There are two types of muscles you can develop from physical activity: fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscles.

Fast-Twitch Muscles

Fast-twitch muscles activate during short and intense physical activities.  For example, when you are maxing out in benching, your pectoral fast-twitch muscles are being used.

The benefit of fast-twitch muscles is that it gives you explosiveness and short-lived enormous strength.  Because fast-twitch muscles need energy quickly to perform intense activities, fast-twitch muscles rely primarily on a consumption-ready reserve of carbohydrates (glucose in your blood stream) for fast conversion into energy.

The drawback of fast-twitch muscles is that once your consumption-ready carbohydrate reserves are depleted, your fast-twitch muscles ceases to function.  This is why most people who weight train with heavier weights have longer rest periods in between sets (the body uses this rest period to rebuild a consumption-ready reserve of carbohydrates for the next lifting set).

Slow-Twitch Muscles

Slow-twitch muscles are activated during long workout routines with low-intensity or endurance training.  For example, when you are repping out in benching, your pectorial slow-twitch muscles are being used.

The drawback of slow-twitch muscles, is that it cannot react as quickly as fast-twitch and you cannot use it for any intense physical activities.

The benefit of slow-twitch muscles is that it is resistant to fatigue. Also, because slow-twitch muscles do not need energy as quickly as fast-twitch muscles, its primary source of energy comes from fat cells.  Slow-twitch muscles are also more resistant to catabolism.

Focus on Developing Slow-Twitch Muscles to Lose Fat

Most weight lifters today focus on developing their fast-twitch muscles and neglect their slow-twitch muscles.  While I do see the benefit of fast-twitch muscles, if your goal is to become lean and cut, you should tailor your exercise workout routine to developing your slow-twitch muscles.  These muscles are the ones that will help you burn an extra 50 Calories of fat per day.  Thinking on a big scale, if you’ve gained 10 pounds of slow-twitch muscles, you will be burning an extra 500 Calories of fat per day from doing nothing out of the ordinary.

Examples of Slow-Twitch Muscle Exercises

It is easy to come up with slow-twitch muscle exercises.  Just do whatever exercises you do except modify it to be less intense and longer.  For example, if you used to bench 145 lbs. 8 times per set, you can decrease your weight to 125 lbs. and lift 15 repetitions per set instead.  If you run for exercise, try running slower over a longer distance.

I am also a big fan of using your own body weight for weight training.  Mainly because there is a good chance that you are targeting slow-twitch muscles with these exercises.  At home, I rarely use my $700 Golds Gym weight bench, but instead I use the following exercise equipments (which are relatively cheap and useful for targeting slow-twitch muscles):

• GoFit Ultimate Burst Resistant Core Stability Ball with Workout DVD
• Perfect Pushup
• Resistance Bands Exercise Training Set

If I were to recommend a “must have” equipment out of all of these, it would be the balance ball as it lets you perform many different exercises using your own body weight. I have another post on this site on why I love using the stability ball so much. Check it out!

Lastly, if you want to lose weight fast, I also suggest that you try to incorporate these fat burning foods into your diet.