Baseball pitching is a skill requiring varying
degrees of velocity, depending on the type of pitch thrown. The trunk
and lower body contractile forces provide more than 50% of the power
needed by the upper body to produce the pitch. The requirement on a
contractile level for the upper and lower body musculature is that the
force be great with a fast rate of force production. The fiber has to
be able to handle quick ATP-PC resynthesis. Fast-twitch fibers are the
fiber of choice.
Specificity of training for a baseball pitcher means exercising in a
highly specific way for the physiological components that are expressed
through:
- characteristics of fiber-types
- fiber recruitment patterns
- velocity and rate of force production
The information presented can give you a scientific basis for making
decisions about a strength, power, and cardiovascular program
appropriate for a pitcher.
To stimulate further thought on your part, the following two issues have been included:
fiber composition of power athletes the problem with inappropriate non-specific training
All information is referenced by statement for your further investigation.
Baseball pitching is an overhead throwing motion that is performed in less than a second in an explosive and ballistic manner.
Training a baseball pitcher for improvement of performance involves the
process of systematic and progressive exercises that challenge his
current state of adaptation with regard to power.
It is important to keep in mind this pertinent and important scientific formula: power = strength + speed.
Characteristics of fiber-types
The brain outputs information to the skeletal muscles, with the result
being a contractile force. The metabolic demand of the movement and the
required intensity of the movement dictate the recruitment of the motor
units that will produce the contraction; the force production
capability and rate of recruitment are characteristic of the different
fiber-types.
A motor unit is the functional unit of neural control for muscular
activity. Motor units consist of a cell, an alpha motoneuron, and all
the muscle fibers innervated by the alpha motoneuron. Within a motor
unit, all the muscle fibers have nearly identical biochemical and
physiological properties (Brooks, 2000). However, there are differences
between motor units which result in functional differences in their
contractile properties; namely, force capabilities and speed of
contraction.
Histochemical and Physiological Fiber Differences
From a histochemical perspective, the fibers are distinguishable on the
basis of differences in myofibrillar-ATPase activity. The ATPase
activity reaction correlates with speed of contraction; fibers with low
ATPase activity are ST (slow-twitch or type 1) and those with high
ATPase activity are FT (fast-twitch or type 2a and 2b) (Gollnick,
l972). The FT demonstrate a high maximum velocity of shortening and
under isometric conditions, require a short time to reach peak tension.
Conversely, the ST fibers possess a slow velocity of shortening and long
time to reach peak tension. Slow twitch are fatigue-resistant,
fast-twitch are fast-fatigable (2a are fast-fatigue resistant, i.e.,
properties of both 1 and 2a) (Gollnick, l972).
Histochemical studies also reveal differences in a fiber’s metabolic
characteristics by identifying its reaction for succinic dehydrogenase
(SDHase). A fiber with a strong reaction is interpreted to be an
oxidative fiber, and a weak reaction is associated with a nonoxidative
or glycolytic metabolism. SDHase activity studies reveal a correlation
with ATPase studies in terms of fiber-type characteristics; ST are
oxidative and FT are nonaerobic and glycolytic (Brooks, 2000).
Physiological studies of the myosin component of the muscle indicate
that it plays a special role in the contractile characteristics of the
muscle. The myosin heavy chain (MHC) appears in three different
varieties or isoforms, type 1, 2a, and 2b, as are named the muscle
fibers that contain them. These myosin molecules make a difference in
the force generation capacity of the cross-bridges of the three fibers.
Type 2b fibers contract approximately 10 times faster than type 1
fibers, with the contraction velocity of 2a fibers lying intermediate to
1 and 2b’s. Fast motor units also produce 100 times more force than
slow motor units. The difference is velocity of contraction is due to
the size of the axon (Henneman, 1964) and the difference in
force-production capabilities is due to the cross-sectional area of the
muscle fiber. The FT possess a greater cross-sectional area than the
ST.
Recruitment Patterns
Through the examination of glycogen depletion patterns of exercising
muscle, different patterns of use and metabolic modes for the
fiber-types were demonstrated. During bicycle exercise at various loads
requiring 60 to 80 % of maximal oxygen uptake, Gollnick, et al., l973,
found that type 2 fibers depleted sooner and more completely during the
sprint bouts, and the type 1 fiber depleted sooner and to a greater
extent during the endurance exercise. Gollnick, l974 also found a
preferential recruitment pattern with type 1 fibers being recruited
regardless of exercise intensity, and the type 2 fibers being recruited
during higher intensity powerful efforts or during prolonged activity to
fatigue. This suggests that type 2 fibers are preferentially recruited
for the performance of short, high-intensity work bouts. Vollestad,
l984 confirmed these findings in a similar study.
The principle of an orderly recruitment of single motor units (Henneman,
l964) was derived from an investigation using slow increasing voluntary
muscle contractions. The theory states that ST fibers are always
recruited first, regardless of force. Desmedt, l978, investigated the
behavior of motor units during ballistic contractions. They found no
difference in the discharge pattern of motor units during self-paced
ballistic contractions; nor was there a difference in firing patterns
between fast and slow-twitch dominant muscles. The principle of an
orderly recruitment pattern holds true, regardless of force or time to
peak force.
Fast-twitch fibers and power
Fiber-type composition and the proportion of fast twitch fibers play an
important role in power-speed related sports. The higher the proportion
of fast-twitch fibers, the quicker and more powerful the contraction.
The ability to change a type of muscle fiber to another as a result of
training is critical for gains in strength, and still a topic of much
controversy. Recent studies suggest that a shift in fiber type may be
possible as a result of prolonged, high-intensity training. The
long-term adaptation seems to result in some conversion of slow twitch
to fast twitch and there is a proportional increase in fast twitch as
the expense of slow twitch (Jacobs, et al., l987 and Abernethy et al.,
l990). Dynamic strength increases relative to muscle cross-section have
been positively correlated to the relative content of type 2 fibers
(Dons, l979).
A high percentage of type 2 fibers would be advantageous for power-type
athletes. At any given velocity, the torque produced is greater the
higher percentage of distribution of type 2 fibers (Foss, l998). This
is due to their ability for a faster rate of tension development related
to the contractile dynamics of ATPase activity and calcium release and
uptake from the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
Fiber-composition and power athletes
Examination of differences in muscle fiber-type distribution among
athletes involved in various sports found jumpers and sprinters to have
the highest percentage (61%) of fast-twitch fiber distribution.
Olympic lifters and power lifters were also found to possess FT fibers
which are two times larger in diameter than the ST fibers of the same
muscle (Prince, 1976).
When measured, the untrained group displayed 56% of fast-twitch fiber
distribution as compared to the trained group of 61%. This is not to
imply that their power or maximum strength would be equal. If the two
groups were tested in both power or maximum strength, the difference in
their capacity would be very large. It is to imply, however, the
possibility that training can significantly increase the ability to
display power and maximum strength (Golnick, et. al., l972, Costill, et.
al., l976, Komi, et al, l977.
Training the power fibers
Power refers to the ability of the neuro-muscular system to produce the
greatest possible force in the shortest period of time. Power is the
product of force (F) and velocity (V) of movement (P=F x V). For
athletic purposes, any increase in power must be the result of
improvements in either strength or speed, or both. The goals of training
for power must be to: (Hakkinen and Komi, l983)
- improve the amount of force at a given rate
- improve the rate of that force production
- improve intramuscular coordination between excitatory and inhibitor reaction
- Improve the speed of contractio
Although it has been suggested that power athletes possess a greater
percentage of FT fibers, the available data does not confirm this.
However, there is a potential for growth of FT fibers allowing the area
of muscle occupied by FT fibers to increase to 90%, regardless of a
starting fiber-type composition within the normal range. This is
valuable information in that there is evidence that a high percentage of
FT fibers is advantageous in power-oriented events ( Tesch, l988) due
to their increased capacity for quick and forceful contractions.
In l987, Jacobs et al., conducted a study to determine the effects of
sprint training on histochemical and enzymatic adaptations of the muscle
fiber-type. In a six-week study, subjects exercised 2 to 3 times
weekly with 15s and 30s “all-out” sprints on a cycle ergometer. The
number of sprints was increased from two each during weeks 1 through
five to six each during week six. The results of the study showed a %
increase in FT fibers from 31.9% +/- 8% to 39.1% = +/-8% (P=0.008).
There was an associated decrease in ST fibers from 57.7% +/- 16.6% to
48.3% +/- 9.3 (P=.087).
Hakkinen, Komi, and Tesch (l981) conducted a 16-week study of combined
concentric and eccentric strength training. Loads of 80 to 100% 1 RM
for concentric, and l00 to 120% 1 RM for eccentric were utilized. The
training caused significant improvements in maximal force and various
force-time parameters. These findings were accompanied by internal
adaptation in the trained muscle due to increases in the areas of the
fast-twitch muscle fibers. These findings were in agreement with
previous findings of increases in performance (Sale, l986) through
strength training. Neural changes occur through training which help the
individual muscle to achieved greater performance capability. This was
achieved by shortening the time of motor unit recruitment, especially
FT fibers, and by increasing the tolerance off the motor neurons to
increased innervation frequencies (Hakkinen and Komi, l983).
The problem with inappropriate training
In l982, Bosco found that indiscriminate use of training methods that
hypertrophy both slow and fast twitch fibers can impair the invaluable
role played by FT development. Development of ST fibers appear to
provoke a damping effect on FT contraction during fast movement. This
is due to the fact that during high speed shortening of muscle, the
sliding velocity of ST fibers can be too slow and may exert a damping
effect on the overall muscle contraction. He concluded that the central
role played by the storage and release of elastic energy by the
connective tissues of the muscle complex should never be ignored in
sport specific training programs.*
* This comment makes reference to the SEC which exerts force when an
actively contracted muscle is stretched. There is a considerable
storage of energy in the SEC since an actively contracted muscle resists
stretching with great force, particularly if the stretching is imposed
rapidly. This resistive force, exerted at the extremities of the
muscle, and not the direct lengthening of contracted muscle, is
responsible for the storage of elastic energy within the SEC.
Low-volume high-intensity resistance exercise increases the
cross-sectional area of fast and slow twitch fibers, with a greater
relative hypertrophy occurring in the FT fibers (McDougall et al, l980,
Tesch et al, l983, Thorstennson, l976. Tesch et al (l987) showed that a
six-month long heavy-resistance training resulted in a decrease in the
activity of enzymes involved in glycolytic and aerobic metabolic
pathways (hexokinase, citrate synthase, myokinase nd
phosphofuctorkinase). Additional research revealed that citrate
synthase activity is lower in weightlifters and powerlifters compared to
bodybuilders, non-bodybuilders, and non-athletes (Tesch, l988). This
difference is probably due to the fact that bodybuilders train at
moderate intensity and fairly high volume. Five months of heavy
resistance exercise was also shown to significantly increase the levels
of the energy substrates glycogen, ATP, creatine phosphate and creatine
(MacDougall et al, l977).
Moderate intensity, high repetition resistance exercise, as commonly
used in circuit training ( a popular mode among pitchers) can convert FT
to behave more like ST fibers, apparently in an adaptive attempt to
resist the fatigue of the repeated efforts (Timson et al, l985, Baldwin
et al, l992, Noble & Pettigrew, l989 . The mechanism for this muscle
adaptation was offered by Hoy et al (l980) who found that the fast
isoforms of myosin disappear and are replaced by isomyosins that are
characteristic of slow muscle after Moderate intensity, high repetition
resistance exercise, as commonly used in circuit training ( a popular
mode among pitchers) can convert FT to behave more like ST fibers,
apparently in an adaptive attempt to resist the fatigue of the repeated
efforts (Timson et al, l985, Baldwin et al, l992, Noble & Pettigrew,
l989 . The mechanism for this muscle adaptation was offered by Hoy et
al (l980) who found that the fast isoforms of myosin disappear and are
replaced by isomyosins that are characteristic of slow muscle after
chronic overloading. This fiber transformation caused by chronic
stimulation is regulated primarily at the genetic transcriptional level
of regulation (Heilig & Pette, l983). This process is confirmed by
the presence in FT muscle of a myosin light chain component that is
usually observed only in ST fibers (Samaha et al, l970).
The take home message is that training programs can produce different
outcomes. Knowing the desired objective and using scientific principles
as a basis is crucial and necessary in order to not only improve
performance, but to do no harm.
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