Skeletal muscle AMPK is not activated during 2 h of moderate intensity exercise at ∼65% in endurance trained men

AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) is considered a major regulator of skeletal muscle metabolism during exercise. However, we previously showed that, although AMPK activity increases by 8–10‐fold during ∼120 min of exercise at ∼65% in untrained individuals, there is no increase in these individuals after only 10 days of exercise training (longitudinal study). In a cross‐sectional study, we show that there is also a lack of activation of skeletal muscle AMPK during 120 min of cycling exercise at 65% in endurance‐trained individuals. These findings indicate that AMPK is not an important regulator of exercise metabolism during 120 min of exercise at 65% in endurance trained men. It is important that more energy is directed towards examining other potential regulators of exercise metabolism.