What is Fuel Efficiency?

Fuel efficiency is a term Racers’ Toolbox use to define how the body utilizes fat as energy. Over the past few years, we have spent thousands of hours researching, testing and improving people’s ability to burn fat as an energy source.

Fat is commonly thought of in a negative light and in most cases being ‘fat’ is not a good thing. In fuel efficiency terms, fat is the body’s best source of fuel and the good news is that we can train our body’s to burn much more fat than it currently does, just by making a few simple adjustments to our diet and the way we exercise.

The Most Effective Energy Source

While carbohydrate is the easiest source of fuel for the body, fat provides double the energy per gram than carbohydrate making it the most efficient source of fuel. The body stores an almost unlimited supply of fat while only being able to store around 2,000 calories of carbohydrate at any one time, which make it the most abundant source of fuel in your body.

Training your ability to improve fuel efficiency is possible and we have seen many people triple their fat burning ability in just 2 – 3 months. This is done through exercising in your ideal fat burning zone, which Racers’ Toolbox establishes during the fuel efficiency test and by managing certain components of your diet.

A Fuel Efficient Diet

We do not believe in any short-term solutions or diets and instead are advocates for making small, simple changes over longer periods of time. In terms of diet, it is important to moderate the amount of carbohydrate you take in and it is crucial to be eating at the right times throughout the day – especially around exercise.

If you can make these small changes, the results can be dramatic and you will feel more energetic, become leaner and perform better in the events you are training for.