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When you measure how much fat and carbohydrates a person uses for energy, an elite-level athlete like Correia will always burn more fat than someone who exercises occasionally. The body naturally adapts to allow athletes to reserve carbohydrates for a quick energy boost at the end of a long workout, says Meyer: “The more trained an athlete becomes, the more fat they are able to store in the muscle and use for fuel. Part of that training adaptation allows them to store fat close to the muscle cell so it can be burned quickly.” These intramuscular triglycerides—or intramuscular fats—enable athletes to use fat for energy as seamlessly as carbohydrates.

It worked for Correia. Healthful fats not only provided him with sustained energy in the form of intramuscular triglycerides but also made his food taste good and helped him feel satisfied on a lower-calorie diet. Correia claims his comeback at the pro level has been as much about nutrition as it is about training. Food can make or break your performance, he says—especially if you’re carrying around extra pounds.

Correia’s next goal is to win a medal at the National Championships in Portugal this summer. Even though he is one of the very few professional riders who also hold down full-time jobs, Correia knows he has a chance. After all, he stopped racing at the age of 21 and made a comeback a decade later. Now he races for a U.S. professional team (Bissell). Some might say that was an impossible goal.

—Amy Paturel, M.S., M.P.H., is a freelance writer in Seal Beach, California.

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