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If sitting during the workday is posed as such a health risk and a sure-fire way to gaining weight, why are all kids in schools not seen as being in danger of gaining weight? It must be because they move from class to class, have recess, and usually participate in sports or other active after school activities. Many adult workers also follow a similar schedule: they move from meeting to meeting or from one building to another, they go to the gym, walk the dog, and engage in house cleaning and maintenance activities each day. However, they are still told that their sitting at work is dangerous. Exhaustion would certainly take over if adults had to cover their bases on all their responsibilities and still not sit down during the day. Is it so wrong to accept sitting in work environments when these other habits and responsibilities are present? It certainly seems like we have accepted it for children...

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Many people have smart watches or other fitness trackers that include a wrist-based heart rate monitor. A common complaint among these watch-wearers is that they believe that their heart rate readings are inaccurate. This article agrees in a sense: heart rate readings from wrist-based monitors cannot be relied upon to read a perfectly accurate heart rate. However, a quality wrist monitor does offer a "close enough" reading for most common purposes and endeavors. If a person wants to monitor their heart rate with a more sure-fire approach, the two best recommendations are to use a chest-strap monitor during exercise and a self-administered pulse-based reading from your wrist or throat.

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Are wristwatch-style heart rate monitors accurate? - Harvard Health

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Thanks for visiting. Don't miss your FREE gift. The Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness, is yours absolutely FREE when you sign up to receive Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Sign up to get tips for living a healthy lifestyle, with ways to fight inflammation and improve cognitive health, plus the latest advances in preventative medicine, diet and exercise, pain relief, blood pressure and cholesterol management, and more.

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The word "lazy" is often thrown around when people think of the lack of exercise and action of those who are overweight and engaging in unhealthy behaviors. This is hurtful and untrue. Behavior modification to find a healthy lifestyle and weight is a very hard process that calls for an examination of environments, habits, relationships, and genetics. People who do not immediately succeed in their weight management goals are not lazy. Often, they relapse because they do not see changes quick enough or they cannot sustain the actions they outlined to achieve a goal. It may be much harder for another person to lose weight because of many factors, both visible and invisible. Physical environments, mental health problems, physical injury, and genetics are all factors that vary across each indisividual. Each of these factors means that a weight-loss journey will look much different and take different lengths of time.

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How To Stop Procrastinating & Improve Low Willpower? – Dr.Berg

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Nutrition for Wellness: Added Sugars vs. Natural Sugars

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Nutrition for Wellness: Added Sugars vs. Natural Sugars

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The similarity between added sugar and natural sugar is that they both end up in the body in their final broken down state as glucose. The difference is the time it takes for the body to break down the fuel into glucose and how much it receives at once. Whole foods commonly contain naturally occurring sugars. These will eventually end up being broken down into glucose molecules, but it takes the body a longer and more measured amount of time to break down and process these molecules. This is because whole foods are accompanied by other macronutrients such as fibers and fats. The body needs to process all these, and so the glucose molecules are able to be absorbed over a longer period of time and with extreme waves of over-exposure to immediate glucose energy rushes. Added sugars are already broken down into the basic glucose molecule, so when the body receives this form of fuel, the glucose floods in all at once. This results in blood sugar spikes and energy crashes.

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Natural Sugar vs Added Sugar - What's The Difference?

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Skinfold testing is referenced heavily in the textbook, especially in Chapter 4 when encouraging readers and the public to monitor and measure their body fat levels. Although I see the scientific importance of this when measuring a part of human health data, it worries me that people undergo this. As a young woman, I know that I would not feel comfortable undergoing this testing at any time of my life, especially when I was on a competitive sports team. However, the above article talks about how elite and competitive athletes went through this process. My worries and misgivings about this form of body testing were confirmed with the first-hand interviews from the article. Athletes would diet, excessively workout, and skip meals to decrease their body folds. They did this out of fear of stigmas and trying to squeeze out any form of competitive advantage. I am glad that teams are moving away from this testing and focusing more on holistic measures of fitness.

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eisel Jones was no stranger to skinfolds testing and weigh-ins. The Australian Olympic gold medallist remembers in stark, humiliating detail the clinical process, undertaken by male coaches in full view on the pool deck. She was a teenager then, training at the Queensland Academy of Sport and enduring experiences she says contributed to the depression she suffered throughout her swimming career.

"Whenever I have to stand on the pool deck in my togs, listening to my body being discussed like it's an engine and not the arms, legs, thighs and stomach of a teenage girl, I am self-conscious and miserable,″⁣ she wrote in her autobiography, Body Lengths. "We were always getting weighed in, always being judged. We were actively encouraged to skip meals to lose weight. It is irresponsible and terribly damaging."

This is not an uncommon ordeal reported by professional athletes, particularly - but by no means limited to - women. It is the reason the AFL has scrapped standard skinfold testing on draft prospects, a decision that has chiselled a firm frontier between sporting figures who believe the internationally common body-fat measurement tool is a form of body shaming, and those who view it as a legitimate method of gauging the fitness and physical condition of athletes.

Essendon chief Xavier Campbell was critical, calling the game a "performance-based industry" with an emphasis on "the physical aspect". Former Port Adelaide player Kane Cornes labelled it "just ridiculous". "Society has shifted, I understand that," Cornes told SEN SA. "But this isn't your average person off the street, this is a person who is aspiring to become an elite athlete."

AFLW player Darcy Vescio, conversely, doesn't understand the backlash. "If we're serious about mental health and wellbeing of players [and society] then why slam a change that promotes that?" she tweeted. "The impact of body image issues and fat shaming is deep." Former Sydney Swans player Luke Ablett says he still has "body image issues over skin folds and the fear of being put in 'fat farm'".

But are the actual tests themselves the problem, or is it the archaic, insensitive manner in which they were conducted? In terms of failing to acknowledge and prevent the exacerbation of body image issues among professional athletes, is the skinfolds test the common denominator, or is it the process surrounding them?

In the AFL and AFLW, part of Cornes's complaint is that draftees can still be tested for skinfolds the moment they step into their new club environment despite the practice being banned before they are selected. The AFL, for its part, is understood to have made the decision after balancing the usefulness to clubs of a single measurement against the risk of negatively affecting the mental health of young players - particularly those who miss out.

The league prioritised the latter after consulting the Australian Institute of Sport, who advised that if body composition assessments are to be made, they should be supported by appropriate nutritional and possibly psychological support - infrastructure that is available in a club set-up.

Leek Alleer during last month's AFL Draft Combine at the University of SA in Adelaide. Photograph: David Mariuz/AAP

The AIS's position is that is does not oppose skinfold testing but encourages "a testing environment that has a strong consideration for athlete wellbeing".

"The AFL sought advice from the AIS earlier this year regarding on-off skinfold testing protocols during the AFL Draft Camp," a spokesperson said. "The AIS provided advice on issues to consider, in line with resources the AIS provides to all high performance sporting organisations."

Sports psychologist, Dr Noel Blundell, said the AFL had "missed a major opportunity" to frame skinfold testing in a positive way.

"To attack it from a positive perspective and go about putting the appropriate protocols in place, so that a test that does have value can be utilised by the clubs," Blundell, who has worked with numerous Olympians and also completed psychological assessments at the draft combine since its inception in 1994, told SEN. "And, more importantly, to assist the players to develop as elite athletes.

"The AFL could've taken a step forward and said 'we're a high-class body, we stick to the scientific protocols, we really care about the athletes and their development, and we also want the athletes to be educated in terms of, 'if I'm getting to the next level, what are the facets I need to improve in my game?'".

If the science is sound, how is that communicated to the players? Are they educated about the process and its value? Is there dialogue between fitness staff, psychologists and nutritionists to ensure sensitivity?

Each sport has its own approach. At football club Sydney FC, for instance, it's about eduction and teaching players healthy habits from an exercise and nutrition point of view in looking after their body.

That, says Chris Pappas, the A-League Men club's head of sports science and strength and conditioning, is a life skill.

"A lot of players don't know what to do," Pappas says. "We have a broad range of athletes with different understanding of athletic performance or nutrition. You may have athletes who really monitor and are careful with their diet and on the other hand you have athletes who will just eat whatever is cooked for dinner at home, so it's about educating our players.

"Education in this sense is no different to strength training education, good physical fitness and the mental skills within the game. The club's philosophy is about teaching our players the right life skills that they can take with them beyond football and into their future careers."

Netball Australia is unique in that it only tests skinfolds on its senior national team, the practice operates on a strictly opt-in basis, and those who volunteer must be over the age of 18. The results are confidential and not used as a metric, rather a tool for Diamonds players to assess their progress. The organisation's sports nutrition manager, Kerry Leech, is developing a new eating disorder policy, which includes guidelines around skinfolds testing.

Sydney Swans list manager Kinnear Beatson, who relies on testing data gathered before the draft to help make recruitment decisions, believes body-fat measurement is "part and parcel" of the game but adds some key caveats.

"I think what needs to happen, and it wasn't probably been done well enough in the past, is to educate the players on the benefit of having them [skinfold tests] done and how it can enhance their physical performance by them understanding how what they're eating will have an impact on their skinfold readings, and will then in time have an influence on their endurance abilities," Beatson told SEN Drive.

"We also probably in the past haven't held the results private enough. I do know nowadays is that with the medical testing ... the only people that get access to that are our doctor and our physio. The only person that sees the psychological profiling [now] is our psychologist. If they were going to go back and do the skinfold readings, perhaps those readings have to go to a qualified dietician, and then they can give us some kind of summary."

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Skinfold tests: a problematic ordeal or legitimate method of gauging elite fitness? | Emma Kemp

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eisel Jones was no stranger to skinfolds testing and weigh-ins. The Australian Olympic gold medallist remembers in stark, humiliating detail the clinical process, undertaken by male coaches in full view on the pool deck. She was a teenager then, training at the Queensland Academy of Sport and enduring experiences she says contributed to the depression she suffered throughout her swimming career.

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Weight Management: Fitness in All its Forms

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Weight Management: Fitness in All its Forms

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I like this infographic because it is created with the intention of teaching English language learners action verbs and words. However, it can also be used to teach average adults who already know enough English verbs about all the different forms of fitness and exercise that encourage a healthy lifestyle. Some of the exercises pictured are more vigorous, such as "kick" and "run." Some are less intensive physically, but still active such as "sit" (mediation) and "bend" (yoga). This serves as a reminder that exercise can vary in intensity. Sometimes mental fitness, as achieved through reflection and control, is just as important to health as more moderate and vigorous physical activity. Stretching is also very important as it reduces injury risk and allows us to keep up with our kicking, kneeling, bouncing, and hopping!

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One of the three types of health fitness categories is muscular flexibility and stretching. Yoga immediately comes to mind. I have never tried a yoga class, but I know that there are a lot of different options, so this article sorts through what each type of yoga is and what it focuses on. Hatha yoga is the traditional form of yoga. It, along with all the other forms, offers muscular flexibility, core strengthening, and mindfulness opportunities. The other common name I hear in yoga is Bikram yoga. Bikram is an intense form of hot yoga. It is more cardiovascular centered, more rigorous, and more regimented. Hot yoga can take place in rooms between 80 and 110 degrees and usually lasts between 30 and 60 minutes. Bikram yoga has specific poses and a temperature that remains consistent at 105. Although Bikram and hot yoga seem more intense, it is important to note that all yoga classes aid in the improvement of muscular flexibility and stress-relief.

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We know that life can get a little hectic sometimes, or even all the time. When that happens, it's hard to put yourself first. But prioritizing your health is so important! Making sure you take the time to exercise a few times a week is a great way to do that. ...

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Hot Yoga vs. Regular Yoga: Everything You Need to Know - Muscle Class

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Hot Yoga vs. Regular Yoga, is one better than the other? While most styles of yoga are based on the same basic yoga poses (called asanas), there are many different kinds of yoga and it can be difficult to figure out which particular style is right for you.

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The single most important sphere of health and fitness is cardiorespiratory endurance. Building our aerobic fitness through workouts in higher heart rate zones allows us to reap amazing benefits. Jogging is the most commonly referenced form of aerobic exercise in the textbook and in my research. However, not everyone can jog happily, healthily, or successfully. This makes aerobic exercise much less appealing. Because of this, I wanted to research other forms of aerobic exercise that activate the benefits of cardiorespiratory endurance. Some of these activities include jump roping, swimming, elliptical-ing, biking, or spin-biking, kickboxing, and Zumba. This helps widen the perspective on how we can use a variety of exercises to maintain our health!

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Aerobic exercise is any type of cardiovascular conditioning, or "cardio." It can include activities like brisk walking, swimming, running, or cycling.

By definition, aerobic exercise means "with oxygen." Your breathing and heart rate will increase during aerobic activities. Aerobic exercise helps keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy.

Aerobic exercise differs from anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercises, such as weightlifting or sprinting, involve quick bursts of energy. They're performed at maximum effort for a short time. This is unlike aerobic exercises. You perform aerobic exercises for a sustained period of time.

Read on to learn more about aerobic exercises you can try at home and the gym. And remember, always talk with your doctor before beginning a new aerobic exercise routine.

Cardiovascular exercises can be done at home. There are many you can do with little to no equipment, too. Always warm up for 5 to 10 minutes before starting any exercise.

1. Jump rope

Equipment: gym shoes (sneakers), jump rope

Benefits: Jumping rope helps develop better body awareness, hand-foot coordination, and agility.

Safety: Your jump rope should be adjusted for your height. Stand with both feet on the middle of the rope and extend the handles to your armpits. That's the height you're going for. If it's too long, cut or tie it to avoid tripping on the rope.

Duration and frequency: 15 to 25 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week

Following a jump rope circuit is a great indoor or outdoor activity, though you'll want to make sure you have plenty of space. Your circuit routine should take 15 to 25 minutes to complete.

If you're a beginner:

1. Start by jogging forward as you swing the jump rope over your head and under your feet. Do this move for 15 seconds.

2. Next, reverse your direction and jog backward as you continue to swing the jump rope. Do this move for 15 seconds.

3. Finish your set by doing a hopscotch jump for 15 seconds. To do this move, jump rope in place, and as you jump, alternate between jumping your feet out to the sides and then back to the center, similar to how you'd move them while doing jumping jacks. Do this move for 15 seconds.

4. Rest for 15 seconds between sets.

5. Repeat 18 times.

If you're an intermediate exerciser, you can perform the moves for 30 seconds and rest for 30 seconds between sets. The advanced circuit should be performed for 60 seconds at a time, followed by 60 seconds of rest.

2. Aerobic strength circuit

Equipment: gym shoes (sneakers), sturdy chair or couch for dips

Benefits: This exercise increases heart and cardiovascular health, builds strength, and tones major muscle groups.

Safety: Focus on proper form with each exercise to avoid injury. Keep your heart rate at a moderate level throughout. You should be able to carry on a brief conversation during this exercise.

Duration and frequency: 15 to 25 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week

This aerobic circuit is designed to get your heart rate up. Perform the following strength exercises for 1 minute:

Then jog or march in place for 1 minute for your active rest. This is one circuit. Repeat the circuit 2 to 3 times. You can rest for up to 5 minutes between circuits. Cool down afterward with some light stretching.

3. Running or jogging

Equipment: running shoes

Benefits: Running is one of the most effective forms of aerobic exercise. It can improve heart health, burn fat and calories, and lift your mood, just to name a few.

Safety concerns: Choose well-lit, populated running routes. Let someone know where you'll be.

Duration and frequency: 20 to 30 minutes, 2 to 3 times per week

If you're a beginner, run for 20 to 30 minutes twice a week. Your pace should be conversational during the run. You can alternate between 5 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking to start. To stay injury-free, always stretch after your run.

4. Walking

Equipment: gym shoes (sneakers)

Benefits: Walking daily can reduce your risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression.

Safety: Walk in well-lit and populated areas. Choose shoes that offer good ankle support to reduce your risk for injury.

Duration and frequency: 150 minutes per week, or 30 minutes 5 days a week

If walking is your main form of exercise, aim to get 150 minutes per week. This can be broken down into 30 minutes of walking 5 days a week. Or, walk briskly for 10 minutes at a time, 3 times each day.

You can also use a fitness tracker to keep tabs on how many steps you take each day. If your goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day, start with your base (current amount you walk) and slowly up your daily step count. You can do this by increasing your daily steps by an extra 500 to 1,000 steps a day every 1 to 2 weeks.

So, once you've identified your base, add an extra 500 to 1,000 steps. Then, 1 to 2 weeks later, increase your daily step count by an additional 500 to 1,000 steps.

Your local gym is a great place to get in some aerobic exercise. They probably have equipment like treadmills, stationary bikes, and elliptical machines. There may be a pool for you to swim laps in, too.

If you aren't sure how to use a type of exercise equipment, always ask a professional or trainer for assistance.

5. Swimming

Equipment: pool, swimsuit, goggles (optional)

Benefits: Swimming is a low impact exercise, so it's good for people prone to or recovering from an injury or living with limited mobility. It can help you tone your muscles and build strength and endurance.

Safety: Avoid swimming alone and, if possible, choose a pool with a lifeguard on duty. If you're new to swimming, begin by enrolling in swim lessons.

Duration and frequency: 10 to 30 minutes, 2 to 5 times a week. Add 5 minutes to your swim time each week to increase your duration.

If your gym has a pool, try swimming as aerobic exercise. It's a low impact workout, so it's a good choice if you're prone to injury. You're also increasing your heart rate, toning your muscles, and building strength and endurance - all without adding additional strain to your body.

You can start by swimming laps using one stroke, such as freestyle. As you swim more, add additional strokes. For example, you could do 1 to 4 laps of freestyle followed by 1 to 4 laps of breaststroke or backstroke.

If you get tired, rest on the side of the pool between laps. Always follow the safety instructions and guidelines of the pool where you swim.

6. Stationary bike

Equipment: stationary bike

Benefits: This low impact exercise can help develop leg strength and cardiovascular endurance.

Safety: Ask a trainer at the gym for help adjusting the bike so that the seat is the correct height. This will help reduce your risk of injury or falling off the bike.

If biking at home, a general rule is to adjust the bike seat height to maintain a 5- to 10-degree bend (slight bend) in your knee before reaching full extension. Doing so reduces compression on your knee joint. It's not recommended to fully extend your knee while peddling on a stationary bike.

Duration and frequency: 35 to 45 minutes, 3 times per week

Riding a stationary bike is another option for low impact cardio. Stationary bikes are a good cardiovascular workout, help you develop leg strength, and are easy to use. Many gyms and workout studios offer cycling classes, which use stationary bikes. But you can still benefit from a stationary bike workout without taking a class.

After stretching and warming up by cycling at an easy rhythm for 5 to 10 minutes, increase your pace to 75 to 80 rotations per minute (RPM) and aim for 20 to 30 minutes of steady cycling. Cool down for 5 minutes. Stretch to finish.

Keep enough resistance on the bike to feel like you're pushing the pedals instead of feeling like the pedals are pushing your feet. Increase the resistance for a more challenging workout.

7. Elliptical

Equipment: elliptical machine

Benefits: Elliptical machines provide a good cardiovascular workout that's less stressful on the knees, hips, and back compared to the treadmill or running on the road or trails.

Safety: Look forward, not down. Use the handlebars if you feel unsteady or to help you get on and off the machine.

Duration and frequency: 20 to 30 minutes, 2 to 3 times per week

The elliptical machine may seem intimidating at first, but it's easy to use once you get the hang of it. After warming up at an easy rhythm for 5 to 10 minutes, keep your posture upright while you use your legs in a pedal motion to move the machine.

Look forward the entire time, not down at your feet. Keep your shoulders back and your abdominal muscles engaged. Cool down and exit the machine to stretch.

Increase the resistance on the machine for a more challenging workout.

If you don't like exercising alone, a class can provide a supportive and encouraging environment. Ask the instructor to show you proper form if you're new. They can help you modify the exercises if you're a beginner, if necessary.

Attend group classes at your local fitness center 2 to 3 times per week to start. You can always go more frequently later on if you enjoy the workout.

8. Cardio kickboxing

Equipment: gym shoes (sneakers)

Benefits: Kickboxing is a high impact exercise that builds strength and endurance. It may also reduce stress and improve your reflexes.

Safety: Drink plenty of water throughout the class. Take a break if you feel dizzy.

Duration and frequency: 60 minutes, 1 to 3 times per week

Cardio kickboxing is a mix of martial arts, boxing, and aerobics. Your class may start with a warmup of jogging, jumping jacks, or strengthening exercises, such as pushups. Then expect a series of punches, kicks, and hand strikes for the main workout.

There may be core or strengthening exercises at the end. Always finish your workout with a cool down and stretch.

9. Zumba

Equipment: gym shoes (sneakers)

Benefits: Zumba is beneficial for heart health, improves coordination, tones your entire body, and may help relieve stress.

Safety: Drink lots of water during the class. Take a break if you feel tired or dizzy. You may want to wear shoes that provide good ankle support if you're prone to ankle injuries.

Duration and frequency: 60 minutes, 1 to 3 times per week

If you like to dance, Zumba is a fun choice for an aerobic workout. After warming up, your instructor will instruct the class through easy-to-follow dance moves set to upbeat music. You'll finish with a cool down and stretch.

Shoes are required. Drink plenty of water throughout the class. You can always take a break and rejoin if you get tired.

10. Indoor cycling class

Equipment: stationary bike, cycling shoes (optional), padded bicycle shorts or pants (optional)

Benefits: Indoor cycling classes build strength and improve muscle tone and cardiovascular endurance.

Safety: If you're new or need a refresher, ask the instructor to help you set up the stationary bike. Lower your resistance if you get tired, or take a break if you feel lightheaded.

Duration and frequency: 45 to 60 minutes, 1 to 3 times per week

Unlike a leisurely bike ride, a cycle class will get your heart rate up. It may include resistance and climb (incline) portions for maximum training benefits. This will help you build strength and tone your muscles. Some classes require cycle shoes that you "clip" into the bike. You can usually rent these at your facility.

Most classes are 45 to 60 minutes long and include a warm-up, cool-down, and stretch. Bring water with you to the class. If you're new, you can reduce the resistance on the bike and peddle lightly for a break if you get tired.

Aerobic exercise gets your blood pumping and large muscle groups working.

Some benefits may include:

improves cardiovascular health

lowers blood pressure

helps regulate blood sugar

aids sleep

helps with weight management

boosts mood

The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes or more of aerobic exercise five or more days each week. That can be broken up, though. For example, you can take three 10-minute walks throughout the day.

You should also add in two or more anaerobic strengthening sessions each week that focus on major muscle groups.

If you're new to exercise, see your doctor. They can assess your health and recommend a fitness routine that's safe and effective for you.

Always start with a warm-up and end with a cool-down and stretch. Focus on form, and stop if it hurts.

You should begin to see improvements in your cardiovascular endurance by consistently practicing these exercises. Make sure your exercise plan includes both aerobic and anaerobic activities.

Get plenty of rest, stay hydrated, and try to practice these exercises for at least 150 minutes each week.

Talk with your doctor before starting any new exercise program. This is especially important if you have any medical conditions or take any medications.

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Aerobic Exercise Examples: At Home, at the Gym, and More

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Aerobic exercise is any type of cardiovascular conditioning, or "cardio." It can include activities like brisk walking, swimming, running, or cycling. By definition, aerobic exercise means "with oxygen." Your breathing and heart rate will increase during aerobic activities. Aerobic exercise helps keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy.

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The last sphere of physical fitness to cover is muscular fitness. A lot of times, females tend to avoid lifting weights for fear of stigma, injury, or because of stereotypes that free-weights are for men. As a female who has been trained in a few different types of muscular fitness routines, I am most comfortable with bodyweight exercises. This is also handy and efficient because these exercises can be done anywhere and require little to no cost. HIIT training incorporates a mix of aerobic activities with bodyweight training. This form of exercise grew in popularity during the pandemic because it can be adapted to be done in any location, with any size group. This article talks about how beneficial and complete bodyweight exercises can be for strength and muscular training.

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Body weight training is a versatile workout. It can be a combination of cardio and strength, or simply just one. It allows our body to prevent movements from becoming routine to muscles. This type of workout is an ongoing process. Body weight workouts have proven to maintain a strong metabolism and stops weight from creeping up.

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I competed in track and cross country in high school, so we watched the Olympics and other major track events as a team at watch parties. The noticeable differences between sprinters and distance runners were so obvious, it almost felt like they could not both be called "runners" because their events and bodies were so different. Distance runners looked smaller than sprinters. Regardless of gender, it always looked like a sprinter had much more muscle mass than any of the distance runners. As the distances grew longer, the muscle mass of the runners in the race seemed to get smaller and smaller. This article addresses the different muscle fibers that are present in different proportions among sprinters and endurance runners. Fast twitch muscle fibers are simply larger in their size than slow twitch. Although they provide more power and speed, they fatigue quicker than slow-twitch fibers and are more suited to anaerobic activity (sprinting).

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Looking to build endurance? What about power? Do dreams of being an all-star hitter or marathon runner need to be dashed if twitch ratios aren't ideal? Not necessarily. The types of muscle fibers targeted in different types of training programs can impact sports performance training goals.

In this article, we explore the two types of muscle fibers in detail and discuss how to train each type according to athletic goals.

What are muscle fibers?

Skeletal muscles are made up of individual muscle fibers. And like muscles themselves, not all muscle fibers are the same. There are two types of skeletal muscle fibers, fast-twitch and slow-twitch, and they each have different functions that are important to understand when it comes to movement and exercise programming.

Slow-twitch muscle fibers are fatigue resistant, and focused on sustained, smaller movements and postural control. They contain more mitochondria and myoglobin, and are aerobic in nature compared to fast-twitch fibers. Slow-twitch fibers are also sometimes called type I or red fibers because of their blood supply.

Fast-twitch muscle fibers provide bigger and more powerful forces, but for shorter durations and fatigue quickly. They are more anaerobic with less blood supply, hence they are sometimes referred to as white fibers or type II. Skeletal muscles contain both types of fibers, but the ratios can differ depending on a variety of factors including muscle function, age and training.

Skeletal muscles contain both types of fibers, but the ratios can differ depending on a variety of factors, including muscle function, age and training. If you are a sports performance specialist, it's crucial to remember the differences between the two muscle types.

Slow Twitch vs. Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber Types

The two types of skeletal muscle fibers are slow-twitch (type I) and fast-twitch (type II). Slow-twitch muscle fibers support long distance endurance activities like marathon running, while fast-twitch muscle fibers support quick, powerful movements such as sprinting or weightlifting.

Muscle Fiber Type Comparison Chart

Slow-Twitch, Type I

Slow-twitch muscle fibers have high concentrations of mitochondria and myoglobin. Although they are smaller than the fast-twitch fibers, they are surrounded by more capillaries (1,2). This combination supports aerobic metabolism and fatigue resistance, particularly important for prolonged submaximal (aerobic) exercise activities.

Type I fibers produce less force and are slower to produce maximal tension (lower myosin ATPase activity) compared to type II fibers. But they are able to maintain longer-term contractions, key for stabilization and postural control (1,2).

Small muscle fibers

Low, slow force

Fatigues slower than fast-twitch, type II

Long-term contractions

Supports fatigue resistance for aerobic activities, stabilization and postural control

Fast-Twitch, Type II

Fast-twitch type II muscle fibers are further divided into Type IIx and Type IIa.

Typically, these have lower concentrations of mitochondria, myoglobin, and capillaries compared to our slow-twitch fibers, which means they are quicker to fatigue (1,2).

These larger-sized fibers are also produce a greater and quicker force, an important consideration for power activities (1,2).

Type IIX (also known as Type IIB) fibers produce the most force, but are incredibly inefficient based on their high myosin ATPase activity, low oxidative capacity, and heavy reliance on anaerobic metabolism (1,2).

Type IIA fibers, also known as intermediate muscle fibers, are a mix of type I and type IIx, with comparable tension. Able to use both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, these fibers have a higher oxidative capacity and fatigue more slowly than type IIx (1,2).

Large muscle fibers

Greater and quicker force

Fatigues faster than slow-twitch type I

Two types: Type II x and Type II a

Type IIx produces the most force but inefficient (fatigues very fast)

Type IIa is a mix of type I and type IIx muscle fibers (fatigues slower than Type IIx)

Short-term contractions

Supports power activities

What's Your Muscle Fiber Type?

So now that we've covered the different types, are you wondering what type you are? What type of muscles are in your hands, biceps, legs, chest and arms?

You and your muscles are not comprised of one type of muscle fiber. All of your muscles are a mix of fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fiber types (1).

Activity Level

Nonathletic individuals have close to a 50/50 balance of fiber types.

When you start looking at highly skilled, top-performing athletes, some differences may begin to appear.

Power athletes have a higher ratio of fast-twitch fibers (e.g., sprinters 70-75% type II), whereas for endurance athletes have more slow-twitch fibers (e.g., marathon/distance runners 70-80% type I) (2).

Of course, muscle fiber type is not the only factor in an athlete's success! There are plenty of other variables that take an athlete from good to great.

Age is also a factor for our muscle fibers.

Aging causes a loss in lean muscle mass, with a decline in our fast-twitch fibers, especially the type IIx, but there is also an increase in our slow-twitch fibers (2-4).

Recall that the fast-twitch fibers are larger in size than the slow-twitch and are metabolically efficient fibers. Thus, loss of lean muscle mass can contribute to age-related metabolic dysfunctions, body composition changes, even an increased risk of falls (2-5).

Resistance training can combat this decline.

Training Both Type I and Type II Muscle Fibers

You can modify fiber types through exercise.

Type I muscle fibers can be developed through endurance training, such as low resistance, high repetition, or long duration, low intensity. (As seen in OPT ™ Phases 1 and 2.)

Type II muscle fibers can be developed through strength training.

Resistance training increases the size of both type I and type II muscle fibers. Greater growth (i.e., hypertrophy) occurs in type II fibers and increases actin and myosin filaments. This results in an increased ability to generate force (2).

Fast-twitch fibers can also recruit slow-twitch fibers: endurance training at high-intensity intervals can be effective in improving aerobic power (2,6).

Tapering during training programs (reducing volume and intensity), can also improve the strength and power of type IIA fibers without decreasing type I performance (9).

One study investigated muscle fiber changes in recreational runners training for a marathon. After 13 weeks of increasing mileage and a three week tapering cycle, not only did the functions of type I and type IIa fibers improve, but type IIa continued to improve significantly during the tapering cycle (9).
If you are interested in training athletes, becoming a strength and conditioning coach, or getting trained as a performance enhancement specialist, get in touch!
3 Sports PErformance Blogs to Check out

References

1. Clark M, Lucett S, McGill E, Montel I and Sutton B (Editors). (2018). NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training (6 th ed). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishing.

2. Powers SK, and Howley ET. (2012). Exercise Physiology: Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance, (8th Edition). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

3. Akasaki Y, Ouchi N, Izumiya Y, Bernardo B, LeBrasseur N, and Walsh K. (2013). Glycolytic fast-twitch muscle fiber restoration counters adverse age-related changes in body composition and metabolism. Aging Cell 13:80-91. doi: 10.1111/acel.12153

4. Narici MV, and Maffulli N. (2010). Sarcopenia: characteristics, mechanisms and functional significance. British Medical Bulletin 95:139-159. doi: 10.1093/bmb/ldq008

5. Stuart CA, McCurry MP, Marino A, South MA, Howell MEA, Layne AS, Ramsey MW, and Stone MH. (2013) Slow-twitch fiber proportion in skeletal muscle correlates with insulin responsiveness. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 98:5, 2027-2036. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jc.2012-3876

6. Vanhatalo A, Poole DC, DiMenna FJ, Bailey SJ, and Jones AM. (2011). Muscle fiber recruitment and the slow component of O2 uptake: constant work rate vs. all-out sprint exercise. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 300:3, 700-707. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00761.2010

7. McGill E, Montel I. (Editors). (2019). NASM's Essentials of Sports Performance Training (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishing.

8. Barh R (Editor). (2012). The IOC Manual of Sports Injuries. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell/ Jophn Wiley & Sons Ltd.

9. Trappe S, Harber M, Creer A, Gallagher P, Slivka D, Minchev K, and Whitsett D. (2006). Single muscle fiber adaptations with marathon training. Journal of Applied Physiology, 101:3, 721-727. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01595.2005

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Fast-Twitch Vs. Slow-Twitch Muscle Fiber Types + Training Tips | NASM

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Looking to build endurance? What about power? Do dreams of being an all-star hitter or marathon runner need to be dashed if twitch ratios aren't ideal? Not necessarily. The types of muscle fibers targeted in different types of training programs can impact sports performance training goals.

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One of the focuses of muscular flexibility is correcting posture. Low back pain and neck pain are super common problems. They can truly be resolved with posture corrections. Good posture while sitting, standing, sleeping, and exercising are all important to keep in mind. It is hard to adjust all these at once and can be a little tedious, so it is best to start with small posture adjustments while sitting at work, school, or relaxing. Often, texting makes us slip in our posture and it adds a lot of unnecessary weight to our necks and heads. This is one of the leading causes of neck and back pain that can be resolved without drugs or expensive chiropractic sessions!

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My high school running coach had an interesting approach to treating side stitches while running. He would run along with us, and if we had a side stitch, he would have us speed up between 30 and 60 seconds per mile. He maintained this belief that speeding up could improve the pain of the side stitch. I am not sure if this was supposed to be more of a mental or physical fix. Personally, it never worked for me, and I would never tell him I had a side stitch because speeding up made it worse. The textbook talks about how the exact cause of getting a side stitch is unknown. There are preventative precautions to take, but it is still relatively unpredictable for some athletes. My question is: Is there any scientific or anatomical truth to my high school running coach's side stitch fix?

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Stress in Type A and Type B Personalities

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This YouTube video walks the viewer through the differences in stress levels and reactions between people with Type A dominant personalities versus Type B. There is stress in all aspects of our lives, but people accumulate stress differently. Type A individuals will subject themselves to more stress because of their high-achieving personal goals. This will lead to a greater risk of heart disease when compared to Type B individuals. One of the main reasons for this is because the stress piles on, and the coping and recovery methods fall short. In these overwhelming situations, stress boils over into anger and frustration, which contribute to that increased heart disease risk. This video explores how personality and coping styles lead to different health outcomes.

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Stress | Type A Personality | Type B Personality | Behavioral Science

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Cholesterol levels have a direct correlation to heart disease. However, much of the public knowledge about cholesterol is that it is bad and needs to be decreased. That is true, to an extent. The "bad" cholesterol form is LDL. This means low-density lipoproteins. These molecules can build up in the blood and cause an increase in blood cholesterol. This is what is linked to heart disease. On the other side, HDLs are high-density lipoproteins. A higher concentration of HDLs means that more cholesterol is being cleared from the blood. HDLs are able to effectively transport cholesterol through the blood stream. In order to simplify this when choosing what to eat, it is important to know that saturated and trans fats are the worst offenders of increasing LDL cholesterol.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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You can lower your risk of getting cancer by making healthy choices like-

Avoiding Tobacco

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer. In the United States, cigarette smoking is linked to about 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths. Tobacco use can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body. Visit smokefree.govexternal icon to learn how you can quit smoking.

Secondhand Smoke

Smoke from other people's cigarettes, pipes, or cigars ( secondhand smoke) also causes lung cancer. When a person breathes in secondhand smoke, it is like he or she is smoking.
Learn more about tobacco and cancer.
Protecting Your Skin

Skin cancer is the most common kind of cancer in the United States. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun and tanning beds appears to be the most important environmental factor involved with developing skin cancer. To help prevent skin cancer while still having fun outdoors, protect yourself by staying in the shade, applying sunscreen, and wearing sun-protective clothing, a hat, and sunglasses.
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You can lower your risk of getting cancer by making healthy choices like- Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer. In the United States, cigarette smoking is linked to about 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths.

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Addiction is an attempt to escape human suffering. This is the impactful idea from Dr. Gabor Mate as he attempts to explain addiction behavior to healthy, non-addicts. He rejects the media's portrayal of addicts as desperate. Instead, he views them as needing treatment from their insurmountable trauma. Dr. Gabor Mate works in downtown Vancouver, BC. Vancouver is known for having a high population of drug addicts. Dr. Mate views all these addicts as traumatized victims who turned to drugs to help them escape their suffering. He does not view these individuals with judgement. He listens and analyzes to work to help heal the trauma that the addicts experienced that turned them towards drugs. The breakthrough is that addicts need to be listened to and healed rather than only be symptomatically treated for drug use.

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The Best Explanation of Addiction I’ve Ever Heard – Dr. Gabor Maté

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