The Skeletal Muscle Response to Energy Deficiency: A Life History Perspective

Energy is a finite resource that competitively distributed among the body’s systems and biological processes. During times of scarcity, energetic “trade-offs” may arise if less energy available than required to optimally sustain all systems. More immediately essential functions are predicted be prioritized, even this necessitates diversion away from – potential downregulation others. These concepts encompassed within life history theory, an evolutionary framework with considerable enhance understanding evolved response periods deficiency. Skeletal muscle particularly interesting tissue investigate perspective, given it one largest most energetically costly tissues body. It also highly plastic, responsive broad range stimuli, contributes many bodily functions, e.g., mechanical, regulatory storage. traded off against each other during deficiency, nature trade-off’s dependent on characteristics individual circumstances which deficit occurs. In review, we consider skeletal deficiency along how influenced by factors including sex, age, body composition, training nutritional status.