Fast Twitch Grandma was founded by Virginia Davies who took up sprinting in her fifties along with personal trainer Grayson Fertig. Virginia came to the realization that while she considered herself to be active and healthy, she wasn’t sure if she had the ability to run around and play with her grandchildren. She started researching high intensity training (or sprint training) and became passionate about the benefits of this type of exercise. The initiative “Fast Twitch Grandma” was developed in order to start the conversation of the benefits of this type of training (particularly in aging adults).

Virginia felt that the benefits of sprint training are not disseminated enough to the public and she wanted to change that. The name is in reference to a type of muscle fibres, fast twitch fibres. Our muscles are composed of both “fast twitch” and “slow twitch” muscle fibres. Fast twitch muscle fibres are bigger, produce more force, contract more rapidly and fatigue more quickly. On the other hand, slow twitch muscle fibres are smaller, but they can work at a lower force for a much longer amount of time without fatigue. Everyone has a combination of both slow and fast twitch muscles and as we age the ratio of the space fast twitch fibres occupy in our muscles decreases. This process begins as early as age 30 in some people. We want to maintain these strong muscles that react more quickly to help us avoid falls, perform regular tasks and to of course play with our kids and grandchildren!

We are all aging – there is no avoiding it – but it doesn’t have to be discussed in a negative way. As we heard from some of the leading researchers in the field of exercise and aging, we don’t need to stop exercising because we are aging; we age faster because we stop exercising! We need to change the language we use around aging and stop using words like decline, loss and impairment and start talking about “Optimal Aging” (a term used by leading researchers John Babraj and James Cobley). Exercise is something that can positively affect every system in the body! No pill can mimic its effects. Fast Twitch Grandma aims to spark the conversation about the safety and benefits of high intensity exercise for everyone, specifically those entering middle and older age. It’s never too late to start!

Fast Twitch Grandma intends to spread information and start a conversation about exercise through articles written in language anyone can understand, a forum for you to ask questions and voice your experiences, and resources for you to start or continue your own journey through optimal aging. We have also traveled around the world visiting leading researchers and interviewing older athletes (up to 95 years old!) about exercise to bring you both scientific and anecdotal evidence that this works!