In young men who don't exercise, fast-twitch muscle fibers are more tightly packed with muscle-building parts than slow-twitch fibers. When they start lifting weights, this difference stays the same, but all muscle fibers get bigger.

When young guys who haven't lifted weights before do strength training for 10 weeks, their muscle fibers grow in a way that makes them stronger, not just bigger with extra fluid. It's like building real muscle instead of just puffing it up.

In young men who don't exercise, slow-twitch muscle fibers have more energy-producing parts than fast-twitch fibers to start with, and even after 10 weeks of weight training—which boosts these parts overall—the slow-twitch ones still keep their lead.

When young men who don't normally exercise do eight weeks of weight training, their fast-twitch muscle fibers get bigger, but their slow-twitch fibers stay the same size and the overall mix of muscle types doesn't change.

When adults lift heavy weights, their fast-twitch muscle fibers grow much more than their slow-twitch ones, based on several studies.

Men naturally have bigger fast-twitch muscle fibers than women, even if neither exercise, showing a clear biological difference between sexes.