Fast Twitch Muscles?

username2013

Hi

I have recently starting jogging and I am enjoying it. I wish to progress onto 10k, half marathons etc and then eventually a marathon. I have a question regarding muscles. I guess I have fast twitch muscles, I was always very quick and would generally have preferred sprints to endurance/stamina running.


If I start training for a marathon can my muscles change to more slow based muscles? I still play a lot of soccer and obviously speed is an important asset in that and it's not something I would like to lose.

Do I have anything to worry about or if I continue to play soccer and also jog should I be OK? Or is it all a myth anyways?

Thanks!

Cona

Everybody is born with fast twitch muscle fibers and slow twitch muscle fibers. You dont have one or the other. You can train or develop the particular fibres to allow you excel differently. Fast twitch are fast acting produce lots of energy but dont last very long i.e fast sprints. Slow twitch are required for endurance events like a marathon etc.

You dont have anything to worry about, your not going to become slow overnight so just train whatever way you want to and enjoy

dna_leri

Muscle fiber types are typically broken down into several distinct types, but it is best to think of them as a spectrum ranging from pure Fast Twitch (FT) to pure Slow Twitch (ST).

Magness, Steve (2014-02-16). The Science of Running: How to find your limit and train to maximize your performance (Kindle Locations 851-852). Origin Press. Kindle Edition.

It was thought that whatever muscle fiber types you were born with, you were set with these. However, recent research suggests that that view is erroneous. Changes within Fast Twitch fibers in humans have been demonstrated in numerous studies, so that conversion from FT-x to FT-a or any other subset is now commonly accepted. A full conversion from FT to ST is still debated in humans.

Magness, Steve (2014-02-16). The Science of Running: How to find your limit and train to maximize your performance (Kindle Locations 2747-2750). Origin Press. Kindle Edition.

In my experience you will lose your speed if you do not train it but you can get (at least some of) it back by doing speed work. If you are continuing to play football while doing endurance training you should lose very little but beware the injury risk.

username2013

dna_leri wrote: »

In my experience you will lose your speed if you do not train it but you can get (at least some of) it back by doing speed work. If you are continuing to play football while doing endurance training you should lose very little but beware the injury risk.

Injury risk? Is the risk of injury greater if I am doing both? I would have thought that jogging and playing football on a regular basis would increase general fitness and thus less injuries no?

dna_leri

username2013 wrote: »

Injury risk? Is the risk of injury greater if I am doing both? I would have thought that jogging and playing football on a regular basis would increase general fitness and thus less injuries no?

If doing both at the same time, I would say your injury risk is greater.

Your general fitness will improve but "metabolic fitness precedes structural readiness" which means that the athlete gains aerobic fitness (or even anaerobic fitness/tolerance) quicker than their structure – their bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments – can handle that fitness.

Make sure you leave enough time for recovery.

T runner

dna_leri wrote: »

If doing both at the same time, I would say your injury risk is greater.

Your general fitness will improve but "metabolic fitness precedes structural readiness" which means that the athlete gains aerobic fitness (or even anaerobic fitness/tolerance) quicker than their structure – their bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments – can handle that fitness.

Make sure you leave enough time for recovery.

That's very true IMO.

The 10% rule (increase your volume of training by less than 10% per week) is a very general rule to keep the structural development up with the metabolic fitness. That most likely wont be enough for you on the football field/5 a side pitch.

When you turn/switch direction in football there is pressure put on the ankle. The newly gained endurance fitness will make you stronger and able to recover better between sprints on the football pitch. You'll be able to make more fast sprints later in the game. Unfortunately, structurally, you're ankles wont be ready for this as you don't "turn" during endurance running.

The typical scenario is you go over badly on an ankle late in a game. 5 a side is particularly bad as the foot grips better and is more likely to go over. The bigger the discrepancy between the amount of football playing/training you do versus endurance running the greater the danger. So if you play 5 a side once a week and start endurance training then do some supplementary ankle strengthening work and increase volume slowly.
If youre playing 11 a side once a week and training twice, the risk is smaller, just build the easy running slowly. The endurance work will greatly improve you're effectiveness on the football field particularly late in a game as long as you cover the injury risk.