Programming for Muscle Fiber Type

[Nick_Ebner]

When you work with or are a more experienced athlete but, is new to gymnastics, do you ever change exercise prescription in terms of sets or reps for there muscle fiber make up? For instance being someone that is known to be excessively fast twitch vs a balance of fast and slow. Would you ever manipulate reps and sets from the normal scheme?

[Jason Dupree]

Training in athletics is usually based on the energy system being used the most in that particular sport, not necessarily fiber types. Sets and reps are just a rough guide to training in those systems and keeping track of progress. If someone is a sprinter, they are going to rely on their ATP-PC system in contests, so that is what they would focus on in training. Same goes for gymnastics, they are going to want to focus on building anaerobic endurance, connective tissue strength, and power. I haven't heard if anyone has tried changing things up based on fiber makeup, but generally you need to train for the demands of the sport. If someone is a sprinter and has mostly slow twitch muscle, they would probably struggle more in training, but they still must train like a sprinter. In advanced athletes you might get away with adjusting sets and reps minimally (you still want to be training in the desired energy system), but for a beginner, probably won't make a difference.