You might not know about this, but it is a fact that fast twitch muscle fibres are not only the largest but also the most powerful movers present in the body. However, the fast-twitch muscles are also the most neglected part of any bodybuilder’s program.
The truth is that these fast twitch muscle fibres are capable of being improved and trained for increased power and speed but not a lot of individual’s focus on them. By improving these fast twitch muscles, your endurance and strength can be drastically improved.
The question you might have is probably ‘how do you train fast twitch muscles?’ Well, below are five exercises that can help.
- Sprinting
Apart from improving your speed and stamina, sprinting is the optimum training schedule for improving the fast twitch muscle fibre. This is because sprinting helps to build up the particular muscles that are required to be faster. Meanwhile, sprinting also generates and promotes a better use of the fast twitch muscle fibres. Sprinting requires the maximum of efforts, so this fast twitch muscle fibre exercise is quite similar to those strength training that requires high levels of effort.
- Depth jump
The depth jump is basically a kind of plyometric exercise which enables the body to make use of the fast twitch muscle fibers in a better manner. For performing a depth jump, look for a box which measures 12 inches in height. Stand on top of the box and then step off the box instead of jumping. Once you land, try and jump back into the air as fast as you can. A depth jump teaches the body the way to absorb force in the correct manner. It also teaches the body to use the fast twitch muscle fiber thus leading to better power.
- Olympic Lifts
These lifts mainly include the jerk, clean, and snatch. Due to these lifts, the athlete is able to develop speed and explosive power while also training the fast twitch muscle fibre. While doing these lifts, the body has to work quickly with a significant amount of weight. As a result, the body recruits the fast twitch muscle fibres directly. Olympic lifts also involve the use of rubber plates so that the athlete can drop the weight down after completing the lifts. While doing the Olympic lifts, also perform a few reps as they will help you to focus while also developing speed and power.
- High-density work out
To increase the recruitment of the fast twitch muscle fibres in your body, you need to make sure your body is fatigued. This can be possible if you keep the density of your workout slightly high. To understand what high-density workout is, use the following example. An athlete that performs only 15 sets in 2 hours is following a low-density work out while an athlete that only takes half an hour for doing 15 sets follows a high-density work out. By reducing the periods of rest on the days you tend to body build, the slow twitch muscle fibers will be fatigued in a shorter time, and as a result, the fast twitch muscle fibers will be recruited more quickly.
- Compound movements
After two to three workout sets, make sure you do a workout with compound movements along with some isolation movements. On the days you plan to have a heavy workout, prioritize such movements that recruit the fast twitch muscle fibre quickly like pull-ups, dips, bench presses, squats, shoulder presses, and deadlifts. On some days, keep the density of the workout high and hammer the repetitions right one after the other. Also, remember you will experience pain, and it will be hard to carry on. However, don’t pause right in the middle of the set.
