How to Build Strength That Lasts

Weight Training: Endurance

By: Randy Goodman, BA Kinesiology

In continuing on with my “weightlifting protocols explained” series, I’m going to cover endurance next. This type of training, like hypertrophy training, is implemented early on in the off-season of an athlete helping them establish an endurance base and high level of recoverability. I personally use this type of training more than any other type year round simply because I feel it is so applicable to my active lifestyle.

When we talk about weight training for endurance, what we’re really talking about is strength-endurance or muscular endurance. Strength-endurance refers to maintaining high force outputs (strength) over long periods of time (endurance) and increased subsequent recovery ability. You may have heard or seen people in the training community use the term METCON, which refers to metabolic conditioning. METCON can be used in reference to conditioning of aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (glycolytic, or without oxygen) metabolic systems. Strength-Endurance weight training protocols are very much associated with anaerobic METCON. CrossFit® athletes are very well known for strength-endurance. Their sport calls for the need to be able to do heavy lifts for long periods of time, recover quickly and move onto the next station or event. Strength-endurance training sessions that last over 30 minutes will also yield aerobic benefits.

Crossfit athletes digging deep.

Strength-Endurance is what is going to let a distance runner keep a fast pace while climbing a hill, allow a college wrestler to throw or pin an opponent near the end of a grueling round, or allow a hockey player to effectively kill a penalty and permit the athlete to recover quickly in order to continue on with the race or match without being “gassed.”

The Strength Endurance Equation = Heavy Weights + Short Rest + High Training Volume

A refresher on what the weight training variables are:

Load- Amount of weight lifted in lbs or kgs

Load Volume- Total Amount of weight lifted in a training session

Rep- Lift weight one time up and down

Set- A given number of reps done at once without a break

Duration- Estimate of set duration in seconds

Speed per rep- Tempo of one lift. Time up, time at top, time down, time at bottom of lift

Rest- Between sets and between workouts

Let’s refer to the chart and break down the variables:

How much weight should be used?

When we look at this particular chart, it calls for 40-60% or your one rep-max (RM). These numbers vary depending on which literature you read or expert you talk to, but I’ll break it down for you. Basically, what 40-60% RM is telling you is you don’t want to lift a weight that is so heavy you can only move it for a few reps, which doesn’t correlate with endurance, or a weight that is so light that the strength part of the equation goes out the window. The amount of weight you choose to lift for strength-endurance is very much determined by the length of time or number of reps you want your set to last. For example, a hockey player wants their set to last around 40-60 seconds. If we are using a squat as a hockey player’s strength-endurance exercise, they would lift an amount of weight that has them “failing” within the 40-60 second range.

Henrik Lundqvist relies heavily on strength-endurance.

How many times should the weight be lifted?

The chart says 25-60 reps per set. Again, these numbers will vary according to what you read or who you talk to. If we look at strength-endurance on a spectrum where at one end is strength (closer to 15 reps) and the other end is endurance (closer to 60 reps), we can decide according to our desired goal which part of the spectrum we want to be on. Remember, once you are reaching rep ranges of 60 or more, you begin to lose the strength component of the equation. Personally, because I’m not an athlete that needs to train for any particular sport or movement, I train all over this rep range. Some days I’m closer to the strength part of the spectrum and others I’m at the endurance part of the spectrum. The idea behind this approach is that life can throw a variety of situations at you and it’s nice to stay ready for anything.

How many sets should be done per exercise?

The chart says 2-4 sets per exercise. The key with choosing the number of sets is that you want to keep the load volume (weight x reps) for the workout in check. Do more sets if you are lifting heavier and the sets are shorter, consisting of a low number of reps. Do less sets if you are lifting lighter and the sets are longer, consisting of a high number of reps. The load volume should be similar whether you have chosen a workout that is at the strength end of the spectrum or the endurance end of the spectrum.

How long should the rest be between sets?

In a word, short! This chart says 1-2 minutes. I would say often the rest period for muscular endurance weight training will be less than 30 seconds. The short rest period is purposeful. As I mentioned earlier, we are training the anaerobic energy system. We trying to increase our ability to maintain high levels of force for significant periods of time, recover quickly, and do it again, repeatedly. You won’t always be allotted the luxury of a two + minute rest period during your game or race. Bottom line; keep your rest periods short and get to the next set before you have fully recovered. Focus on large, deep belly breaths, activating your diaphragm, during and in between sets and keep moving around during recovery periods. The goal is to get your HR to drop as much as possible and get the muscles to stop burning during your short rest period.

How fast should I lift the weight?

To me, tempo in strength-endurance is not as important as when you are training for size, where you lift the weight slow, or power, where you lift the weight fast. In training for muscular endurance, it is common to use a tempo that matches the cadence of the sport or activity you are training for. For example, a skier may need use a lift tempo to match the cadence of navigating moguls, but also do static squats, where they hold the weight in a static position, to match the long turns of a Super G.

Long static holds during Super G turns.

Mix it up by ending a set with a static hold or varying the speed of the lifts from workout to workout. To get a deep, meaningful burn I’ll often do 45 seconds to a minute of a given lift at a steady or mixed tempo and, if it is safe, end the set with a static hold until I’m shaking profusely and ultimately failing. Obviously, you don’t do this if failure means your spine or sternum is going to be crushed.

How long is each workout and how many workouts per week?

The short answer on this one is that it will vary depending on how your muscular endurance program is designed. That’s not a very helpful answer, is it? So, I’ll give you some general guidelines to get you started. Load volume is your friend for building up muscular endurance. Train each muscle group at least twice a week. If you are going to isolate one muscle group per workout, your workout length will be shorter (20-30 minutes). If you are combining muscle groups into a single workout, the workout should be longer (45-90 minutes). I’m a big proponent of doing at least one isolation workout and one full body workout per week. It’s nice to focus in on, say, legs and get really deep into the fibers of a localized group of muscles, but our bodies need to be able to move efficiently as a complete unit so I do muscular endurance workouts that have multi-joint, functional, full-body movements as well. As you become more efficient moving like a human in the way that our ancestors evolved, you inherently use less energy which contributes to how long you are able to sustain high levels of force output.

Progression in Overload

As you move through your strength-endurance program, you want to begin to manipulate the training variables I’ve outlined above. For example, in week three of your program, you want to lift more weight or do more reps in the same amount of time as week one or complete the same amount of total reps in less time. Essentially, you want to increase the training load volume from week to week so you force your body to continue to adapt to the new stressors. There are many ways to progress your overload, just make sure you're making your workouts harder and pushing to beat what you did in weeks previous.

HIIT Weight Training for Strength-Endurance

HIIT it to Win it!

Anyone that knows me knows that my love affair with HIIT (high intensity interval training) echoes that of the love affair ‘Mercans have with the Kardashians. I’m a little obsessed. When I get down with the iron, I’m most likely on a timer. The timer is my god and I must obey it. No stopping until I hear the beep. Some days it’s TABATA- 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, some days it’s two minutes on 30 seconds off. I’m past my days of being a big muscle donkey and I’m very strapped for time, so the majority of my training is now whole body functional movement, muscular endurance interval training. I feel this type of training is the most applicable to my everyday life. If I need to lift something that weighs 300 lbs, I’ll use a machine. On the other hand, I’d be able to carry an injured toddler off a mountain to safety like a champ if needed. There are several interval timer apps you can use to set up custom interval programs for yourself. An interval app and a couple sets of dumbbells- one light, one heavy- is the simplest, cheapest way to get started in muscular endurance training.

Summary

Remember the strength-endurance equation! Heavy weight + short rest + high training volume. You lift enough weight to preserve the strength component, but not so much you don’t dip into the endurance component. Take short rest periods so your body becomes efficient at recovering quickly from sustained high force output and keep your training volume high to inherit the endurance benefits of this style of weight training.

Keep in mind what you’re training for; what sport you play or activity you want to excel at. Strive for variety in the way you manipulate the weight training variables as well as the movements themselves. Use a combination of basic isolated movements and complex whole body human movements. Human movement efficiency is just as important for acquiring muscular endurance as training the energy systems.

The mental rewards are very real.

Embrace the burn, kids! Once it begins to burn, that’s when the real work begins. Dig on the pain because it lets you know you’re alive. Eventually, the endorphin high you get from grinding out a strength-endurance workout will have you addicted. Seriously, just like you can get addicted to sitting on your ass, eating chips and drinking beer, while watching others expend energy and move their bodies, you can get addicted to moving your own body. The anticipation leading up to the training session will make you giddy and amped up. The strength-endurance training session, itself, will teach you things about yourself that you won’t learn any other way. The back end of the session, when there is a puddle of sweat on the floor, will be more rewarding for your brain than anything you can stuff into your face! Trust me. If you have a physical event coming up, if you’re an athlete that is tired of gassing, or if you want to give up the meathead bodybuilder thing for a bit, give strength-endurance weight training a go.

See you under the iron!

RG