Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Let's Get Molecular, Come On Let Your Body Move
Layman, that's the key word to remember when reading these ideas!
Theoretically, the more fast twitch muscle fibre you have in your muscle mass the faster you are, relatively speaking,i.e., if you have two 200 lb. people the person with 10% more fast twitch muscle should be faster,ceteris paribus. And supposedly the more slow twitch muscle fibre you have in your body the longer you can run but not as fast. So what is the ideal combination of slow and fast twitch muscle fibre in an athlete's body? It depends, I suppose, on the athlete's needs in their particular sport.
For example, a marathon runner requires significantly more slow twitch muscle fibre since they need to run long distances at a steady pace. They have no need to sprint for the entire 26.2 miles. Rather they wish to sustain a steady pace that is very nearly a sprint; world class marathoners run 5 minute miles, so that is almost a sprint. On the other hand a 40 yard dash specialist has no need for a steady pace, they are concerned about total acceleration all the way through the 40 yards, then they stop and do it again.
This is all significant since how they train, dictates their optimum results. As the marathoner well knows he needs to log many miles of endurance type training. Simutaneously, he must be careful not to add any useless fat or mass that will detract from the formation of the highly efficient slow twitch muscle fibres that will allow him to maintain the steady pace for a very long run.
Conversely, the sprinter or athlete that needs bursts of speed will be hampered in their performance if they haul around the slow twitch muscle fibres. Their goal is to develop fast twitch fibre that can explode many times during an event or competition. They work hard to improve the fast twitch and to improve recovery from the bursts of energy. Examples of this type of athlete would be Tennis players, footballers(European and American), basketballers, and so on.
Anecdotal evidence shows that the most successful athletes train very similarly within their respective sports. That is, most skiers train the same as other skiers. By dissecting their training regimens, one can understand that their athletic goals dictate how they have trained historically, and how they will continue to train; trial and error holds true in developing training systems, as well. With that understood, one should also consider that athletes alter their training programs very slowly, so advances in conditioning and fast or slow twitch muscle fibre development have been adopted very slowly.
It wan't that long ago that coaches withheld water during rigorous two a day practices so they could "toughen up" their charges. We now know that this practice is foolhardy and dangerous. A few people had to die to change this practice. There are still a few mis-guided coaches out there that continue to practice this barbarism; Are we not men, do we not bleed when you cut us?, Hell yes, so drink plenty of fluids all the time and look for new ways to get faster all the time
Theoretically, the more fast twitch muscle fibre you have in your muscle mass the faster you are, relatively speaking,i.e., if you have two 200 lb. people the person with 10% more fast twitch muscle should be faster,ceteris paribus. And supposedly the more slow twitch muscle fibre you have in your body the longer you can run but not as fast. So what is the ideal combination of slow and fast twitch muscle fibre in an athlete's body? It depends, I suppose, on the athlete's needs in their particular sport.
For example, a marathon runner requires significantly more slow twitch muscle fibre since they need to run long distances at a steady pace. They have no need to sprint for the entire 26.2 miles. Rather they wish to sustain a steady pace that is very nearly a sprint; world class marathoners run 5 minute miles, so that is almost a sprint. On the other hand a 40 yard dash specialist has no need for a steady pace, they are concerned about total acceleration all the way through the 40 yards, then they stop and do it again.
This is all significant since how they train, dictates their optimum results. As the marathoner well knows he needs to log many miles of endurance type training. Simutaneously, he must be careful not to add any useless fat or mass that will detract from the formation of the highly efficient slow twitch muscle fibres that will allow him to maintain the steady pace for a very long run.
Conversely, the sprinter or athlete that needs bursts of speed will be hampered in their performance if they haul around the slow twitch muscle fibres. Their goal is to develop fast twitch fibre that can explode many times during an event or competition. They work hard to improve the fast twitch and to improve recovery from the bursts of energy. Examples of this type of athlete would be Tennis players, footballers(European and American), basketballers, and so on.
Anecdotal evidence shows that the most successful athletes train very similarly within their respective sports. That is, most skiers train the same as other skiers. By dissecting their training regimens, one can understand that their athletic goals dictate how they have trained historically, and how they will continue to train; trial and error holds true in developing training systems, as well. With that understood, one should also consider that athletes alter their training programs very slowly, so advances in conditioning and fast or slow twitch muscle fibre development have been adopted very slowly.
It wan't that long ago that coaches withheld water during rigorous two a day practices so they could "toughen up" their charges. We now know that this practice is foolhardy and dangerous. A few people had to die to change this practice. There are still a few mis-guided coaches out there that continue to practice this barbarism; Are we not men, do we not bleed when you cut us?, Hell yes, so drink plenty of fluids all the time and look for new ways to get faster all the time
# posted by Art @ 7:26 PM 
