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Some people can run faster, and others farther. If you could look inside your muscle cells
you could tell whether you were born to run sprints or distance events. If you have a high
percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers you have a tendency to run fast. These sugar-burning
muscle cells fire quickly, burn fuel quickly and are not resistant to fatigue. In contrast,
slow twitch fibers burn fat, can be trained to fire repeatedly for a long time and resist fatigue.
Sports scientists can determine an individual's percentage of fast or slow twitch muscle
fibers by injecting a needle into the muscle and withdrawing a small sample to examine under
a microscope. It is a relatively simple procedure, but a bit painful and usually done only
for research studies. Runners with a predominance of slow twitch muscles must abandon hope
for a fast finishing kick. Speedy runners, however, can train their fast twitch muscles to
become fat burners and act as slow twitch fibers.
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