Effects of strength training on muscle fiber types and size; consequences for athletes training for high‐intensity sport

Abstract

Training toward improving performance in sports involving high intense exercise can and is done in many different ways based on a mixture of tradition in the specific sport, coaches' experience and scientific recommendations. Strength training is a form of training that now-a-days have found its way into almost all sports in which high intense work is conducted. In this review we will focus on a few selected aspects and consequences of strength training; namely what effects do strength training have of muscle fiber type composition, and how may these effects change the contractile properties of the muscle and finally how will this affect the performance of the athlete. In addition, the review will deal with muscle hypertrophy and how it develops with strength training. Overall, it is not the purpose of this review to give a comprehensive up-date of the area, but to pin-point a few issues from which functional training advises can be made. Thus, more than a review in the traditional context this review should be viewed upon as an attempt to bring sports-physiologists and coaches or others working directly with the athletes together for a mutual discussion on how recently acquired physiological knowledge are put into practise.

Explosive Resistance Training Using Elastic Bands in Young Female Team Handball Players

“…Resistance training, particularly when performed explosively as in the current elastic resistance band program, has been shown to increase the ability to recruit motor-unit firing at high frequencies 8 10 , which can improve the rate of force development 7 . Further, resistance training leads to hypertrophy, especially of the type 2 fibers 2 , which can further improve the production of power 7 . Other possible explanations could be increased tendon stiffness 16 or fascicle length 1 .…”

Alcohol consumption and hormonal alterations related to muscle hypertrophy: a review

“…The final balance between anabolism and catabolism is the expression of the relationship between protein synthesis and degradation [24,25]. It seems there is no difference in the rate of protein turnover between different muscle fibre types [26] but we also know that fast twitch muscle fibres are more responsive to hypertrophy [27,28]. Exercise aimed at increasing muscle mass is associated with changes in one or more of the following variables: muscle passive tension; contraction induced tension; sarcoplasmatic calcium concentration; energy demand; intramuscular oxygen concentration; hormonal presence; growth factors and cytokines; temperature and cell damage [29-31].…”

The effects of load on system and lower-body joint kinetics during jump squats

“…As such, methods to increase power output have received much attention in the literature, with resistance training methods being shown to be very effective (Ratamess et al, 2009;Andersen & Aagaard, 2010;Cormie et al, 2011b). These findings have led to the investigation of the most appropriate resistance training methods to improve power output in terms of the exercise, repetitions, sets, recovery periods, and the loads used (Bird et al, 2005;Stone et al, 2007;Bompa & Haff, 2009).…”