How to know if you have slow twitch or fast? Plus sth else...

Is there a way you can know if you are fast twitch or slow?
Is the nervous system equaly important to the kind of fiber to have speed?
Does the nervus system have genetical characteristics that make us be
fast or slow?Can this be improved dramatically?How exactly?

 

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Only true way to tell how much of fast and slow twitch muscles you have, more accurately called type 1, type 2a, type 2b fiber, is to have a muscle biopsy . . . which as far as I've heard it's quite painful. You will also have all types of fibers in each muscle group in varying percentages.

The other way is simply by training to increase different fibers. Each type has specific characteristics and depending on how you train you will be recruiting that type of fiber for the activity.

I'm not entirely sure about your question on the nervous system. As far as I can guess, everyone has a genetic predisposition for reaction time, which is a very complex system of chemical process in the body starting with brain signal and ending at muscle contraction. I really don't know if you can train the nervous system to be faster, but you can train yourself to better recognize stimuli in order to create a response to it. That's the best guess I have at that.

 

Interesting, I've got a couple of questions about that.

Which muscle fibre type favours short range explosive energy?

What types of training favour that type of fibre?

 

Type 2a/b are primarily the muscle fibers used in short powerful contractions. There are some differences between these two fibers, but generally these are your strength fibers. They fatigue easy, are large in size, and produce strong contractile force.

Anything leaning away from aerobics would be a good way to develop these types of fiber. Examples would be for resistance training using heavy loads, low reps and lots of rest between sets.

 

I mean if there's another way to find out... Like the strength to bodymass ratio or sth.

 

I don't really think you can tell without a muscle biospy; however you could probably take an accurate guess depending on if you are a strength athlete or an endurance athlete. IE) A marathon runner is going to have a much larger percentage of type 1 fiber in comparison to a sprinter, but a sprinter will have much more type 2a/b fiber because of the difference in performance goals.

Is there a reason you want to know the breakdown specifically?

 

Yes, I need to know if I can reach great velocity of movement in punching and blocking...

 

This thread has been bugging me for a while now as I read something about this a month or so ago and couldn't for the life of me remember where. The boss has been scarce this afternoon, so I've been doing a bit of googling. I think this is what you're looking for:

http://www.drsquat.com/index.cfm?action=viewarticle&articleID=15

The interesting thing is, it seems the less reps of a 80% 1RM you can do, the more fast-twitch dominant you are! I'll have to try this at home sometime soon . . .

 

Simple try punching and blocking to see how fast you are. Knowing the percentage of muscle fiber type in this instance won't help you and shouldn't be a concern; however, what you've said is basically an outcome that you are looking for, so break it down a bit.

The great velocity you are looking for is probably similar to explosive movement. From what you've said already I would doubt that you are looking for movement to be sustained over a long period of time. So what we have now is very strong, quick muscle contraction that isn't sustained. What you are looking at is training type 2 a/b muscle fiber. Again if this is your goal then you will probably be wanting to train for power and that can be done in a resistance training by using heavy load, low reps, and lots of rest between sets. Before you do the power though you need a base to start on, otherwise your stablizing muscles won't be able to deal with the overload of resistance.

At this point we can't forget what we are training for so it's always a good idea to balance the conditioning training with technical training. Just having the muscles to be fast doesn't make you fast. Technically a person should be able to do a motion as efficiently as possible and this will only come with constant technical practice . . . just like anything else.

Explanation for this is simple. Because you are working with a heavier load your body will recruit the "power" muscle fibers. Although these fibers can produce stronger contractile force they tire very easily which is why you can lift heavier loads, but not as often. Unless a person is specifically training like this constantly they will be more type 2 a/b dominant, but everyone will be able to do fewer reps at 80% 1rm. Take a look at a marathon runner who will primarily be type 1 fiber. They will still have a 1rm, and will still be able to push 80% of the resistance, however because of the weight their body will recruit the 2 a/b fibers that they do have in order to deal with the load. This doesn't make them primarily type 2 a/b. The only real way to determine the percentage of muscle fiber type is with a muscle biopsy, and for curiosity sake I don't know if I'm willing to have a large guage needle stuck into me to remove a muscle sample for analysis.

 

Thanks Artikon you're right.I will do what I can whith whatever I have...

 

Glad I could help. Actually it was interesting that this was brought up as I'm currently studying this in a strength course for my bachelor's degree. Kinda gave me a more of a reason to back through my notes and do a little more research.

 

Fast twitch fibres are responsible for powerful or fast movements.

So you'll want to do maximal/sub-maximal weight training and dynamic effort training. Anything involving heavy resistance or explosive movements.