Are Some People Better Suited To High-Intensity Activity Or Easier Aerobic Exercise?
Question:
Do some people react favorably to anaerobic exercise but not aerobic exercise? If so why?
Answer:
Some people do, in fact, react more favorably to the more short duration, high power anaerobic exercise (such as sprinting or weight training) as compared to longer duration, low power aerobic exercise (such as walking or jogging). The primary reason for this is muscle fiber type.
There are two primary types of fibers in your muscles.
Slow Twitch: These are also called Type I muscle fibers. They are responsible for long-duration, low-intensity activity such as walking or any other aerobic activity.
Fast Twitch: These are known as Type II fibers (they are divided further into Types IIA and IIB). They are responsible for short-duration, high intensity activity. Type IIB fibers are built for explosive, very short-duration activity such as Olympic lifts. Type IIA fibers are better for more moderate-duration, high-intensity work such as weight training.
The difference for the trainer is the ratio of slow twitch to fast twitch fibers. A marathon runner may have more than 80% slow twitch fibers in their legs and be an incredible aerobic athlete.
An athlete such as a sprinter may have 80% fast twitch muscle fibers in his or her legs and be an amazing anaerobic athlete. This type of person would not do well with aerobic exercise due to the high amount of fast twitch fibers in their legs. They would fatigue quickly because most of their muscle fibers are designed for short bursts of power and would lose motivation rapidly.
So do different people react better to different types of exercise? Absolutely and it totally comes to genetics – some people are just more suited to that type of activity at a very deep level. And when people are more suited to a certain type of activity, be it running or weight training, they tend to gravitate to what they’re good at and successful at.
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