Research
Energy balance
Endurance training increases intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) content, which serves as a readily available energy source for mitochondrial oxidation during prolonged exercise.
If you engage in endurance exercise, your muscles will store more fat to use as fuel. This is a normal and beneficial adaptation, not a sign of poor health.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
IMCL content is increased in the trained state to optimally match fat oxidative capacity and that it serves as readily available fuel.
Why this rating
Multiple methods (EM, MRS, Histochemistry) consistently show increased IMCL in trained subjects.
Source
Intramyocellular Lipid Content in Human Skeletal Muscle
Vera B. Schrauwen‐Hinderling et al. · Obesity · 2006
DOI 10.1038/oby.2006.47
narrative_reviewCited 366×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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