Training-induced increase in myofibrillar ATPase intermediate fibers in human skeletal muscle

The response of human muscles triceps brachii and vastus lateralis to training, consisting of 18.5 miles a day of skiing with a backpack, 6 days a week for 8 weeks, has been investigated by means of histochemical fiber typing (myofibrillar ATPase) as well as immunohistochemical discrimination of slow and fast myosin (n = 6). A detraining period of 33 weeks was also studied. The percentage of type 2 fibers decreased by 6% in the triceps brachii during training, whereas the intermediate fiber type increased by 4%. No change was found in the distribution of fiber types in the vastus lateralis during training or in both muscles during detraining. The ATPase intermediate fibers also stained intermediately in the immunohistochemical stainings for slow and fast myosin. These results show that transformation of a fraction of the type 2 fibers into the intermediate type may occur as a response to endurance training.