Everyone trains for strength and for cardio but not enough people train for strength endurance. Yet, it could be the most important form of strength.
Most people make a choice in their training: today I train for strength, tomorrow I train for cardio. Or you might think: let's first do a strength workout and finish with some jogging for fat loss and endurance.
But very few people combine these two. Why? Because when you put strength and endurance together you will get some of the toughest and most intense workouts imaginable.
Combining these two will give you the most widely functional form of strength.
– Strength endurance.
What is strength endurance?
Endurance itself is a spectrum where on one end you have a heavy single repetition squat, on the other end you have a marathon. Somewhere in between you'll find strength endurance.
Strength endurance is your ability to sustain performance for prolonged periods of time under physical stress. It's the work of your muscles against time.
It's developed when you keep going even when it gets tough.
STRENGTH ENDURANCE: "Strength endurance is the specific form of strength displayed in activities which require a relatively long duration of muscle tension with minimal decrease in efficiency" (Stiff 2000).
The Benefits of Strength Endurance Training
What makes strength endurance so important?
Why do you need this?
If you don't care about the full potential of your body and performing your best in sports and real life physical situations, you don't.
However, if you're looking to get the most out of your workouts and your physique, then it's a different story.
Let's say you know how to do exercises, the form is in check and you know what you're doing.
After this your results are to a large extent dependent on your work capacity. The more you can do in the given time frame and the more intensity you can maintain, the better stimulus you can get from your workout.
So even if you never stepped outside the gym, by possessing better strength endurance and work capacity you will be able do more, recover faster and push harder – all leading to better results.
And let's not forget that training strength endurance will also help you to developed a ripped physique with defined muscles.
What about real life and sports performance?
Sure, any form of training is functional if it serves the purpose you have in your mind or the task at hand.
If you end up in a situation where you need to lift something heavy off the ground perhaps once, then your 1 rep max training will be very useful.
So yes, pure strength and maximal power are important but they are still a very small part the bigger picture. However, no training is as universally useful as strength endurance when it comes to sports performance and jobs that require physical capabilities.
In fact, without it, you don't have any performance.
Imagine if Khabib Nurmagomedov got tired after one round of MMA, or Cristiano Ronaldo started slowing down after just a couple of minutes of running on the field.
Tennis, basketball, swimming, dancing and martial arts all require and demand strength endurance.
I've wrestled and sparred with people 20 kg (45 lbs) lighter than me who also out-conditioned me and as a result I got completely smashed.
I've also wrestled with people 20-30 kg (45-70 lbs) heavier than me and after a round or so I was on top setting the pace because of my conditioning.
You see, without strength you'll be tossed around.
But without strength endurance it might take a minute longer and then you will end up being the punching bag.
Of course, skills and gas management play a big role but you also need the underlying machinery of conditioned muscle tissue and developed heart and lungs to sustain any kind of movement.
This is the universal ability to withstand stress and maintain performance.
When it comes to physical jobs like being in the military or law enforcement, you absolutely need to be prepared to endure. Some situations may resolve quickly but you cannot count on this, You need to have the ability to go the extra mile.
This way you can confidently push forward or even keep your pace knowing you have plenty gas left in the tank if needed.
How to Develop Strength Endurance
Now you may ask:
”All of this sounds great but how can I train for strength endurance?”.
”When does strength training become strength endurance training?”
”What is enough time to develop strength endurance?”
Do you remember when Muhammed Ali said “I only start counting when it starts hurting because they're the only ones that count. That's what makes you a champion”.
If I could summarize strength endurance into one quote, that would be it.
See, most most people stop when the fatigue starts to set in. You stop just when the enduring begins. If there's nothing to endure how are you going to develop the endurance?
In another instance, you may have long workouts but lack the intensity and as a result never use sufficient strength to get tired.
It's called strength endurance for a reason.
There must be adequate intensity for you to start reaching the fatigue zone. But not too much so you don’t have to stop completely.
Now, you do need to work past the point of fatigue and discomfort into the zone where radical physical adaptations can happen.
This point for each and every one of us is unique but by pushing further and further into that zone is where we start to develop real strength endurance. Without it your body won't develop tolerance for physical exhaustion.
This is exactly how we do it in the Warrior 20XX Method which contains circuit based follow along routines where I lead the way into the growth zone.
Whether it's bodyweight, dumbbells, kettlebells, barbell or clubs and mace we take everything out of them.
This is how you take your physique to the next level. It is how ancient warriors throughout the time have unlocked the full power of their potential and pushed themselves to become monsters and beasts.
If you're ready to develop machine-like endurance, scorch fat and enhance your work capacity on all physical areas...
Then,
Let's begin.
Eero Westerberg
Head Coach of VAHVA Fitness
