Prolonged sitting or standing; which one is worse for your muscles? They’re both bad.
New studies show that sitting or standing for long periods can lead to health problems like heart disease. So what’s the solution?
Along with moving your body more, you can also make things easier on your body by improving your muscular endurance. However, you’ll need to fine-tune your fitness approach if you want to target all of your muscles.
To help you out, we’ve created this short, but complete guide. What’s the secret to improving your muscular strength for optimal health? Read on to find out!
Understanding Muscular Endurance
You have over 600 muscles in your body. Muscular endurance explains how long those muscles can handle different types of exercises. It’s a way of measuring the strength of your muscles.
One of the ways to determine somebody’s muscular strength is by finding out how much weight you can lift. Other ways include finding out how much weight you can put out.
However, endurance goes far beyond the exact number of pounds you can handle. It also has to do with the amount of time your muscles can stay in action.
How often can you move a considerable weight before your muscles are completely exhausted? What is the number of repetitions for a single exercise that you can do without rest or stopping or resting?
When your strength training, your muscular strength will specifically relate to how many repetitive exercises you can do without needing a rest. Sometimes these exercises won’t even include weights.
Instead, you’ll be using body resistance to push your muscles to their limit. Squats, sit-ups, and push-ups are great examples of body resistance exercises that test your muscular strength.
Why exactly do you need to know how much your muscles can endure? But by paying attention to your muscle’s ability to handle repetitive motion, you can begin perfecting your fitness regime. Soon you’ll be able to extend the amount of time that you can lengthen and contract your muscles without getting exhausted.
Overall, the main goal will be to improve your exercise performance and sports abilities. Improving your muscular strength has a few other benefits too. For instance, it’ll be easier for you to stand for long periods while maintaining good past posture.
Improving Aerobic Capacity
When you work your muscles to their limit, you’ll also be able to improve their aerobic capacity. If you want to increase your muscle’s aerobic capacity, you’ll need to practice aerobic activities.
When it comes to getting in shape, practice is your friend. So pick a routine and stick with it for a while.
We suggest starting off with endurance-related aerobic exercises such as biking and running. You can also sprinkle in a few sprint workouts.
As you run, plan on pushing yourself harder than you usually would. Run faster than your normal running pace for about 10 to 30 seconds each mile. By pushing at the very end of your run, you’ll be able to train your muscles to endure more pressure.
Another way to increase your aerobic muscle capacity is by practising cardiorespiratory training. Cardio training is also a great way to lose weight! Another way that aerobic exercises help is by making your muscles more efficient.
When exercising at a moderate intensity, your muscles need a few different things. First, they need oxygen, then fatty acids, and then substrates of carbohydrates. As you train your body to take in more oxygen, you’ll be able to perform more physical work. Since your body burns calories when you’re consuming oxygen, increasing your aerobic capacity.
Increasing your aerobic capacity will make your body more efficient with how it uses oxygen. You’ll also be able to burn a ton of calories.
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If you add in a little bit of cross-training, you’ll eventually become invincible!
Optimal Health With Cross-Training
Reach optimal health with the help of cross-training. Cross-training is a way of using different training methods within one fitness regime.
Instead of relying on your go-to exercises or sports for a workout, you’ll be switching things up a bit. Runners were one of the first groups of fitness enthusiasts to make cross-training as popular as it is today. Now you can find triathletes, cyclists, swimmers, and other athletes taking part in the practice.
Cross-training can be beneficial during your off-seasons. Instead of having to transfer a specific skill, you can try your hand at something else.
A few examples of cross-training include cyclists running as an alternative exercise. If you’re a swimmer, you could practice rowing instead of working on your strokes.
Do you usually go towards playing basketball or football to work out? Then try a high-intensity spinning class instead!
Lifting weights can also be a great way to switch things up from your regular sports play. Then try a slow-moving exercise such as yoga. Yoga requires a lot of body control, and it also helps stretch your mind.
When you cross-train, you’ll be able to target special muscle groups that you don’t usually hit. You’ll also be giving yourself a chance to recover from your daily exercises.
One of our favourite benefits of cross-training is that it keeps you mentally alert. Instead of going through the motions, you’ll have to pay attention as you teach your body to learn a new workout skill. If you need another benefit, cross-training can also help boost your cardiovascular strength.
Start Building Stamina
Supercharger muscular endurance by improving your stamina! You don’t even need any type of equipment, just your body.
Here are a few of the best bodyweight exercises for increasing stamina:
- Plank
- Goblet squat
- Standing lunge
- Modified push-up
- Crunches
As you choose different exercises to strengthen your muscles, pay attention to how many times you can contract your muscle during each exercise. By increasing the number of reps that you can perform, you’ll be able to improve your overall stamina.
One of the best ways to jumpstart your muscular strength is by working on high-volume sets. Make sure that you adjust the load to get the number of reps you need.
For instance, if you usually bench press for 4 sets of 10-12 reps, you might change that to 3 sets of 20 – 30 reps. You’ll also have to decrease the amount of weight you’re using, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be lighting up on your workout. Instead, the isometric contractions will help teach your muscles to hold out for a more extended period.
You could also increase the amount of time you hold different positions and increase rep sets. For instance, if squats are a part of your workout routine, try having your squatting position 30 seconds longer than normal. You’ll be able to improve the muscular strength of your thighs and hips.
You can use the same line of thinking with plank exercises. Holding your plank exercises for even 10 seconds longer than you usually will help challenge your muscles.
Practising Circuit Training
Have you tried circuit training to improve your muscular strength? Circuit training is time-efficient and effective. It’s a great way to improve your overall muscular fitness and cardiovascular strength.
When you practice circuit training, you’ll be able to elevate your heart rate. The goal is to keep your heart rate at an optimum high level throughout training. There will be short rest periods to give the muscle groups a chance to recover.
However, the overall rhythm of a circuit training workout will be upbeat and fast-paced. It’s a chance to target large muscle groups in a combination approach. For instance, you’ll be able to work out your large muscle groups during various lower, upper, and entire body exercises.
When you set things up the right way, you’ll be able to easily transition from one activity to the next without too much fatigue. If you’re just starting out with a fitness routine, circuit training can be overwhelming. It’s a good idea to have a physical trainer walk you through the workout the first few times so that you don’t get discouraged.
You can also adapt exercises to suit your skill level. For instance, try a modified version of push-ups or planks by staying on your knees.
Using your knees, you’ll find that enduring sets of push-ups can become easier and doable. Over time you can get to the point you’re lifting your legs off the ground. A few of the other exercises in a bodyweight circuit would include jumping lunges, lateral skaters, V sits, high knees, and skydivers.
Target Your Glutes and Hamstrings
Your glutes are the largest and heaviest muscle group in your body. That’s why you should give them extra attention during your endurance workout with the help of the skydiver exercise. Skydiver exercises are a great way to target muscles in your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.
Lay on the ground face down. Let your knees bend up slightly. Put your hands out in front of you or by your temples. Now gently squeeze your glutes and slowly lift your quads and chest up off the floor. Remember to breathe!
When your arms and legs are lifted off of the floor, you’re skydiving! Hold the position and maintain your breath for about 5 to 10 seconds.
Lower back to the ground, breathe and recover. Repeat the exercise. Eventually, you can increase the amount of time you hold yourself up.
Remember to go slow as you do this exercise and avoid contorting your body. You should gently transition into the position rather than forcing yourself. Skydivers are a great way to target hard-to-reach muscle groups while also improving stamina.
Practice Weight Training
Have you been lifting weights? Weight training is the ultimate way to fast-track your muscular endurance workout. However, you’ll want to know the dos and don’ts of proper weight training techniques to avoid injuries.
By following the right practices, you’ll also be able to maximize your workout to get the best results. When you do it right, weight training can help you burn fat, tone your muscles, and increase overall strength. You’ll also be able to improve your bone density.
However, if you don’t go about things the right way, you could hurt yourself, making it that much harder to reach your fitness goals. What are the best practices for weight training?
For starters, make sure you’re lifting the right amount of weight. You should be able to comfortably lift the weight 15 times or more. It’s also good to set the right amount of repetitions for each set.
For many people, a single set will include about 15 repetitions of a single weight. The set should be enough to fatigue your muscle without pushing you too far.
As you get stronger, you’ll be able to increase the amount of weight that you lift with each set. Another thing to pay attention to is your form.
Use Proper Form and Technique
Make sure that you fully know how to do an exercise before you start lifting weights. When you have the right form, you’ll be able to get better, faster results.
It’s also crucial that you breathe. When you breathe, it helps your muscles work properly, enabling you to avoid injuries.
Since you’ll be working all of your big muscles through your weight training regime, make sure you’re doing so in a balanced manner.
You’ll want to strengthen opposing muscles rather than only focusing on one area. For instance, you don’t want to strengthen the front of your arms and forget about the backs!
Get the Results You Want
Now you know the best tips for improving your muscular endurance. It’s clear to see that training your muscles is a long-term goal. The kind of goal that takes a major commitment.
It’s up to you to set up a fitness routine that you can enjoy and stick with. Using the tips from this article, start putting together a workout plan that motivates you.
The sooner you invest in your health, the sooner you’ll get the results you want. Find more tips to get the results you want by reading another one of our posts.
