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Muscles are paradoxical energy cells

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By Elias Abichacra (Phd)

Muscles, as the main actors of movement, can be radically transformed by a well programmed training. When we look at the records of some sport events, we can closely attach them to the progress of scientific research. Sport Science started to emerge after the Mexico Olympic Games when the altitude problem caused unprecedented turmoil in the sports family. From that time on, Sport benefited from systematic research that helped it progress by great leaps. At the same time, Sport business has influenced the progress of contemporary sport in a good as well as in a bad way.
Our muscles can store energy in different ways. They produce force using three types of biological fuel that they extract from the different meals a person takes daily. Before the advent of Sport Science, many thought that meat/protein was the essential and unique fuel used by the muscle. Thanks to scientific research, it was finally understood that fuel came from rapidly or slowly assimilated sugar. Both of these sugars classified as Carbohydrates play an essential role to furnish energy to the muscle when it is needed.
Muscles store energy in three different ways. There is fuel which is immediately available but in scanty amount and is called ATP. It can help produce an extremely high intensity exercise for only 7 seconds. The second stored energy called Glycogen is stocked in the muscle and the liver and can produce a lesser intense exercise (85 % of ATP) and last at full intensity for 45 seconds. The third stocked energy is fat which constitutes the most important energy reserve. It is concentrated at different parts of the body and can be utilized for hours without interruption. It is easy to observe that the lesser the stock of fuel, the higher the intensity of the exercise and on the opposite side, the greater the quantity of fuel available, the lesser the force produced.
Our muscles harbor two paradoxes. Cars with hybrid motors produce the same type of work notwithstanding the type of fuel they use. Muscles are completely different than motors. They use three types of fuel which are different by the quantity that is available, the amount of energy each type of fuel can produce and the duration of the stocked fuel.
The first paradox shows us that a specific type of exercise uses a specific type of fuel. Explosive exercises that have a short duration use exclusively the ATP fuel. Sprinters, Jumpers and Throwers depend narrowly on this rare but high energy productive fuel. Exercises with a mix of high intensity efforts combined with actions that must be repeated for quite a long time depend in their majority on Glycogen, but to a lesser extent also on fat as well as ATP. Most of the Ball games, Combat sports, Mid distance athletics races etc… use preferably Glycogen. Exercises that last for a long period of time and with low intensity use at the beginning Glycogen but as the exercise continues-over 45 minutes- fat comes to the rescue of the muscle to continue the effort. Long distance running, jogging, cycling are the physical activities that use fat.
The second paradox is the reaction of the muscle to repeated exercise especially when it is scientifically designed. If you open your mobile phone and look at the voltage of the battery, it shows a fixed number-most of the time 3.5 volts. Depending how you use your phone, you can wipe out the stocked energy more or less quickly. When you recharge your phone, you can only recharge up to the level indicated on the battery. This is not what happens to your muscle. Repeating exercises of the same type and by respecting the time to recharge the muscle, you finish by depleting all the stock of fuel. Then here is where the magic works. Instead of recharging the fuel to the initial level from which you started, you shall increase the stock of energy available for the next training session. The next time you practice you must train at a higher level because the stocked energy fuel is more than when you began training. This process continues as long as you train using that particular fuel as well as if you respect the time to refuel totally. This process of recharging by surpassing the initial stock level is called Hyper Compensation or Natural Doping. A well designed training program can increase the potential of any athlete dramatically. Unfortunately this process continues as long as you continue practicing methodically. As soon as you stop your training, the fuel stock recession begins. After sometime a person can return to the level he/she had when he/she started! FITNESS IS NEVER PERMANENT, IT MUST BE MAINTAINED RELENTESSLY! A person must always continue training in order to maintain the level of performance but must adapt his/her practice to his/her evolving physical status. But nobody can maintain his/her fitness level at the top forever. We mustn’t forget that the cells of our body progressively get older and become less effective. This is the main reason that pushes former top level athletes finally retire one day. We can’t stay young forever and the rules of Biology are implacable.
Performance depends on three equal pillars that are 1. A scientifically designed training program 2. A correctly balanced diet and lastly 3. A sufficient repairing rest that includes relaxed daily life after training as well as a good sleep. Giving importance to one or two of these pillars at the detriment of the other(s) can provoke what specialists call the Overtraining Syndrome. This can happen for example if you train very hard and don’t replace the energy you burnt by eating less than recommended. On the other hand, if you train hard and eat correctly but if you sleep less than necessary, you are prone to chronic fatigue which comes insidiously. Overtraining has many visible signs like flu that can stay for weeks even months, declining appetite, altering humor, insomnia, irritability etc…
Remember Health is Wealth

You can contact the writer on this e-mail
address: elias.abichacra@yahoo.com

AFRICAN ARTISTS RAISE AWARENESS

“It could be your momma, it could be your pappa, your brother or your sister, let’s stand together to fight this deadly disease.” Lyrics from Liberia’s President George Weah COVID19 song.

The loss of 86 year old Cameroonian music legend, Manu Dibango, was a wake up call for those on the continent and in the arts community who may have doubted the reality or reach of COVID19 taking lives every minute across the world. Manu’s career survived over five decades and three generations with millions who knew the iconic Soul Makossa hook. He will rest in peace assured that his vibrant sax compositions and noteworthy contributions will remain an integral part of music history.
Understanding the power and impact of music, African artists on the continent have taken to studios to record musical messages educating the public, in the hopes that lives will be spared in the Motherland from coronavirus. Africa cannot manage the levels of outbreak taking place in Europe and the USA, with over 1 million afflicted to date. That said, songs about social distancing, identifying symptoms, washing hands, stay and work from home and other important messages are springing up all over the continent. Ugandan artist and political activist Bobi Wine starts his song with caution, “The bad news is that everyone is a potential victim, but the good news is that everyone is a potential solution.” In collaboration with vocalist Nubian Li, Wine wrote the song “Coronavirus Alert”. The message is simple and positive, “Sensitive the masses to sanitize. Keep a social distance to quarantine. The coronavirus is sweeping over mankind. Everybody must be alert! It’s a global pandemic we can never take for granted.”
While in West Africa, Liberia’s President George Weah, brings his country’s experience with the Ebola epidemic in 2014 and 2015 to the mic. His firm musical warning that the virus could cause their loved ones to perish chants, “It could be your momma, it could be your pappa, your brother or your sister, let’s stand together to fight this deadly disease.” In South Africa, hard hit by the virus with over 1,000 diagnosed, the Ndlovu Youth Choir is making waves as they dismantle myths that may cause further dissemination of the disease. The choir director Ralf Schmitt states, “We are from a community in rural Limpopo province that has a high prevalence of HIV and TB. COVID-19 could have a devastating effect on our community and because of this, we decided to make a video to dispel myths about the virus and encourage basic prevention.” The choir’s message is simply, “Don’t panic, we’ve got this.”
Visual artists are also doing their part as seen in Kenya. Kiberia is a massive informal settlement just outside Nairobi and not new to graffiti and street art. However with keen concern to protect the only homes known to thousands dwelling in this slum, education on how to protect the community is graphically expressed in Swahili slang. A group of five artists from Uweza Art gallery took the initiative to raise awareness with 25 year old artist Josphat Ndemo telling CGTN Africa, “We decided as artists to go around to write murals, to spread the message of the coronavirus. We wanted to emphasize the common enemy of the virus, that people should be aware of it, they should not take this virus for granted, they should be serious.” However I was most moved by the works of RBS CREW, a collective of Senegalese graffiti artists using their paint spray cans to create public awareness. According to Reuters, “Black and yellow block letters spell out the message “TOGETHER AGAINST COVID19…A BIG THANK YOU TO THE CAREGIVERS…next to the government’s health hotline on the high school wall.” Artist Sergine Masour Fall, the 33 year old lead of the collective, known as “Mad Zoo” said, “As Senegalese we have a duty, a responsibility to raise awareness….the majority of the population is illiterate, as artists we can communicate through visuals.”
In my sefer in Kazanches we have opted to give out crayons to the children in our neighborhood who are clearly bored and probably confused if not scared by the sudden change of social norms. It may not be much, but who really knows what to do, as the natural response from Ethiopian artists would be to organize a group show, maybe have a talk or two and raise funds for the good cause. This is not an option now. So maybe its best artists continue to do their part, posting on social media, staying in the studio and when this awful non-discriminatory plague like pandemic is defeated, we will have a burst of creative energy and expression that ushers in the next phase of the new normal in Ethiopia, on the continent and in the world. Be safe, stay home and keep washing hands.

Dr. Desta Meghoo is a Jamaican born
Creative Consultant, Curator and cultural promoter based in Ethiopia since 2005. She also serves as Liaison to the AU for the Ghana based, Diaspora African Forum.

Bruktayet Seyoum

Name: Bruktayet Seyoum

Education: BSC in business administration

Company name: Haweton Cultural Food and Coffee

Title: Manager

Founded in: 2019

What it does: Preparing cultural food and drinks

HQ: Addis Ababa

Number of employees: 8

Startup Capital: 300,000 birr

Current capital: Growing

Reasons for starting the business: To have a successful business

Biggest perk of ownership: Taking risks

Biggest strength: Excellent customer service

Biggest challenging: Work space

Plan: To have a suitable work place and to open other branches

First career: Database Administrator

Most interested in meeting: PM Abiy Ahmed

Most admired person: PM Abiy Ahmed

Stress reducer: Walking

Favorite past time: Working

Favorite book: Tower in the sky

Favorite destination: I love to travel all over the world

Favorite automobile: Ford

Haile donates 1.5 million birr to national COVID-19 campaign

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Ethiopian athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie has donated nearly 1.5 million birr to a committee set up to fight the spread of coronavirus.
The Covid-19 National Resource Mobilisation Committee was launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Ethiopia, where there are currently 21 reported cases.
“It’s not time to profit but to save lives,” said Haile. “We need to support the government at this crucial time and support one another.” “This is a very different time we are win. Everything’s locked down and sporting events have been cancelled all over the world, so we have to be able to support our community.”
Haile donated one million Ethiopian birr from a range of his businesses while half a million birr came from the Great Ethiopian Run, which was founded by the two-time Olympic champion.
The Mobilisation Committee is tasked with gathering funds and materials to assist with emergency preparations to fight the pandemic in Africa’s second most populous nation, with over 100 million inhabitants.
Haile joins other African sportsmen, like Senegalese footballer Sadio Mane, in using wealth gained from their sporting careers to help their home nation’s battle coronavirus.
Now 46, Haile is Ethiopia’s most successful and celebrated sports personality – having won Olympic 10,000m gold in 1996 and 2000, as well as four World Championship titles over the distance between 1993 and 1999.
Aside from his track and road success, the former marathon world record holder is an accomplished businessman with businesses in, amongst others, the hospitality, automobile and agriculture sectors. Earlier this month, he told the BBC it was ‘heart-breaking’ for athletes to have trained for races only for them to be cancelled because of the coronavirus.