The muscles of the body are called into play when you make slight movements such as scratching an itch and when you make more pronounced movements such as picking up a heavy rock. Muscular endurance is a parameter of fitness that can be important for daily activities.
Significance
Muscular endurance is the ability to maintain strength for an extended period of time when a stimulus is brought upon the body. Having high levels of muscular endurance can help translate into daily activities such as chopping wood, throwing hay bales, raking leaves and shoveling snow. People who play sports with a repetitive nature also benefit from muscular endurance. Basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis and volleyball are examples of these.
Function
Muscle strength is the maximum amount of force you can generate. Muscular endurance is the rate at which you can continually produce force. This determination is made by muscle fiber types. Fast-twitch fibers are called into play when heavy lifting with a fast motion is done. Muscular endurance however is characterized by slow-twitch muscle fibers. The bottom line is, fast twitch means high exertion for a short time, and slow twitch means low exertion for a longer time frame.
Cardio
Cardiovascular exercise improves aerobic capacity, and it can also improve muscular endurance in the legs. Running, for example, can prep the body for sports such as hockey and football. Other types of cardio such as stair climbing, biking and fast-pace walking can do the same thing.
Weight Training
Weight training is often used to gain size and strength. This is done by lifting the heaviest weights possible and doing low reps with high sets. For example, three to six reps and six to eight sets would be performed in a strength building workout. Muscular endurance can also be built by doing weight training, but the reps are high and the weight is light. These types of workouts are usually done in the form of a circuit. The reps are in the 15 to 30 range, there are 30-second rest periods in between each exercise to keep the heart rate elevated, and four or more complete circuits are generally performed. Body weight exercises and free weight exercises are used together or by themselves to target the whole body. Push-ups, pull-ups, burpees, dips, crunches and lunges are all examples of body weight exercises and chest presses, lateral rows, back rows, tricep extensions, bicep curls and squats are examples of free weight exercises.
Time Frame
To build up muscle endurance, you need to balance your workouts and make sure to work out consistently. For example, you can do weight training three times a week and cardio three times a week, all on alternating days. You should also change your weight training exercises every four weeks in case your body gets used to them, thereby decreasing exertion. You can still do the same muscle groups, just select new exercises.
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