Cell biological mechanisms of muscle fiber type transformation and athletic performance enhancement by martial arts exercise
Abstract
Wushu, as a type of exercise nurtured in traditional Chinese culture, not only has profound cultural significance, but also possesses the physiological role of exercise. In order to investigate the effects of wushu exercise on human muscle fiber types and athletic ability, the study was based on the effects of exercise on skeletal muscle, and the cell biological mechanisms of skeletal muscle contraction during wushu exercise were investigated. The experimental subjects were modeled and grouped by designing experiments. The muscle fiber ratio, the ratio of fast and slow muscle fibers of gastrocnemius muscle and the cross-sectional area were collected by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunofluorescence staining and protein blotting in order to analyze the changes in the muscle fiber types of the subjects before and after the wushu exercise. Then, the effectiveness of martial arts exercise in enhancing athletic ability was investigated by comparing the intergroup and intragroup athletic ability before and after the experiment between the experimental group and the control group. Wushu exercise had an interaction effect on the ratio of fast and slow muscle fibers, the expression of PGC1α4 and PGC1α2/3, the expression of PPARδ, PDK4, and the protein expression of mitochondrial complex, and it did not have an interaction effect on the protein expression of P38MAPK/P38MAPK and P-AMPKα/AMPKα. Before the experiment, the motor ability of the experimental group and the control group was at the same level (P > 0.05), and after the experiment, the motor ability of the experimental group was much higher than that of the control group, and the P value of each dimension was less than 0.05. After the wushu experiment, the motor ability of the experimental group was greatly improved, and the P value of each dimension was less than 0.05, while the control group stayed at the same place, and the P value of each dimension was greater than 0.05. Wushu exercise could effectively improve the subject’s motor ability.
References
1. Roberts TJ., & Dick T.J. (2023). What good is a measure of muscle length? The how and why of direct measurements of skeletal muscle motion. Journal of Biomechanics, 111709.
2. Hafidz A, Putera SHP, & Rusdiawan A. (2021, December). Effect of plyometric jumping jack and tuck jump against strength and leg muscle power in martial arts athletes at Kostrad Malang. In International Joint Conference on Arts and Humanities 2021 (IJCAH 2021) (pp. 394-399). Atlantis Press.
3. Kröger S, & Watkins B (2021). Muscle spindle function in healthy and diseased muscle. Skeletal Muscle, 11(1), 3.
4. Suarez GO, Kumar DS, Brunner H, et al. (2024). Neurofibromin deficiency alters the patterning and prioritization of motor behaviors in a state-dependent manner. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.
5. Eng CM, Azizi E, & Roberts TJ. (2018). Structural determinants of muscle gearing during dynamic contractions. Integrative and comparative biology, 58(2), 207-218.
6. Damon BM, Froeling M, Buck AK, et al. (2017). Skeletal muscle diffusion tensor‐MRI fiber tracking: rationale, data acquisition and analysis methods, applications and future directions. NMR in Biomedicine, 30(3), e3563.
7. Azizi E, Deslauriers A R, Holt NC, & Eaton CE (2017). Resistance to radial expansion limits muscle strain and work. Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology, 16, 1633-1643.
8. Stecco C, Pirri C, Fede C, et al. (2020). Fascial or muscle stretching? A narrative review. Applied Sciences, 11(1), 307.
9. Plotkin, DL, Roberts MD., Haun, C. T., & Schoenfeld, B. J. (2021). Muscle fiber type transitions with exercise training: shifting perspectives. Sports, 9(9), 127.
10. Wilson JM, Loenneke JP, Jo E, et al. (2012). The effects of endurance, strength, and power training on muscle fiber type shifting. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26(6), 1724-1729.
11. Medler S. (2019). Mixing it up: the biological significance of hybrid skeletal muscle fibers. Journal of Experimental Biology, 222(23), jeb200832.
12. Lievens E, Klass M, Bex T, & Derave W. (2020). Muscle fiber typology substantially influences time to recover from high-intensity exercise. Journal of applied physiology, 128(3), 648-659.
13. Vikne H, Strøm V, Pripp AH, & Gjøvaag T. (2020). Human skeletal muscle fiber type percentage and area after reduced muscle use: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 30(8), 1298-1317.
14. Kachenkova E, Zavalishina S, & Kartashev V. (2023). The use of the multicomplex sports nutrition" MDX" in martial arts athletes. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 460, p. 11007). EDP Sciences.
15. Yang, Y. (2022). Physiological changes in martial arts athletes in altitude training. Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte, 29, e2022_0335.
16. Batra A, & Zatoń M. (2017). Effect of high-intensity interval training on anaerobic capacity in ITF taekwondo practitioners. Journal of Combat Sports and Martial Arts, 8(1), 61-67.
17. Huldi FJ., & Cisar CJ. (2022). Developing an Annual Training Program for the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 10-1519.
18. Samborskiy AG, Nikulin IN, Gorodov SS, & Lopatin II. (2023). Development of strength and power in qualified martial artists using plyometric training. Theory and Practice of Physical Culture, (5), 3-5.
19. Zheng Y, Ren X & Li L. (2024). Application of conjugated polymer nanocomposite materials as biosensors in rehabilitation of ankle joint injuries in martial arts sports. SLAS technology (6),100213.
20. Gaur K, Mohapatra L, Wal P, et al. (2024). Deciphering the mechanisms and effects of hyperglycemia on skeletal muscle atrophy. Metabolism Open100332-100332.
21. Lamia SN, Davis CS, Macpherson PCD, et al. (2024). Overexpression of enhanced yellow fluorescent protein fused with Channelrhodopsin-2 causes contractile dysfunction in skeletal muscle. FASEB journal: official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (22), e70185.
Copyright (c) 2025 Author(s)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright on all articles published in this journal is retained by the author(s), while the author(s) grant the publisher as the original publisher to publish the article.
Articles published in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, which means they can be shared, adapted and distributed provided that the original published version is cited.