Muscle for Life

There’s a lot of confusion and debate about how muscle fiber types relate to muscle growth. Some people say only fast-twitch muscle tissue can get big and strong and some of us naturally have more or less of it and can’t change that regardless of what we do in the gym. Others say both fast- and slow-twitch muscle can grow bigger and stronger and the makeup of our muscles is malleable, but we shouldn’t take any special measures in our training to try to emphasize one muscle type over the other. And others still say “muscle-specific hypertrophy” training—using different rep ranges with different muscle groups based on their dominant fiber type—is the optimal approach to training, and especially as an intermediate or advanced weightlifter. Who’s right? Well, I wasn’t even sure myself, that’s why I invited Dr. Andy Galpin on the show to explain. In case you’re not familiar with Andy, he has a PhD in Human Bioenergetics, teaches various university-level courses on sports nutrition and exercise physiology, and head