Muscle Fibre Types | Day #19 WellFit 365

Muscle Fibre Types Explained…

In today’s video, I go over a little bit of exercise physiology.

Most people have heard of slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibres.

There are actually three types of fibres in our bodies.

Why would you need to know about muscle fibre types?

Well, knowing about the different types of muscle fibres helps you to understand why some people’s bodies react differently to working out than others. Have you ever noticed those people who don’t seem to workout hard at all, yet get great muscle gains for their body quite easily? Or those people who are just ‘naturally’ fast sprinters, or have great ‘natural’ aerobic fitness?

Type 1 Muscle Fibres:

Slow twitch. Use in long distance exercise. Good at using oxygen for energy.

Type 2B Fibres:

Great for sprinters, explosive, powerful movements like jumping and building muscle size.

Type 2A Fibres:

These are a bit of a combination of both of the above. Capable of producing a good amount of force, but also have some of the fatigue resistant fibres of the type 1 fibres.

Knowing your muscle fibres inside out isn’t super important, but this stuff is handy to know so you can understand why some exercises or sports might suit you better than others depending on your genetics.

Humans are generally 60% fast-twitch muscle fibres, give or take depending on their genetics.

For example, racial variations in muscle fibre types are part of the reason why many African-Amercian people are great sprinters, while many Kenyans are great long distance runners.