Effect of diet on muscle glycogen and blood glucose utilization during a short-term exercise in man

7 subjects were studied at rest and during a 6 min submaximal exercise (65% of Vo₂, max) on two occasions, the first preceded by a fat rich diet and the second by a carbohydrate rich diet. Oxygen uptake and respiratory exchange ratio (R) were measured at rest and heart rate both at rest and during exercise. Arterial-femoral venous differences for oxygen, glucose, lactate and β-hydroxybutyrate and arterial concentrations of free fatty acids were measured at rest and during exercise. Changes in muscle glycogen (in 6 subjects) and lactate concentration were determined by biopsies from m. quadriceps femoris taken before and immediately after exercise. Muscle glycogen decreased less during exercise after the fat than after the carbohydrate diet in 5 of the 6 subjects, whereas blood glucose extraction by the exercising legs did not change with diet. Muscle lactate accumulation and release were smaller after the fat diet. In conclusion, the muscle glycogen utilization during a short-term exercise appeared to be lower after the fat than after the carbohydrate diet, but not the concomitant blood glucose extraction. These differences between diets were similar to those observed after a more prolonged work at the same load.