Muscle Fibre Types 10th Jan 2011,

Natalie Beer

There are different types of fibres that make up our various

muscles. The mix of fibres varies from person to person and within
the individual from muscle group to muscle group. To a large extent
this fibre mix is inherited and they are all unique.

“To succeed at the top, Pick your

parents.”
“Are you a better sprinter or distance runner? Many people believe
that having fast and slow twitch muscle fibers may determine what
sports athletes excel at and how they respond to training.”
(www. sportsmedicine.about.com)

An athletes ability to excel at endurance or speed/power work is

dependant on the following, very important factors;
• The nature of the training they undertake
• The nature of an individuals muscle fibre type distribution
(Class notes)

An athlete can’t gain more fibres, but can train them, however
training does damage them, and they grow back bigger and thicker.
In the human body we would see that the skeletal muscles are
made up of bundles of muscle fibres, which, when stimulated to
contract help produce movement. The nature of the movement
depends on the proportion of different fibre types.

“The distinctions of the fibre types seem to influence how muscles

respond to training and physical activity, and each fiber type is
unique in its ability to contract in a certain way. Human muscles
contain a genetically determined mixture of both slow and fast fiber
types. On average, we have about 50 percent slow twitch and 50
percent fast twitch fibers in most of the muscles used for
movement.” (www. sportsmedicine.about.com)

The three types are as follows;

Type1: Slow oxidative fibres

These fibres are known as ‘slow twitch’ because they contract

slowly, and they do not contract with as much force as fast twitch
fibres but can cope easily with bouts of prolonged exercise. This
type has a rich blood supply and contains many mitochondria to
sustain aerobic metabolism. They take long to fatigue therefore
suited to longer duration aerobic activities and have a high capacity
for aerobic respiration. (Class notes)
“They are red in colour, contain many bloody capillaries and
generate ATP by the aerobic system, and these fibres use oxygen
and fat.” (www.isokinetics.net/advanced/musclefibertypes )
These types of muscle fibres are more suited to long distance
runners as they take a long time to fatigue and the rich blood supply
allows blood to reach the working muscles. They are adapted to low
intensity aerobic endurance work and are generally employed at the
beginning of exercise.

Type 2a: Fast oxidative glycolytic fibres

‘These fibres are also known as ‘fast twitch’ because they are fast at
contracting and able to produce a large amount of force. These
fibres have a thicker myelin sheath stimulating the muscle fibre so it
can contract more quickly and with more force.’(Class notes)
This type of fibre is more suited to team and game players, as its in
between, a blend of type 1 and 2b so fibres will perform in situations
where an athlete may be jogging, for example in football however if
the athlete receives the ball and sprints towards the goal, the fast
twitch fibres also allow this.
‘They use carbon dioxide and oxygen and this type can produce
energy both aerobically and anaerobically by breaking down
carbohydrate to pyruvic acid, however it is far more suited to
anaerobic respiration, which means it can release energy very
quickly.’ (Class notes) The rapid build up of lactic acid causes this
muscle fibre to fatigue quickly, but not as quickly as type 2b. “They
are red in colour, and have a high capacity for generating ATP by
oxidation, and Split ATP at a very rapid rate and, hence, high
contraction velocity.”
(www.isokinetics.net/advanced/musclefibertypes )
These are the best type of fibres to have, and are most common
within an athlete, they allow a performer to adapt to any
unexpected or expected situation that may arise for example
jogging down the line to sprinting towards the goal, these fibres
make the change in speed and direction easier and therefore the
athlete is more adaptable to that sport.

Type 2b: Fast glycolytic fibres

These muscle fibres are also known as ‘fast twitch’; they contract
rapidly and can exert a large amount of force. They rely heavily on
anaerobic respiration for releasing energy as they have very few
mitochondria, therefore suited for sprinters, or explosive athletes
such as shot put, or javelin. Energy is released very rapidly into the
body and the working muscles causing the muscle fibre to fatigue
quickly. ‘Suited to shorter duration exercises, 10 seconds and under
on average, and perfect for power athletes’ (class notes) or for
example more specific in a sport a rugby tackle, a dive off the
blocks in swimming or a hit in hockey. These fibres cause a longer
recovery time as the bodies energy systems and muscles are
working extremely hard for a short period and suited to purely
anaerobic performers, without the use of oxygen.
“They adapt to high-intensity anaerobic exercise involving explosive
or powerful movements, but are increasingly employed as fatigue
sets during low-intensity endurance work.” (BTEC Sport Level 3,
Mark Adams et al 2010)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www. sportsmedicine.about.com

Class notes

www.isokinetics.net/advanced/musclefibertypes

BTEC Sport Level 3, Mark adams,

R.Barker,C.Lydon,C.Mulligan,P.phillippo,L.Sutton. Essex, 2010.