Having a firm grasp on your muscle fiber type is highly important to your training. Without the proper knowledge of how your muscles work, you could be putting in a lot of effort for little or no result. Here is some helpful information about how to turn that around:
All the muscles in your body are made of small, fibrous bundles. Contained in these bundles are two types of fiber: fast twitch muscle fiber, and slow twitch muscle fiber. Understanding the amount of each type of fiber you have, will help you decide how to train each muscle group in your body.
Fast twitch muscle fibers, a.k.a. white muscle fibers, sustain high intensity, short duration activity. These fibers enable explosive movement, such as doing squats or bench press, or any other weight training activities.
Slow twitch muscle fibers, a.k.a. red muscle fibers, maintain low intensity, long duration activity, or in laments terms, walking or any other aerobic activity.
Taking elite athletes into consideration, endurance athletes, such as a cross country runner, have a high majority of slow twitch muscle fibers. And at the other end, a sprinter would have a high majority of fast twitch muscle fibers.
To find the muscle fiber predominant in your body, test your muscle’s repetition limit versus maximum strength. Begin by figuring out your one rep max for any isolation exercise, such as a tricep extension. Remember to find the highest weight you can do only one rep with.
After you know your limit, multiply that number by 0.8, and do as many reps as possible with that amount of weight. If you can do between 5-8 reps with that weight, the majority of your muscle fibers are fast twitch.
The reasoning behind the science is that although fast twitch muscle fibers are strong, they lack endurance, meaning you can lift a lot of weight, but only for a certain amount of time.
In opposition, slow twitch muscle fibers are weaker, but have very high levels of endurance, meaning you can lift a smaller amount of weight for quite a few reps.
Do this test for each muscle group you wish to train, and then gear your training for that muscle group based on which type of fiber it has. This will ensure you see quality well-earned results.
All the muscles in your body are made of small, fibrous bundles. Contained in these bundles are two types of fiber: fast twitch muscle fiber, and slow twitch muscle fiber. Understanding the amount of each type of fiber you have, will help you decide how to train each muscle group in your body.
Fast twitch muscle fibers, a.k.a. white muscle fibers, sustain high intensity, short duration activity. These fibers enable explosive movement, such as doing squats or bench press, or any other weight training activities.
Slow twitch muscle fibers, a.k.a. red muscle fibers, maintain low intensity, long duration activity, or in laments terms, walking or any other aerobic activity.
Taking elite athletes into consideration, endurance athletes, such as a cross country runner, have a high majority of slow twitch muscle fibers. And at the other end, a sprinter would have a high majority of fast twitch muscle fibers.
To find the muscle fiber predominant in your body, test your muscle’s repetition limit versus maximum strength. Begin by figuring out your one rep max for any isolation exercise, such as a tricep extension. Remember to find the highest weight you can do only one rep with.
After you know your limit, multiply that number by 0.8, and do as many reps as possible with that amount of weight. If you can do between 5-8 reps with that weight, the majority of your muscle fibers are fast twitch.
The reasoning behind the science is that although fast twitch muscle fibers are strong, they lack endurance, meaning you can lift a lot of weight, but only for a certain amount of time.
In opposition, slow twitch muscle fibers are weaker, but have very high levels of endurance, meaning you can lift a smaller amount of weight for quite a few reps.
Do this test for each muscle group you wish to train, and then gear your training for that muscle group based on which type of fiber it has. This will ensure you see quality well-earned results.
