Exercise for Your Muscle Type: The Smart Way to Get Fit

Exercise for Your

Muscle Type

THE SMART WAY TO GET FIT

MICHELLE LOVITT, M.A.

& JOHN SPERAW

The information contained in this book is based upon the research and personal and professional experiences of the authors. It is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or other healthcare provider. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should be done under the direction of a healthcare professional.

The publisher does not advocate the use of any particular healthcare protocol but believes the information in this book should be available to the public. The publisher and authors are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of the suggestions, preparations, or procedures discussed in this book. Should the reader have any questions concerning the appropriateness of any procedures or preparation mentioned, the authors and the publisher strongly suggest consulting a professional healthcare advisor.

Basic Health Publications, Inc.

8200 Boulevard East

North Bergen, NJ 07047

1-201-868-8336

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lovitt, Michelle, 1971–

Exercise for your muscle type / Michelle Lovitt and John Speraw.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-59120-641-5

ISBN 1-59120-066-0

1. Physical fitness. 2. Exercise. 3. Muscles. I. Speraw, John, 1969–II. Title.

RA781.L627       2004

613.7'1—dc22

2004002012

Copyright © 2004 Michelle Lovitt, M.A., and John Speraw

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.

Editor: John Anderson

Typesetter/Book design: Gary A. Rosenberg

Cover design: Mike Stromberg

Photographer: Mike Medby

Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

1. Muscle Types and Your Exercise Plan

2. The Six-Week Base Level Fitness Plan

3. Determining Your Muscle Type

4. Choosing an Exercise Plan

5. Nutrition and Exercise

Conclusion

Appendices

A. Exercise Instructions

B. Calculating Your Body Mass Index (BMI)

C. Muscle Determination Graphs

Endnotes

About the Authors

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank a number of people who were helpful during the process of completing Exercise for Your Muscle Type. First, we want to thank our parents for their love, support, and guidance. Thanks also to Jeff Nygaard, Angie Akers, Jeremy Akers, Robyn Hyden, and Mike Medby. Professors Dr. Jacobo Morales, Dr. Tim Anderson, and Dr. Don Diboll—thank you for your valuable insights. Thanks to Eric Daly for his statistical work. Thank you to Easton Gym in Santa Monica and the UC–Irvine weight room. Finally, thank you to Jack Challem and Norman Goldfind for giving us the opportunity to try and make a difference.

Preface

Lying in bed one morning, I was thinking about my exercise program. I knew I needed an increased amount of aerobic activity, not only to better my cardiovascular fitness, but also to lower my body fat. I decided that increasing aerobic activity probably meant jogging long distances. However, I despise jogging. For me, it is intensely boring, difficult on my body, and my knees begin to ache after the first mile. This alone made me realize that my body was not predisposed for long-distance aerobic activity.

From my experiences at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a volleyball player and my studies in molecular genetics and biochemistry, I knew that every person has both fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch fibers are responsible for explosive, powerful movements, while slow-twitch fibers are used during endurance activities. My body is composed mostly of fast-twitch muscle fibers. It was no wonder I did not like jogging: with such a large amount of fast-twitch fiber, my body was not designed for endurance sports.

However, this knowledge about my body type was not easily obtained. It took years of training as an athlete to achieve a 38-inch vertical jump, a clear indication of explosive, fast-twitch muscle fiber. I began to wonder if other people whose bodies were designed like mine had similar experiences with endurance training. This led me to an even more important question: Does an unathletic person who sits behind a desk for ten years know anything about his or her muscle composition, let alone care how it can affect exercise? Probably not.

Many people in this situation start an exercise program by going to a gym to work with a personal trainer toward the goal of losing body fat. In many cases, the first thing trainers will do is put their clients on a treadmill or other cardiovascular equipment. Maybe these people are like me and hate the treadmill. Perhaps they have not had the opportunity to train at a sport for years, and have not determined their muscle type and preferred, personalized exercise program. So they spend time on the treadmill, but don’t find much success achieving their goals. Unfortunately, after failing with generic programs not suited for them, they eventually quit, because they are neither enjoying the exercise nor achieving results justifying the time spent on them. Then they go back behind the desk and live a less healthy life. The most efficient way to achieve your goals is by developing your body according to its muscle type.

As I considered these things, I thought to myself, How can I reach these people and help them achieve their personal fitness goals? I realized reaching people must begin by asking, What muscle type are you?

Over the years, I have read a variety of ideas about how to personalize a fitness plan. There are ideas about training based on body shape, or to address the individual location of excess body fat. For example, a pear-shaped person would be suited to a different program than one geared to someone carrying weight in the midsection. To me, all of these plans miss the point. Exercising must begin by examining body structure at the genetic level. It is critical to understand that people are built not by shape but by their muscular structure. Thus, the idea for this book was first conceived as a means for developing an exercise plan based on a person’s genetic predisposition to specific muscle structures.

It was while I was considering putting these thoughts together into a book that I met Michelle Lovitt. During the years she was a strength and conditioning coach at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California, she trained several hundred athletes, as well as nonathletes in her private training business. Michelle has an undergraduate degree in sports nutrition and a masters degree in exercise physiology. After getting to know her, I decided to ask her about my idea. She thought it was great and immediately began brainstorming about how to write this book. Together, we developed this program to determine each person’s muscle makeup, and how that should apply to an exercise plan.

Our quest to develop a personalized exercise plan based on muscle type has also led us to other necessary questions. What if you are a fast-twitch muscle type who enjoys a slow-twitch activity, such as long-distance running? How do you train for that? Should you change sports? Are there nutritional implications for your body based on muscle type? How do you determine your muscle type in the first place? How do these plans change, based on your current fitness level? Rest assured, we answered all these questions and more. We hope this book brings you a better understanding of who you are and how you are built. Use this information to live a healthier, happier life.

—John Speraw

Over the past ten years, I worked with many elite, amateur athletes at the Division I collegiate level. My background in nutrition and exercise science helped me train these athletes, to the best of my ability, to become fitter, faster, stronger, and healthier. It was not until I met John Speraw that I realized the training programs I used to develop fast-twitch muscle fiber in athletes were applicable to the general population.

After much research, we came up with what I believe to be the best exercise and nutrition program available. It is a unique plan because it is designed specifically for you and your muscle fiber type. Remember that exercise, in conjunction with a balanced diet, ensures the lifelong benefits of good health.

—Michelle Lovitt

Introduction

This book is different from any other exercise book you may have read. Most exercise books offer a generic, one-size-fits-all approach to fitness, with the same workouts for everyone. Unfortunately, everyone is different. Each body possesses a unique combination of muscle fibers. Understanding your muscle makeup can have a huge impact on your exercise program, a fact that, until now, has been largely ignored.

The body has both fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch fibers are responsible for explosive, powerful movements—jumping, weight lifting, and so on. Slow-twitch fibers are used during endurance activities, such as walking and running. Many exercise programs do a sufficient job of developing slow-twitch fiber, but the average person has 45 to 55 percent fast-twitch muscle fiber in his or her body.¹ This means that most workouts ignore about half of the average body!

Each person has a unique, individualized percentage of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers, a kind of muscular signature. You may have been frustrated with previous exercise programs or activities, but it may simply be the wrong program for your body’s muscular structure. This book will eliminate the frustration, by showing how you are built and helping you put together a comprehensive exercise program appropriate just for you.

Barbara Gets Active

Barbara, sixty-two, was out of shape and had 32 percent body fat, although at 159 pounds she was not excessively overweight. She lacked energy in her daily life and wanted us to help her feel better. Although Barbara was an avid golfer and tennis player, she did not generally enjoy doing cardiovascular activities. Before placing her on a program, we tested Barbara using the Standing Broad Jump to determine her muscle type. She jumped a total of 42 inches—this placed her in the slow-twitch range (see the ranges for this test in Chapter 3). We thought it best to put her on a Combination Plan, so that she could both lose body fat and maintain her quickness in tennis. She also followed the Combination nutrition plan. She enjoyed both programs and after twelve weeks lost twelve pounds and, more important, 8 percent of body fat. She maintains this weight by continuing to follow a Combination Plan. She enjoys doing cardiovascular exercise more now, and continues to play golf and tennis.

YOUR MUSCLE MAKEUP

This book rests on the premise that exercise planning will be more effective if it is based on your personal muscle makeup of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers. While this book will help you determine how your muscles are built—whether they have more fast-twitch or slow-twitch fibers—keep in mind that you are comprised of both types of fibers and both need aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Even if you are a fast-twitch person, it does not mean that you only have fast-twitch fibers, just that you have more of them. Each exercise program in this book will work and develop both types of fibers.

Determining how much of these fibers you have is not the only thing that matters, however. Other factors that play a role in shaping a training program are your present fitness level, motivation, and previous exercise experience.

The overall improvement of your health is also based upon effectively balancing aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Both types of exercise are important for good health: aerobic conditioning, essential for fat loss, is of interest to most people, and anaerobic exercise develops lean muscle mass. These forms of conditioning are interrelated. Increasing lean muscle mass increases metabolism, which helps burn calories and keeps off the fat.

What makes this book unique are the exercise plans, balanced between cardiovascular and anaerobic exercises according to your body type. Whether you are predominantly slow-twitch, fast-twitch, or a balanced combination of the two, you will find an exercise program right for you. This book is much more comprehensive in helping you develop fast-twitch fibers than typical exercise books. Other books include weight lifting, which can be an anaerobic exercise, but we incorporate a broader range of anaerobic, explosive exercises that more thoroughly train fast-twitch fibers.

WHAT WE’VE LEARNED FROM ATHLETES

Each body has a different proportion of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers. You could have a higher percentage of either fast-twitch or slow-twitch muscle, or even an equal amount of both. Your personal body composition is determined genetically and the percentage of fibers is fixed at birth: you cannot train your muscle fibers to change from slow-twitch to fast-twitch.² What does this mean for your exercise performance? These percentages play an important role in how successful you can be at achieving your training goals.

To illustrate this point, consider the examples of athletes in specific sports, where biopsies show dramatic differences in percentages of muscle fiber composition.³ For example, long-distance runners have a higher percentage of slow-twitch fibers, while basketball players typically have more fast-twitch fibers. In fact, some athletes may have as much as 80 percent of one muscle fiber type. This is not because the athlete chose a sport and then developed a greater percentage of appropriate fibers to suit the demands of the sport. As just mentioned, the percentage of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers is fixed at birth. Thus, these athletes discovered the sport in which they excelled and they excelled at these sports because their bodies were designed for these specific endeavors, largely based on their individual composition of muscle fibers. This was a twofold process: the athlete realized that they were good at a sport, and then found enjoyment or fun in being able to succeed. This sense of satisfaction was due in large part to muscle composition.

Not many people have a strong desire to become an elite athlete. Most of us simply want to lose body fat, get stronger, lower our cholesterol, get in shape, and feel better. Even if becoming an elite athlete is not a personal goal of yours, you can incorporate these observations with athletes and create a personal workout with a positive impact.

Improving Athletic Abilities

Maggie, twenty-six, was a former athlete who played volleyball in college. After college, she began running marathons until she decided to play competitive beach volleyball. She soon realized that she was unable to compete because she had lost her explosiveness and could no longer jump high or move quickly. To determine her muscle type, we tested Maggie using the Vertical Jump/Power Test and found her vertical jump to be several inches less than it was in college. We put her on the Fast-Twitch Plan, so that she could regain her explosiveness and jumping ability. We tested her again after twelve weeks and found that her vertical jump increased to what it had been in college. Maggie had simply detrained her explosive muscle fibers with the endurance training she had been doing in preparation for running marathons. She now follows the Fast-Twitch Plan year-round to maintain her goal of staying in shape for volleyball.

MUSCLE TYPE AND YOUR PERSONAL WORKOUT

By discovering your muscle makeup—the percentage of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers in your body—you can achieve greater athletic success. You’ll be able to tailor your workouts to address your particular strengths and weaknesses. And, you may discover new sports and activities that more closely fit your muscle profile. Going with your strengths can lead to increased enjoyment in your athletic endeavors.

While it is important for you to train more efficiently for your specific body, there might be a dilemma if you find that you are predominantly fast-twitch and you really enjoy running or, if you are predominantly slow-twitch and you enjoy playing basketball. The last thing we want to do is discourage people from pursuing athletic activities they enjoy. We also do not want parents to push their kids into sports they do not enjoy simply because their bodies are built a certain way.

Our main goal is to help people enjoy physical activities and improve their health and athletic success. If you are a fast-twitch person and want to run a marathon, go for it! This book can help you improve your slow-twitch success too! Everyone has the capacity to train for a sport and improve his or her body. This book is about training to maximize your success.

Robert Loses Weight and Gets Healthy

Robert, thirty-five, weighed 223 pounds and was exhausted all the time. He knew he was out of shape and wanted to get fit, but didn’t know exactly how to do it. Our measurements revealed he had 28 percent body fat. Before we could perform a muscle test with Robert, he had to first follow the Six-Week Base Level Fitness Plan so that we could get a more accurate determination of his muscle fiber composition. After the six weeks, we tested Robert using the Thorstensson Test and discovered that he had more fast-twitch than slow-twitch muscle fiber (66 percent fast-twitch and 34 percent slow-twitch), which was one of the reasons it was difficult for him to enjoy cardiovascular exercise. He wanted to lose body fat and gain muscle mass, so we put him on the Hard Body Plan. He also followed the Hard Body nutrition plan and learned how to eat healthier. After twelve weeks, he lost 11 percent of body fat and fifteen pounds of total weight. He is currently maintaining a weight of 208 pounds by continuing to follow the Hard Body workout and nutrition plans.

An Individualized Exercise Program

This book takes you through a step-by-step process of determining your muscle type, and then helps you implement your own personalized exercise program based on that information.

Step 1: The first step explains exactly what a muscle is and how it works. We discuss the critical differences between fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers, and illustrate how they work with your body’s energy systems (aerobic and anaerobic). Once we have explained the general relationship between muscles and energy systems, we move on to the specifics of your personal body design.

Step 2: The second step is to develop a base level of fitness with the Six-Week Base Level Fitness Plan. Without a certain level of fitness, it is more difficult to accurately determine your predominant muscle fiber type.

However, you have the option to skip the Six-Week Base Level Fitness Plan. We do not recommend this, but we understand that some of you may be eager to determine your muscle fiber type and get to a specific program. If you choose to skip the Six-Week Plan, you risk not accurately determining your fiber composition. Research has shown that people who are untrained do not produce results that indicate actual fiber composition as accurately as those who do train.⁴ If you choose this option, we recommend that you take our tests several times over the course of your exercise program to ensure that you are following the right one.

A final option in Step 2 is to skip directly to the No-Twitch Plan. This plan was inspired by our parents, who have battled back surgeries and knee replacements. When we explained the concept for this book, they all had the same response: I understand fast-twitch and slow-twitch, but I think I am a no-twitch! Interestingly enough, our parents were not the only people to say this. We realized that if this was such a common thought, maybe we should include a plan for people who have injuries, special needs, or simply are not interested in finding out their muscle fiber type at all. The No-Twitch Plan is a low intensity, low impact exercise program that is even more basic than our Six-Week Base Level Fitness Plan. If you would like to be more fit but are not interested in even a moderately intense exercise program, then going directly to the No-Twitch Plan may be your best option.

Step 3: After a base level of fitness is reached (or if you skip step 2), you then determine your muscle composition. This is done using one of several specific tests: the Thorstensson Test, the Vertical Jump/Power Test, and the Standing Broad Jump Test. You can choose whichever test works best for you.

Step 4: Once you determine your muscle composition, you can pick your exercise plan. Keep in mind that even after you determine your muscle fiber type, there are many other considerations when you select the right exercise plan specific to your goals. We will help you through the process of choosing the appropriate training program for you. Detailed twelve week workouts for the different muscle fiber types are included, with daily choices of aerobic and anaerobic exercises.

Step 5: The final step is to gain a basic understanding of nutrition and how your diet affects your exercise plan. We include a chapter on nutrition and the misconceptions many people have about nutrition and exercise. This is a critical chapter with important information to help you achieve your health goals. Nutritional recommendations for each exercise plan are included.

Our ultimate goal is to provide you with a better understanding of your own body to help you achieve your fitness goals and greater athletic enjoyment.

Muscle Types and Your Exercise Plan

The path to using muscle type to improve your workouts begins with a little basic muscle anatomy, particularly the differences between slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers. These two types of muscle also use energy in very different ways and this affects the kinds of activities they are used for. An understanding of how your muscles function will help you focus your exercise plans to fit your particular training needs.

Anika Wants to Run a Marathon

Anika, twenty-nine, weighs 124 pounds and is in incredible shape. But she was interested in identifying her predominant muscle fiber composition so she could train more appropriately for her specific body type. She wanted to avoid getting bulky muscles, but wanted to increase her level of fitness. We tested her using the Vertical Jump/Power Test and the Standing Broad Jump. Her vertical jump was 15 inches, producing a power of 2,807.9 watts, which placed Anika in the slow-twitch category (see Chapter 3 for more information on these tests). Anika also did the Standing Broad Jump test and she jumped 50 inches. These results directly correlated with the vertical jump and placed Anika in the slow-twitch category. The choice of programs was obvious: Anika was placed on the Slow-Twitch Plan. She followed this plan for twelve weeks and was very happy with her results—she is now ready to run a marathon. Anika continues on this plan to maintain the endurance, lean body mass, and fitness she developed.

BASIC MUSCLE FUNCTION

Muscle is a band or bundle of fibrous tissue that contracts and relaxes to produce movement in the body.¹ This fibrous tissue is the basis for understanding how a muscle works. The exact biological composition is neither necessary nor easy to explain (and not very interesting). The most important aspects to know are the basics of muscle contraction and the two main types of muscle fiber: slow-twitch and fast-twitch.

When a nerve is activated, for example, when your brain tells your legs to start running, the muscle receives an electrical impulse, which causes the release of calcium from the muscle. Calcium is the essential ingredient and driving force in muscle contraction and it also has an impact on how slow-twitch and fast-twitch fibers work. Calcium acts like the filament in a light bulb: when electricity reaches the filament, the light bulb illuminates; without a filament, electricity still runs to the bulb itself, but there is no illumination. Likewise, when an impulse from the brain reaches the muscle, the calcium filament sparks, creating an electrical reaction that causes muscle contraction. Without calcium, the muscles remain in a relaxed state.

A relatively slow speed of contraction occurs with slow-twitch fiber, the fiber primarily used in endurance activities lasting for 90 seconds or longer, such as walking, running, or riding your bike. It simply takes more time for the muscle to react upon receiving a neurological signal to do so. Why? Slow-twitch fiber has a lower amount of stored calcium. In contrast, fast-twitch muscle