From another thread:
> I have no interest in short distances since I have no fast-twitch fibers to speak of.
It's been decades since I was a physiology student, but I have to wonder if fast twitch fibers would be really all that useful to swimming, even to the short sprints. Maybe for 25s. I would think that larger cross sectional area of the swimming musculature (more available power) and the ability to recruit more muscle fibers simultaneously (using a larger fraction of the power on tap) would be more important for sprinting. Are there published studies which demonstrate that drop dead sprinters have a significantly different distribution of fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers than the rest of the swimming population?
Like Sumo, I came into swimming from a T&F/distance running background. In HS our distance coach would have us do drills that 'supposedly' increased fast-twitch muscle fibers (e.g. Sets of downhill sprints). Not sure if it really worked. But unlike in running, in swimming I think the athlete's physical makeup comes into play more. All other things being equal...two swimmers with identical stature, muscle distribution and make-up, stroke, etc. The only difference is that one swimmer has slightly larger hands, while the other has more fast-twitch muscle fiber. What's the possibility of the larger hands trumping the fast-twitch muscles?
Dan
Like Sumo, I came into swimming from a T&F/distance running background. In HS our distance coach would have us do drills that 'supposedly' increased fast-twitch muscle fibers (e.g. Sets of downhill sprints). Not sure if it really worked. But unlike in running, in swimming I think the athlete's physical makeup comes into play more. All other things being equal...two swimmers with identical stature, muscle distribution and make-up, stroke, etc. The only difference is that one swimmer has slightly larger hands, while the other has more fast-twitch muscle fiber. What's the possibility of the larger hands trumping the fast-twitch muscles?
Dan
