Fiber Types...

I've been wondering...
Is muscle fiber types (slow twitch and fast twitch) something that can be trained?
can a person who was born with mostly slow twitch train to have more fast twitch? and vice versa...

Layman's answer: Yes, you can change it to some degree. As far as I know, you can affect your fiber make up with focused training for the purposes of improving on weaknesses, but not to completely change your natural abilities. IOW, a sprinter will become a better climber or TT-ist and a climber can improve his sprint, but that's all.

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thanks for the reply...
So lifting heavy weights in the gym wont take away from my climbing ability? (or slow twitch abilities)

goof off for a month and your slow twitch fibers will turn to fast twitch fibers before they atrophy.

Not unless you put on weight you need to carry up those hills or use time and or energy in your weight training that takes away from your endurance training.

Problem is, it's easy to do either or both of those things if you spend more time in the gym and less time on the bike. Still if you've got training time and energy to spare and don't bulk up the weights won't necessarily cost you endurance.

-Dave

I have a coach - he has pretty much designed the weight lifting plan so my muscle gain is minimum... I'm in the gym twice a week for about 30 min. the focus is on heavy lifting and few reps.

Hello!

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Hello again!

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lol

Imagine someone with a 14 inch vertical jump able to hit 2k watts. There's also guys who can jump 35 inchs and not do 1500w. It's all about training and specificity.

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"friendship, family, religion. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business!" -Mr. Burns
The faster you go, the fewer passing cars

Why are people so afriad of gaining weight in the gym? Unless you're on the juice, you ain't going to pack on the lbs quickly at all. And gaining muscle(or fat) is a function of how many excess calories you consume, in relation to how many you burn.

Lift as heavy as you want, you won't get all "big and bulky" LOL

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"friendship, family, religion. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business!" -Mr. Burns
The faster you go, the fewer passing cars