Muscle Strength and Fiber Typing

Michael Marino, R.P.T., and Gilbert W. Gleim, M.S.

Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY

Skeletal muscle is the effector organ that moves the body during sport. The study of muscle in the profiling of athletes consists of two major areas, composition and strength. In discussing the former, we refer to fiber typing and morphologic changes resulting from training, and how this affects athletic performance. Later, we discuss the concept of strength, its measurement and development, and how strength itself affects athletic performance, activity, and injury.

Clinics in Sports Medicine-Vol. 3, No. 1, January 1984