Feb 1, 2021The Best Ways to Improve Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to perform repetitive contractions against a force for an extended period of time.
By building muscular endurance you will be able to perform physical tasks for a longer period. While strength allows you to lift a force, endurance allows you to continue doing this over time.
According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), the benefits of muscle endurance include:
- helping maintain good posture and stability for longer periods
- improving the aerobic capacity of muscles
- improving the ability to carry out daily functional activities, such as lifting heavy items
- increasing athletic performance in endurance-based sports
A recent article in MedicalNewsToday.com highlighted how to improve muscular endurance. Below is an excerpt from that article on how to stay in the gym longer!
To increase muscular endurance, ACE recommends a combination of lower and upper body exercises, with strengthening exercises to target the whole body. Moderate resistance training, with short intervals in between for rest, creates short bursts of tension to build strength. Circuit or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can be a suitable way to combine cardio and strength training into one workout. The best exercise programs mix strength and muscular endurance training.
When training to improve muscular endurance, what matters most is not the type of exercise, but how people design their workout. People should take into consideration the following when tailoring a workout to boost muscular endurance:
- the number of reps
- the weight or resistant force on the muscles
- the number of sets
- length or rest periods
According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, individuals training for muscular endurance should aim to complete three or more sets of 15 or more exercise reps with a load that is 50% or less of their one-rep max (RM). A person’s one-rep max is the maximum load with which a person can complete one repetition of an exercise.
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» ALSO SEE: Training the Lower Body for Power
Though there are no specific exercises that are better training muscular endurance than others, the ACE recommends the following exercises that can be done at home and without equipment.
- Push-ups
- Squats
- Abdominal Crunches
- Pike Crunch
- Lunges
- Planks
To read the full story from MedicalNewsToday.com about improving muscular endurance, click here.
