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Undertoad · 10-20-2002, 08:16 PM

Description of different muscle fiber types:

http://www.coachr.org/fiber.htm

The key paragraph:

There is great variability in the percentage of fiber types among athletes. For example, it is well known that endurance athletes have a greater proportion of slow-twitch fibers, while sprinters and jumpers have more fast-twitch fibers (Costill, et al., 1976; Ricoy, et al., 1998). The greater percentage of FT fibers in sprinters enables them to produce greater muscle force and power than their ST-fibered counterparts (Fitts & Widrick, 1996). Differences in muscle fiber composition among athletes have raised the question of whether muscle structure is an acquired trait or is genetically determined. Studies performed on identical twins have shown that muscle fiber composition is very much genetically determined (Komi & Karlsson, 1979), however there is evidence that both the structure and metabolic capacity of individual muscle fibers can adapt specifically to different types of training.

10-20-2002, 08:16 PM	#17
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Description of different muscle fiber types: http://www.coachr.org/fiber.htm The key paragraph: There is great variability in the percentage of fiber types among athletes. For example, it is well known that endurance athletes have a greater proportion of slow-twitch fibers, while sprinters and jumpers have more fast-twitch fibers (Costill, et al., 1976; Ricoy, et al., 1998). The greater percentage of FT fibers in sprinters enables them to produce greater muscle force and power than their ST-fibered counterparts (Fitts & Widrick, 1996). Differences in muscle fiber composition among athletes have raised the question of whether muscle structure is an acquired trait or is genetically determined. Studies performed on identical twins have shown that muscle fiber composition is very much genetically determined (Komi & Karlsson, 1979), however there is evidence that both the structure and metabolic capacity of individual muscle fibers can adapt specifically to different types of training.