Slower utilization of blood glucose during prolonged exercise in trained individuals results in which of the following?

• A. A decrease in the risk of developing hypoglycemia
• B. An increase in the risk of developing hypoglycemia
• C. No change in hypoglycemia risk
• D. Increased risk of lactic acidosis

Answer: (A)

Endurance training shifts energy use during long exercise toward fats, so blood glucose is burned more slowly. With training, muscles become better at oxidizing fatty acids and use intramuscular triglycerides, sparing glucose and hepatic glycogen. That conservation helps keep blood glucose levels steadier for a longer period, reducing the risk of hypoglycemia during prolonged activity. The other options don’t fit because the adaptation described lowers, not raises, the chance of hypoglycemia, and lactic acidosis isn’t the primary consequence of slower glucose utilization in this trained, prolonged-exercise context.