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Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers and Your Golf Swing

How to Train Your Body For Golf 

 

 

So what are fast twitch muscle fibers?  They are the largest and most powerful muscular movers in your body. Fast twitch fibers use anaerobic metabolism to create fuel so they are much better at generating short bursts of strength or speed than slow muscles. If you think of the game of golf, it is bursts power over a period of about 4 hours.  You hit a drive at 100mph (burst of power), hop in the cart, drive to your shot, hit your approach (burst of power), go to the green and putt out (minimal burst of power, if any), go to the tee again and hit another booming drive (burst of power).  Fast twitch muscle fibers fatigue more quickly and generally produce the same amount of force per contraction as slow muscles, but they get their name because they are able to fire more rapidly.  Another great example of an athlete that uses fast twitch muscle fibers as an advantage is a sprinter since he or she needs to quickly generate a lot of force.  Below is an example of how to train your fast twitch muscle fibers.

Find your 1 rep max for an exercise.  Take 80% of that number and use that weight to do 3 sets.  First set do 4 reps, second set do 5 reps, third set do 6 reps. In order to train the fast twitch muscles, each rep should be EXPLOSIVE.  As you exhale, explode as you perform the rep and inhale as you come back. Do not pause between reps, keep it continuous and explosive. Increase the reps as you get stronger. 
 
Use caution when doing the exercises as you do not want to injure yourself.  Always use correct form and make sure there is a spotter if needed.

Fast twitch muscle fibers that need trained for golf - Forearms, core (abs, obliques, and back), glutes, hamstrings

REFERENCES:

 

 

Quinn, Elizabeth. "Fast and Slow Twitch Muscle Fiber Types."Sportsmedicine. N.p., 20 Dec. 2014. Web. 02 Aug. 2015.

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