Improving your mitochondria may improve every function dependent on energy, including strength, speed, and stamina.
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Come back and learn more because everyday is a good day to improve your mitochondrial function.
