so they can perform more powerfully as a standard. Such an improvement again relies upon what Donald Chu calls the ‘neuromuscular connection’. That is the relationship between the intense activation of the nervous system and enhanced fast-twitch muscle fibre recruitment. However, in terms of long term training effects there is an added dynamic. And that is the conditioning of the body to adjust muscle fibres from slow to fast-twitch; thereby increasing the number of fast-twitch muscle fibres available for recruitment and with which to help power a given movement. Such a process is also referred to as muscle fibre type shifting. It is also often discussed in regard to converting muscle fibre types IIa to type IIb. Different training regimes can stimulate different muscle fibre type adaptions. For instance, as a result of their training body builders have a tendency to have relatively more type IIa muscle fibres which allow for forceful, but relatively slow movements. Whereas sprinters, as a result of their training, may have a larger amount of type IIb muscle fibres allowing for forceful, and relatively fast movements. Generally, the aim of complex training is to stimulate the athlete to develop more type IIb muscle fibres. This allows for their strength to be expressed quickly, which means greater power generation. In regard to the apparent conversion of type I to type II fibres through training, leading experts attest that this is in fact the alteration of the muscle fibres size and ability to produce force; the percentage of fibres that are type I or type II does not change: In the context of rock climbing, and an isometric exercise preceding a plyometric one, Steve Maisch considers that one of the training goals of complex training is to operate at a level of fatigue thereby encouraging the body to learn to recruit from a wider range of muscle fibres in order to be able to apply the appropriate power. Thus, over a period of training, increasing the system strength and power output of the athlete as their body has learnt to recruit a larger number of muscle fibres. Studies on the effectiveness of complex training often last between 4 and 12 weeks and measure such abilities as vertical jump height and sprinting speed. Complex training often compares favourably to resistance only and plyometric only training programmes. There is apparently little information on longer term effects. Movements Plyometric pushup