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Strength can be divided into two categories. Short-term endurance and long-term endurance. In all muscle-based creatures, there are three muscle fiber types that fall into either categories. Slow Twitch, Fast Twitch A(Type I) and Fast Twitch B(Type II).
| Slow Twitch |
Fast Twitch A(Type I) |
Fast Twitch B(Type II) | |
| Endurance |
Long term |
Short-term, upper limit |
Short-term, lower limit |
| Contraction/Reaction |
Slow |
Fast |
Very fast |
| Motor neuron size |
Small |
Large |
Very large |
| Glycolytic capacity |
Low |
High |
High |
| Mitochondrial density |
High |
High |
Low |
| Capillary density |
High |
Average |
Low |
| Oxidative capacity |
High |
High |
Low |
| Resistance to fatigue |
High |
Average |
Low |
| Activity used for |
Aerobic |
Extended anaerobic |
Anaerobic |
| Major power source(s) |
Triglycerides |
CP(Creatine phosphate), oxygen |
CP, oxygen |
While most people have more or less equal amounts of the fibers, some people are genetically-gifted with a disproportionate composition of them, resulting in excellent performance in a relevant sport. For example, a person with high concentrations of fast twitch B fibers would make an excellent sprinter. Simultaneously, this means that the same person would perform terribly in a long-distance run.
Hypertrophy of the muscles usually results from any sort of sufficient physical activity, though to varying degrees of size, dependant upon the physical activity itself. Hyperplasia, the introduction of additional muscle fiber, has conflicting reports on whether is it possible in humans and whether the amount of fibers added would make any useful difference.Many studies show that training one rigorously harms the other - eg. large muscles are good for maximal power during short time periods, but they consume lots of oxygen which muscles need a lot during long periods of exercice.
Many athletes depend on mostly on physical strength, even though coordination and dexterityDexterity is a term referring primarily to the ability of a person to "gracefully" coordinate their movements. It specifically refers to adroitness in using the hands. In this context, dexterity is a motor skill. The term can also refer to intelligence an also play an important role.