Fast-twitch muscles

[littleyahiko]

Hey everyone, I'm looking for good drills to develop fast-twitch muscles. These can be drills for the gym or the studio. But I'd really like to develop them more, and I figured this would be the place to ask, thanks in advance for the suggestions!

 

[7starmantis]

What exactly do you mean by "fast-twich" muscles?


7sm

 

[Touch Of Death]

Hey everyone, I'm looking for good drills to develop fast-twitch muscles. These can be drills for the gym or the studio. But I'd really like to develop them more, and I figured this would be the place to ask, thanks in advance for the suggestions!

Get the lightest bamboo sticks you can find, and swing them around. The lighter the better; you will be able to swing these faster than you could normaly swing your arms. This training will actualy train your fast twitch muscle fibers to move faster; hence, making you faster. Avoid any weight training while working this concept; weights on your hands and feet or a heavy bar trains you to be slower.
Sean

 

[Black Bear]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/factfiles/fastandslowtwitch/soleus.shtml

Power lifting, interval training.

http://crossfit.com

 

[moving target]

ToD I'm not so sure that is true, not if he is actualy reffering to muscle fibers..

 

[Touch Of Death]

ToD I'm not so sure that is true, not if he is actualy reffering to muscle fibers..

Well according to RMCRobertson these fibers cannot be built, they can only be trained. If you are out there Robert perhaps you could expand on this...
Sean

 

[moving target]

To the best of my knowledge that is correct, but "develop" doesn't nessisaraly mean increase in number.

To train fast twitch muscle fibers you have to either be moving fast (as you suggested) or lift a very heavy load requiring a more maximal muscle fiber recruitment. Lifting weights slow doesn't make your muscle fibers contract slower, but if you don't do any speed training your nevous system simply won't be wired for speed. So best option usualy is to do both. It's hard to get a maximal contraction without some noticable resistance.

 

[loki09789]

Development of fast twitch muscles is about many components

1.Technical proficiency
2.tonallity
3.recruitment

Muscle fibers do not multiply, they either grow in mass or density or both. In the case of speed training, it is more about technique, tonallity and recruitment than any goal of density or mass.

Picture a line where one end is speed and the other is power. Speed training is more a local muscle development goal unless you are talking about agility and quickness which is both whole body and localized.

If you are looking for things like punch/kick speed development of fast twitch muscles your best bet is working against a light resistance like surgical tubing or cable resistance of near technical specific application and only 6 or so reps per set. Cable and surgical tubes work better than light free weights because they increase in resistance as you get closer to full extension reducing the likelyhood of hyperextension or 'tennis elbow' types of joint injury.
Fast twitch muscle development depends greatly on technical skill, so don't do lots of reps because fatigue will degrade form and lead to unsafe and incomplete fast twitch muscle recruitment.

If you are talking about overall 'fast twitch' muscle training - whole body - then the power lifting and interval types of drills will help as well, but again focus on technique and intensity, not volume of weight or volume of repetitions. Check out web sites on sport specific training close to what you are looking for or what is commonly called 'functional' training now.

It is hard to give clear suggestions until I know what type of goal you have for fast twitch development.

Paul M.

 

[loki09789]

I am assuming that for this discussion we are distiguishing between fast twitch, slow twitch and intermediate muscle tissue.

Again, what is the goal of the fast twitch development?

Paul M.