According to Gray Cook, PT, founder of Functional Movement Systems in Danville, Virginia, muscular endurance is your ability to do bouts of work with periods of short rests. Weight training is one common method that most athletes use to improve endurance, strength and stability. There are several methods you can use to improve endurance, depending on your goals and fitness level.
Benefits
According to Cook, muscular endurance improves stamina, which is your ability to resist fatigue. It enables you to recover quickly and continue to play or work with little or no decrease in performance. Muscular endurance also improves your cardiovascular and respiratory systems, blood circulation, and oxygen transport.
Weight-training improves muscular definition and strength and increases bone density. It also increases your muscle mass, which helps to increase your fat-burning potential.
Types
Vern Gambetta, director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems in Sarasota, Florida, explains that there are two types of endurance. Strength endurance is your ability to perform different strength exercises with very little rest between sets. This is also known as a superset. Power endurance--known as plyometrics--is doing explosive bursts of movement repetitively, with little rest between sets. A sample exercise would be to jump up and down a two-foot high box as quickly as possible while maintaining form.
According to Gambetta, there are two primary types of weight training, which are free weights and machines. In free weight training, you control your own balance and the direction you want to move and lift. In machine-based training, the path of motion and your body position is dictated by the machine. Free weight training tends to train your whole body, while machine-based training isolates muscle groups.
Considerations
According to Cook, endurance training usually involves a high number of repetitions that runs between 10 to 20 reps per set. If you can do the maximum number of reps without fatigue or difficulty, increase the weight. If you cannot do the minimum number of reps without fatigue or losing your form, decrease the weight.
Sample Workout
Circuit training is one way to increase muscular endurance. You perform six to 10 exercise that train different movement patterns with no rest between exercises. You may use any training tools, such as cable column machine, kettlebells, dumbbells, resistance bands, medicine balls, and a jump rope. When you have completed one circuit, rest for one to two minutes, and resume the circuit again.
A sample workout--in no particular order--do 30 seconds of each exercise: push-ups, standing cable row, kettlebell swings, medicine ball throws, one arm dumbbell squats, and jumping rope.
Warning
Do not start any weight training or exercise program if you are at risk for any cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, or any metabolic or musculoskeletal diseases or disorders. Consult with your physician, chiropractor or physical therapist before training.
References
- "Essence of Program Design"; Juan Carlos Santana; 2004
- "Athletic Body in Balance"; Gray Cook; 2003
- "Athletic Development"; Vern Gambetta; 2006
Member Comments