So what happens if there is no glycogen in the muscles to be used? If you remember, you learned that carbohydrates are not essential for life. If they aren’t essential, and you aren’t consuming any and storing them as glycogen, how does this medium energy system operate? Well, your body can undergo the complex process of gluconeogenesis. This process involves breaking down stored muscle tissue, ripping it apart, and converting it to glucose. This is a much slower way to get glucose and is not optimal.