All muscles consist of various types of muscle fibers.  To build strength, all types of muscle fibers should be worked during a training session.  For some specific exercise combinations that use all types of muscle fiber, read about a workout here.  The two primary muscle fiber categories are fast twitch – both Type A and Type B – and slow twitch.  Nearly all of muscles consist of about half fast twitch and half slow twitch fibers.  A training program that works the entire muscle – both fiber types – builds more muscle.

Fast twitch muscle fibers work anaerobically – they are used when you need short bursts of strength or speed.  They use energy available within your body.  Fast twitch muscle fibers fatigue faster than slow twitch fibers because the fast twitch nerve cells fire faster.  Sprinters produce a lot of power for a very short time, using a lot of fast twitch muscles to do it.

Fast twitch Type A muscle fibers are intermediate fibers and use both aerobic and anaerobic energy.  These muscle fibers are used for activities that are relatively short, but not at full speed.  Type B fast twitch muscle fibers use only anaerobic metabolism.  They fatigue fast because they contract the fastest of all the muscle fibers.  These muscle fibers are used when you require a high performance rush of energy. 

Aerobic metabolism is used by slow twitch muscle fibers.  These fibers contract slower and do not create a lot of strength, but they are also slow to fatigue so they can work much longer than fast twitch muscles.  Energy for these muscles is provided by oxygen rich blood transported to them through the many capillaries throughout the fibers.  The slow twitch muscle fiber is used for medium to low intensity exercises that can be completed over a long period of time.  Marathon running, bike riding several miles or hiking use slow twitch muscle fibers.

 If you want your muscles to work at their peak during any type of exercise you choose to do, your strength workout should work all types of muscle fibers.  You can find reviews of programs that adhere to this principal at Turbulence Training Review and No Nonsense Muscle Building Review.   There are a lot of programs out there, but next I’ll give you some ideas on how to train each muscle type – you could easily make up your own program.

The completely anaerobic Type B fast twitch muscle fibers can be trained with exercises that require maximum effort for a very short time.  Sprint at full speed or lift a weight that you can only do one repetition to fatigue.  Type A fast twitch muscles are worked when you lower the strength required and increase the time – run fast for 20 – 30 minutes or lift a weight that allows you to complete 6 – 10 repetitions to fatigue.  Training for endurance trains slow twitch muscles.  Lift weights small enough that you can complete 3 sets of 6 – 10 repetitions, run longer or swim a lot of laps.  This training will take more time than training for fast twitch muscle fibers, but it is necessary to do this training also to build the entire muscle and get the maximum strength you are looking for.

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