Efforts to expand the limits of human strength and endurance have kept the scientist and the athlete occupied for centuries. The quest for another pound of muscle, or to lift next couple of kilos has been relentlessly pursued in the gym and the laboratory alike. As the questions and conquests became more challenging, the answers have become more elusive and complicated. Few concepts and conclusions have withstood the test of time in exercise physiology. Even as we tackle the metabolic and genetic basis of skeletal muscle response to strength training, there are only some things that we know for sure.

Food is the building block of our bodies. We need proper nutrition through every stage of life to be at the best health possible. No matter what we eat, when we eat it or how much of it we eat, all foods are broken down in the same way: into one of three major components. These components are proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It is a myth that calories from a fat and from a carbohydrate are different from each other. Once the body breaks down food, it is down to its basic component and will be used as energy immediately, stored for later use or stored as fat.

The word cholesterol has become synonymous with poor health. Indeed, one does not typically hear the word used, or see it printed, unless it points to yet another distressing fact — that high cholesterol is the number one factor for coronary heart disease, and the number one cause of heart attacks [i].