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Muscle fibre type test

Tinnuk Posts: 291 Joined: 2005/12/19	2009/01/08, 01:54 AM There's this test that I'm wondering about wherein one can apparently get a general idea of what muscle fibre types are dominant within certain muscle groups. Basically you figure out your 1RM for a certain lift, then lift at 80% intensity for as many reps as possible; the fewer reps you can do, the more fast twitch dominant you are, the more reps, the more slow twitch dominant you are. Now, I don't claim to be a sports scientist, and despite the fact that this is recommended to coaches by seemingly reputable people (Siff, Poliquin, etc), it seems...flawed to me somehow; I can't exactly explain it. I mean, wouldn't the number of reps you could do at 80% largely depend on your training level and what you're training for (Ex: Don't more elite lifters struggle more with near maxes than beginners would?) What do you guys think?
blue77 Posts: 182 Joined: 2004/10/10	2009/01/09, 02:08 AM well you actually have three muscle types fast twitch and slow twitch and involuntary muscle contration like your heart.some doctors say you have half fast and half slow,fast twitch contration only lasts for 3 to 4 seconds,how would 80% of your max for how many reps show which muscle fiber your working,which is only 5 or 6 reps, listen to louies tapes.
wrestler125 Posts: 4,619 Joined: 2004/01/27	2009/01/11, 10:02 PM You are correct in your assessment, 100%. However, you're also thinking of this in terms of black and white. Yea, your training level and what you are training for will have a lot of effect on how many reps you can get with a submaximal weight. But this won't be everything, and muscle fiber type will still have a large effect. You, as a coach, have to be able to evaluate and compensate for different factors such as training experiance, speed of lift, etc. However, I don't really believe in training for muscle fiber dominance. Train how you want to be, but no exclusively. To lift a heavy weight once, train that, and other rep ranges as well. Research and real life invariably point to the best strength increases coming when a variety of rep ranges are employed, so why neglect a rep range because of genetics? -------------- SQUAT MORE ~Jesse Marunde Blood Guts Sweat Chalk
Tinnuk Posts: 291 Joined: 2005/12/19	2009/01/12, 03:49 AM I never considered training for muscle fibre dominance, just what I want to improve upon. One other thing that confused me about this test was that the squat suggested I have a slight fast twitch dominance, however, the pistol I can only add about 30-40lb to, but unweighted, I can do almost 15 which would suggest slow twitch dominance...
wrestler125 Posts: 4,619 Joined: 2004/01/27	2009/01/14, 07:09 PM The squat and pistol are two very different exercises. The pistol is a terrible exercise to use for any kind of test since it relies very heavily on balance and the strength of multiple stabilizers. -------------- SQUAT MORE ~Jesse Marunde Blood Guts Sweat Chalk
Tinnuk Posts: 291 Joined: 2005/12/19	2009/01/14, 11:01 PM And stabilizers usually have remarkable endurance if I'm correct... What could one expect as far as carryover goes from the pistol to the squat or the squat to the pistol?
Pensfan Posts: 484 Joined: 2008/03/14	2009/01/15, 06:53 PM pistol?
wrestler125 Posts: 4,619 Joined: 2004/01/27	2009/01/16, 10:35 AM It's a one legged squat. You can't expect carryover from a pistol to a squat. That's just silly. Aside from using the same muscles, the movements are totally different biomechanically. I train at a crossfit that has strongman and powerlifting equipment, as well as the average pistol training crossfitter. Our biggest squatter (880 at 242) can't do a pistol. The guy that is best at pistols, I've seen him rep out 20 of them like nothing, can't squat 300 @ 165.