Slow Twitch Muscle and Fast Twitch?

Question

Since a lad of 15, I realised that I could go very fast on a bicycle,
I found that I got better over distances beyond 25 mile, I was never a top class sprinter. but the distance races were the ones, that I could excell in, I am much older now turned sixty but can still go out for miles aropund the French country Side , taking in steep climbs. Cycling is a wonderfull sport it keeps your mind young and healthy and keeps your body in trim.
Yes I take a few health suppliments , but only natural vitamins
needed in older people to stop bones getting brittle.

Gym work is great but I think more people should get out on the road and enjoy the sceenery , fresh air and Sun Shine.

Does any one know what my muscle type would be from the above, fast twitch or slow twitch, and why people are different in this way, I guess it is inherited.

Matt Stoneham

Answer 1

u have slow twitch muscle fibers, if you want to use those words. its pretty much common sense for the word play (not insulting you, just makin it easier for you to remember)

and it doesnt have to be inherited, its just how you train. true that you may be naturally better at going longer distances, but thats not how it always has to be. their called fast twitch MUSCLES, as in you can work on them and build them stronger.

you would just have to do like sets of like 5, going as fast as you can for like a quarter to half a mile on your bike. doing this everyday would get that sprinting up.

i ran track my whole highschool time and im a sprinter, so i would work on plyometrics and other exercises to build my fast twitch muscles. good luck!

Answer 2

So that you are clear, you were born with a certain percentage of fast twitch muscles and a certain percentage of slow twitch muscles. Those percentages won't change anymore than your eye color will, you can't "convert" them. You can do things to train the fast twitch and things to train the slow twitch, obviously doing one takes time and energy from doing the other.

Answer 3

yep, it's genetics. training can convert a limited number of intermediate fibers to either slow or fast but nothing that can be quantified.

unfortunately I'm in Vegas now and it's not too safe riding a bike on the roads around here, so I have to stick to riding in the various parks.