#its just. muscle physiology is one of my niche interests and i never get to talk about it

[ladysqueakinpip]

hi op I hope you don't mind if I hijack your post and add More Thoughts to elaborate (human biologist here, studied cellular anatomy & physiology for years, AND an athlete who loves talking about exercise). please let me infodump at you 👉👈

everything you said is absolutely correct!!

we have 2 main types of muscle fibers (with some in-between types that show characteristics of both): slow-twitch (or slow oxidative) and fast-twitch (or fast-glycolytic)

the main difference between the two is the amount of mitochondria and blood supply. slow-twitch fibers have a lot of mitochondria and blood vessels. the mitochondria keep up with ATP production necessary for endurance activities. the blood vessels supply a steady source of oxygen (hence the name slow-oxidative) for aerobic respiration, the type of cellular respiration that creates the most amount of ATP and fuels endurance exercise. fast-twitch fibers are larger and rely on anaerobic respiration for fuel.

a few other things were revealed to us regarding their physical strengths/weaknesses i want to point out.

mikey: i headcanon mikey has an even mix of slow/fast-twitch muscle fibers (or the combination type which has traits of both) due to this exchange in the episode you got served:

mikey is high energy and a cardio machine. we see him easily take leo on this race to run of the mill! the fact that leo already looks fatigued implies they've been at it for a while, but mikey's not letting up anytime soon.

donnie: thank you SO MUCH for pointing out that donnie is slightly bigger/more defined than leo. the difference is subtle, but it's there. if I have to hear one more person say donnie is physically the weakest turtle because of this scene 👇 I'm going to lose my mind.

im not even sure why they included this bit other than for hahas. maybe those 2 yokai just have. an incredibly high mass/density that putting their arms on the table is enough to hold it down. its the only explanation that makes sense.

donnie fights with a bo staff, a weapon made for reach, great for keeping your opponent just out of range to lay a hand on you. in this iteration, it's not just a wooden stick, it's a metal rod equipped with other built-in techie features. it cannot be light. i'm sure donnie has engineered it to make it as easy as possible to handle, but i'm assuming the thing is 10lbs minimum.

have you ever tried to hold a out 10lb weight as far from your body as possible? not easy. it requires a lot of core and upper body strength. in addition, donnie does all the running and fighting that his brothers do, with the added weight of his battle shell. again, we don't know how heavy it is, but considering it has a built-in jet pack, i think it's safe to say it's probably a bonus 30-50lbs. he's essentially fighting with a 50lb backpack. again, not easy. to do all this efficiently, donnie's upper body strength is out of the park. arms, back, shoulders, chest, abs, this boy is BUILT. am i saying that donnie has an 8-pack underneath that plastron? that donnie is shredded? yes, yes i am.

second to raph, it makes sense that donnie would be one of the strongest brothers. he has a lot of fast-twitch fibers to keep up with the weight work. even before seeing the movie, i headcanoned endurance-cardio was not his strong suit. he confirmed it himself in the movie. 👇👇

other points/headcanons based on my own exercise experience:

raph is pretty straightforward. easily the strongest. i hc weightlifting is his favorite physical activity, and he loves to be competitive about it.

donnie likes to think he is the most disciplined of his brothers. it's actually raph (weightlifting takes a surprising amount of focus/concentration).

leo's dual swords would require upper body training similar to donnie. a quick google search told me katanas weigh about 2-3lbs each. definitely not as much as donnie's tech bo would weigh, but holding the swords out, swinging, and slicing would still need a good amount of upper body & core strength

because of leo's body type, endurance, and fighting style, i hc he is the most well-rounded/jack-of-all-trades fighter on the team. this combined with his competitive nature would also explain why he managed to win the lair games 5 years in a row.

leo's training routine consists of a mix of cardio (running, jump rope, treadmill) with body-weight or light-weight resistance training.

donnie's training routine consists of mid-to-heavy-weight resistance training mixed with low intensity cardio or yoga for balance, focus, and meditation

mikey's training routine consists mostly of high intensity cardio, especially plyometrics (jumping) and jump rope. if he does weight training, it's usually with his own body weight (pull ups, pushups, handstands, etc.) for the purpose of being able to lift himself up for flips, spins, and kicks. he doesn't plan to have to lift more than his own body weight.

i'm coming at all of this from the perspective of a gym rat, not from the perspective of someone who has taken martial arts! if anyone who has experience with hand-to-hand combat has other thoughts to add, please do. ❤️

One day I'm gonna kiss the character designers for rise of the tmnt.

Yeah shape theory and all that, it's super neat but IT GOES SO MUCH DEEPER.

Since the beginning of tmnt, the turtles have always been hard to distinguish from each other. Especially in the 1987 show, but all the way up to 2007 movie, the one thing the turtles have really had to distinguish themselves is their color of their masks, their weapons, and usually some minor design changes like the letter on their belts, height, and skin tone. But even those have been subtle.

The 2012 series is really the first tmnt iteration to change up the turtles in a significant way. Not only is their skin different shades of green, but their heights are a more significant difference. Donnie towers of the other turtles, and Mikey's height really solidifies him as the youngest brother.

That isn't where the differences end, though. Raph has a crack in his plastron, Mikey has freckles, and Donnie is much lankier and skinny than the others. The main problem with this though, is that they are still fairly subtle. From behind and without their masks on, it's impossible to tell whether its Mikey, Leo, or Raph on screen. Not to mention, Leo is sort of treated as a 'base', and the other three turtles are just alterations made to his design.

Rise, on the other hand, said "hold my beer."

Not only do rise turtles have the different heights, skin tones, and masks, they have different body types.

And not only are these differing body types useful in telling the turtles apart, they have genuine meanings. So I'm gonna infect your brains with my brainrot.

Starting with Mikey.

Mikey has always been the silliest of the group, the party dude, if you will. Rise uses shape theory to give this playful, young vibe to him. Not only are his markings circles, but so is his head and shell. His design is very rounded overall.

The other thing about rise, is that all their fighting types are different. Their weapons influence these styles along with their personality. Mikey's style of fighting is very acrobatic, very showy. He is very in touch with his sense of balance and the space around him.

It can't be a coincidence that Mikey's body type is also very similar to an acrobat or gymnastic athlete. His muscles are small but compact, and rounded like the rest of him. His limbs are small, but clearly strong and well maintained. Acrobats often have these types of hidden muscles, where they almost disappear when not in use because of the function of them. They aren't using the muscles for heavy lifting or grueling tasks. Acrobats use their muscles for balance and manipulating their own body.

Next is Leo. Unlike 2012 where Leo is used as a baseline for the other character designs, he most definitely has his own unique look. Overall, he's very sharp. His crescent moon markings on his face and limbs, his swords, and his overall stylized body shape leans into this pointed, sharp look.

Leo attacks quick in the series. He is often one of the first to strike, and thinks well ahead in battle to preserve his energy. His battle moves tend to also continue throughout the fight with a large blow in the beginning and end, with smaller strikes in between.

Leo is also the leanest of the turtles, with a small waist and the lithest of the turtles' limbs. All of this points his character design towards a long distance runner. They often start and end races with bursts of energy, and then pace themselves throughout the rest of the race. They have to think and consider their speed. Long distance runners also have very lean muscles. It has to do with the actual proteins in the muscle that make them thinner but perfect for pacing and persevering throughout long lengths of time.

Similar to Leo is Donnie. The disaster twins, as the fandom has named them for being the same age, are the most physically similar. They are nearly the same height and, when Donnie had his battle shell on, their shells are very similar in shape. However, they are still very different. Donnie has a rectangular build with his purple pixel-like markings and big ass forehead. Him and Raph also are the only turtles in rise with full head coverings, and they are also both square shaped.

Donnie tends to put all of his energy into one, well timed blow. Usually using his tech to discombobulate the enemy and then backing off quickly. (The only time this doesn't hold true is when he's fighting with April, where it's only the two of them. However, he still does tend to attack and then back away.) His muscles are the second most defined of the turtles, being thick and bigger than both Leo and Mikey.

For this reason, Donnie I believe is built off of a sprinter. A short distance runner. The perfect match to Leo (the twins ever bro)

Sprinters have to save up all of their energy in order to use it all in one short length of time, often just a few seconds. Exactly how Donnie attacks. Sprinters also have much larger, more defined muscles than long distance runners. I think it has something to do with storing energy and oxygen to be used all at once.

Finally, there's Raph. Raph is big and bulky in the show, with the biggest muscles and is *physically the strongest. He lifts giant boulders and can carry all three of his brothers, April, and Splinter with ease. His shape is a square, with his head and chest being large and boxy. His fighting style is the least ninja-y out of the four, being more related to actually just throwing hands with someone. He fights physically and often times without his weapons, preferring to attack with his body. He gets in the enemy's space and uses his larger size to overpower them. His ability to make himself bigger with his mystic powers furthers this idea. He attacks hard and doesn't let up, not allowing his weaknesses to be exploited by keeping the enemy from never getting a hit in.

I believe Raph is based off of a wrestler or boxer. They fight physically and roughly, preferring to never allow their opponent get a hit in if it allows. Their act of defense is also similar, as boxers generally use their weapon as defense instead of offense. (Raph does this in the train battle and the shredder fight pre-karai death.) Even some of Raph's moves are essentially boxing moves. It also makes sense why, in the show, Raph loves wrestling so much. It may not be boxing, but it's a very similar sport.

Boxers also have large, bulky figures similar to Raph. Their entire body is muscular as opposed to just their legs or arms because of how physical their sport is.

*Mikey throws a lot of super heavy stuff like the top of a sky scraper, a loaded cargo ship, and a semi-truck, but he does it with the help of his mystic weapon.

Hahaha I'm so. Normal.