All skeletal muscles contain a combination of fibre types.

The mix of fibres varies

from individual to individual, and within the individual from muscle group to muscles
group. Muscles fibre is largely down to inheritance. Training can also influence the
efficiency of these different fibre types

“Many people believe that having fast and slow twitch muscle fibres may determine
what sports athletes excel at and how they respond to training.”
(www. sportsmedicine.about.com)

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.

“Skeletal muscle is made up of bundles of individual muscle fibers called myocytes.

Each myocyte contains many myofibrils, which are strands of proteins (actin and
myosin) that can grab on to each other and pull. This shortens the muscle and causes
muscle contraction. “
(www. sportsmedicine.about.com)

Below are listed the different fibre types and what can of exercise they are best suited
for:

Type I

Type I fibres are also known as slow twitch fibres. They are red in colour due to the
presence of large volumes of myoglobin and so oxygen and high numbers of
Mitochondria. Due to this fact they are very resistant to fatigue and are capable of
producing repeated low-level contractions by producing large amounts of ATP
through an aerobic metabolic cycle.
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Marathon runners will have a high number of these fibres partly through inheritance
and party through training. Due to these fibres being resistant to fatigue it means they
are capable of prolonged periods of exercise
Type IIa

Type IIa fibres are also sometimes known as fast oxidative fibres and are a hybrid of
type I and II fibres. These fibres contain a large number of mitochondria and
Myoglobin, hence their red colour. They manufacture and split ATP at a fast rate by
utilising both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism and so produce fast, strong muscle
contractions, although they are more prone to fatigue than type I fibres.
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Type IIb

Often known as fast glycolytic fibres they are white in colour due to a low level of
myoglobin and also contain few mitochondria. They produce ATP at a slow rate by
anaerobic metabolism and break it down very quicky. This results in short, fast bursts
of power and rapid fatigue. As mentioned above, this type of fibre can be turned into
type IIa fibres by resistance training. This is a positive change due to the increased
fatigue resistance of type IIa fibres. These fibres are found in large quantities in the
muscles of the arms.
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“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)

This fibre type contracts quickly and produces a large but short amount of energy, this
fibre type will be vital to Olympic power lifters as they will need a short burst of
energy to perform their specific lift.

Sporting Example

I’m now going to link the different fibre types which would be best suited and why, to
a sports person of my choice. I have chosen Dwain Peel.
As a rugby player all of the fibre types will be needed. Rugby is a game of 80
minutes which is a long duration, so Peel to help resist fatigue will need slow twitch
fibres as it is a continuous exercise. To help resist fatigue Peel will need to train these
certain fibres as more mitochondria will be made in the muscles also. Peel will also
need fast twitch fibres as when a tackle, hitting a ruck he will need a strong burst of
energy but will not be able to sustain that intensity.
 Bibliography

BTEC Sport Level 3, Mark adams,

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

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www. sportsmedicine.about.com