Some of the advantages and disadvantages of isotonic and isometric

muscle work are listed in Table 4.4.

 Table 4 Advantages and disadvantages of isotonic and isometric
.4 muscle work:

Isotonic muscle work Isometric muscle work

Muscle strengthened through a full
range of movement.
Related to most sporting activities
and daily tasks.
Recruitment of a larger proportion
of muscle fibres and motor nerves
to work through full range of
movement.
Increased capillarisation –
(endurance training)
Muscle strengthened in specific
range of movement
Useful in rehabilitation
programmes (strengthens muscle
without excessive movement of
joint).
Recruitment of specific muscle
fibres to hold the position.
May cause rise in blood pressure
May cause breath holding

A further consideration for sport specific training is the type of muscle

fibre that will be used. There are different types of fibres within
skeletal/voluntary muscle. These include:

• Fast glycolytic fibres (FG) – type IIb

• Fast oxidative glycolytic fibres (FOG) – type IIa
• Slow twitch fibres

The fibres can be differentiated by a number of structural features, which

include their preferred energy source (aerobic or anaerobic) and the speed at
which they contract and fatigue. The type of muscle fibre recruited (by the
nervous system) will be determined by the specific activity. The different
types of muscle fibre are described in Table 4.5.
Muscles are usually composed of a percentage of each type of fibre. This
is usually determined genetically. A key factor that influences training
potential would be the percentage of each type of fibre an individual
possesses. Endurance athletes would most likely have a greater number of
slow twitch fibres, whereas power athletes would most likely have a greater
number of fast twitch fibres.
A further influencing factor would be the number of type IIa (FOG)
fibres as these fibres can respond to training by developing the qualities of
either the other two types, depending on the activity being performed. As an
average, Sharkey (1990: 273) indicates that the percentage of muscle fibres
are:

• 50% slow twitch

• 35% intermediate/FOG
• 15% fast twitch