Overcome Your Muscle Type Genetics

Which Muscle fibres do these athletes posses?

There’s 2 kinds of muscle called slow twitch and fast twitch fibres. Genetics play a role in how much of each fibre you naturally have however with the appropriate training and nutrition you’ll be able to change the percentage of each kind.

Slow Twitch Muscle Fibre

These muscle fibres are red in colour because they contain high myogobin and mitochondria. A person with a large amount of this muscle fibre is best at long-distance events such as triathlons, ironman’s or cross country. People who have slow twitch muscle fibre are likely to be smaller and have the capability to keep going for long periods of time. Slow twitch fibres contract slower than fast twitch to ensure means they consume energy over a longer period of time while fast twitch fibres can consume a lot more energy in an exceedingly shorter period of time.

Fast Twitch Muscle Fibre

Vince Delmonte also had to overcome Hardgainer genetics

These are white in colour as a direct consequence of low myoglobin content and have a low concentration of mitochondria. People with such a muscle fibre are good at shorter athletic events since the muscle fibres contract faster. Power lifters and sprinters desire a greater percentage of this kind of muscle fibre. These folks with fast twitch fibres appear bigger and have more muscle mass.
This sort of muscle fibre can be divided into two subdivisions. They are somewhere in the middle of fast twitch and slow twitch. One is totally dependent on oxygen supply and the other can work without.

Manipulating your Genetic Muscle Fibre with Correct Training

It is possible to train muscle fibre to be of better use for you. Including, if you are a marathon runner, the greater long distance running you do, the better trained your slow twitch fibres become.
It’s harder to train fast twitch muscle fibre. Experiment with low repetition weight lifting on, or close to your individual best or sprint training with short recoveries.
One of the most effective methods for improving the fast twitch fibre is plyometrics training, because it activates the stretch reflex mechanism of the muscle by having an eccentric contraction. Plyometrics uses the acceleration and deceleration of body mass and includes exercises like jumping and bouncing to boost neuromuscular co-ordination of muscular movement.
In certain sports it’s hard to find the best balance between weight lifting and cardio training. Boxers need to move around the ring constantly which requires endurance training but also needs the capability for powerful punches which means training fast twitch muscle fibres.

If you choose to plan your own training schedule make sure you are clear on what type of muscle fibres you want to train up, in order to beat your genetics. If you are not

George St Pierre was an Ectomorph. He is now a powerful MMA Champion.

confident in drawing up a plan that will improve you, why not get taught by a professional. George St Pierre is a MMA Champion. He is a mixed martial arts fighter who needs extreme endurance but also needs explosive power. This means he trains both his fast and slow twitch muscle fibres excellently. He was not gifted either with the perfect fast and slow 50/50 muscle fibre split. He was an ectomorph, a body type that is slim and someone that found it hard to put on weight. He therefore had more, slow twitch, muscle fibres. This meant he had to overcome his genetics to become the champion he is today. For inspiration and great tuition, check out the GSP Rushfit website or read our Rushfit review here.

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