Muscle fiber typology substantially influences time to recover from high-intensity exercise

Abstract

Human fast-twitch muscle fibers generate high power in a short amount of time but are easily fatigued, whereas slow-twitch fibers are more fatigue resistant. The transfer of this knowledge to coaching is hampered by the invasive nature of the current evaluation of muscle typology by biopsies. Therefore, a noninvasive method was developed to estimate muscle typology through proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the gastrocnemius. The aim of this study was to investigate whether male subjects with an a priori-determined fast typology (FT) are characterized by a more pronounced Wingate exercise-induced fatigue and delayed recovery compared with subjects with a slow typology (ST). Ten subjects with an estimated higher percentage of fast-twitch fibers and 10 subjects with an estimated higher percentage of slow-twitch fibers underwent the test protocol, consisting of three 30-s all-out Wingate tests. Recovery of knee extension torque was evaluated by maximal voluntary contraction combined with electrical stimulation up to 5 h after the Wingate tests. Although both groups delivered the same mean power across all Wingates, the power drop was higher in the FT group (−61%) compared with the ST group (−41%). The torque at maximal voluntary contraction had fully recovered in the ST group after 20 min, whereas the FT group had not yet recovered 5 h into recovery. This noninvasive estimation of muscle typology can predict the extent of fatigue and time to recover following repeated all-out exercise and may have applications as a tool to individualize training and recovery cycles. NEW & NOTEWORTHY A one-fits-all training regime is present in most sports, though the same training implies different stimuli in athletes with a distinct muscle typology. Individualization of training based on this muscle typology might be important to optimize performance and to lower the risk for accumulated fatigue and potentially injury. When conducting research, one should keep in mind that the muscle typology of participants influences the severity of fatigue and might therefore impact the results.

Response to Three Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Cannot Be Explained by the Exertional Level

“…Animal studies have shown that the faster the composition of the myosin heavy chain in muscle fibers, the more sensitive those fibers are to fatigue development [28,29]. It has recently been shown that muscle force recovery after SIT is much longer in people with predominantly type II muscle fiber composition [30]. There is evidence that oxidative reprogramming with training is much easier across a pool of type II fiber subtypes than that of type I fibers [31].…”

Effect of New Zealand Blackcurrant Extract on Isometric Contraction-Induced Fatigue and Recovery: Potential Muscle-Fiber Specific Effects

“…Hamada et al [ 13 ] observed that males with a predominant fast-twitch muscle fiber-type profile in the vastus lateralis muscle had greater decreases during repeated maximal voluntary isometric contractions (i.e., type II: 49.6% vs. type I: 22.8%, respectively). The study by Lievens et al [ 17 ] confirmed that the decrease in cycling power by three 30-s Wingate tests was also larger in males with a predominant type II profile (i.e., type II: 61%% vs. type I: 41%, respectively). In addition, muscle fiber typology also affected the recovery from the three 30-s Wingate tests [ 17 ].…”

“…The study by Lievens et al [ 17 ] confirmed that the decrease in cycling power by three 30-s Wingate tests was also larger in males with a predominant type II profile (i.e., type II: 61%% vs. type I: 41%, respectively). In addition, muscle fiber typology also affected the recovery from the three 30-s Wingate tests [ 17 ].…”

“…Mechanisms for exercise-induced fatigue are primarily dependent on the exercise duration and exercise intensity and can have central (i.e., located in the central nervous system) and peripheral (i.e., located in the muscle) components [ 15 ]. In addition, exercise-induced fatigue by intermittent maximal-intensity exercise is affected by the muscle fiber composition of the contracting skeletal muscles [ 16 , 17 ]. In general, slow-twitch (type I) muscle fibers are more fatigue-resistant than the fast-twitch (type II) muscle fibers.…”

A mathematical model-based approach to optimize loading schemes of isometric resistance training sessions

“…It would be intriguing to calibrate the model to different muscle groups and subjects and then examine how the resulting parameters affect the optimized RT sessions. Lievens et al [30], for example, after analyzing fatigue and recovery patterns of MVIC torque of the knee extensors, conclude that individualizing training might be important to optimize performance. The authors used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to analyze muscle fiber typology of the gastrocnemius and then classify the subjects into a slow-and a fast-twitch group for which they expected different patterns.…”