How do I change muscle type

Question

I've come to the sad realization that most of the muscle fibers in my legs are slow twitching and I want to know if I can change the muscle composition to mostly fast twitching with a certain type of exercise.

Answer 1

Short answer:  no.  Current research is showing that people are born all fast twitch and then through our lives those fast twitch can change over to slow twitch.  It is a one way street.

Now all is not lost.  You need to train what you have to be effective.  There are 2 ways of doing this.  First, you need to become a more efficient runner.  This means working on the running mechanics.  This means that you may need to slow down your running to improve form before you can speed up again.  Next, you can work on strength.  This will be power movements such as Olympic Lifts, Squats, etc.  You can do plyos too.  All of the above should be done with someone that is trained in the field or you can actually do more damage.  If your coach says run on your toes, probably not trained:)

Good Luck!

Answer 2

well you can do sprint work, i don't me to be discouraging but fast or slow twitching muscles are genetic, this is why to be a good sprinter you need to posess a natural talent, you can train but you most likely won't be as good as natural sprinters.. i hope i'm not being too blunt, but it's all in the genes you can only do so much to train them

Answer 3

Try 'negatives' to increase the spring/elasticity in your muscles. For example, stand on a chair and lower yourself to the floor on one leg. Or, on a leg press machine or squat rack, lift the weight with both legs but lower with one leg. These are very intense and you will be unbelievable sore at first so start slow. Only do about 8 reps once or twice a week. The results can be very good for increasing speed.  

Answer 4

You can do various pylometrics exercise and isometric training to increase the ability of your fast twitch muscles.  There are numerous websites and books devoted to this topic explaining the exercises and training methods to maximize your fast twitch muscles.  Unfortunately, there are certain genetic limitations and if you are muscles are mostly slow twitching then you will likely never become a very explosive athlete but you can maximize what you have and improve your speed and power somewhat.

Answer 5

there is nothing you can do about changing the numbers of fast twitch vs. slow twitch muscles, but you can develop the fast twitch muscles that you do have to improve your speed

Answer 6

you cant change your type.....all you can do is more exercises to strengthen those muscles

Answer 7

uhm EXERCISE duh...

Answer 8

You cant really "change" your muscle type because its genetic. You're stuck with whatever you have. But you can improve sprinting to your potential, just not to the best degree.

Answer 9

You want your legs to twitch?