How to Improve Muscular Strength & Endurance

Imagine this: you’re at the airport and the escalator leading up to your gate is broken so you must take the stairs, and by the time you make it to the second level, you feel the muscles in your legs start to burn, along with the growing urge to stop walking.

Another scenario: you work in a hospital and you’re about to transfer a patient who weighs twice as much as you do from a gurney to a bed. You’re unsure if you can lift this patient safely.

These are common scenarios where muscular endurance and muscular strength come into play outside of the gym. But what’s the difference between the two? And how do we improve each?

The Difference Between Muscular Strength and Muscular Endurance

If we look at muscular contraction types on a spectrum, we can see that on one side we have fewer repetitions and on the other a higher number of repetitions.

Muscular strength involves performing fewer repetitions of an exercise with higher loads. Because the loads are higher, it takes fewer repetitions to hit the point of fatigue.

Let’s say we decide to perform one rep that is so challenging that we could not perform a second rep. This would be on the strength side of the spectrum.

Conversely, if we performed twelve, fifteen, or even twenty plus repetitions of an exercise, this would be falling within the muscular endurance range. This is because the contractions are considered sub-maximal intensity and therefore, they can be sustained for much longer before you hit the point of failure.

Consider two tests that involve upper body pushing:

Test #1: 2-minute push-up test

Test #2: 1-rep max bench press test

Both tests involve similar movements and muscle groups. However, test #1 is more about sustained effort while test #2 is about demonstrating maximal strength.

How to Improve Muscular Strength

Like many things in life, if you want to become better at something, you must do that thing. In training this is called the SAID principle, which stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. Translation: if your goal is to get stronger, your training needs to reflect that.

To improve your absolute strength, your training should involve performing multi-joint movements that you’re trying to improve at lower rep ranges, allowing you to use heavier weights.

An example of using this during a workout:

Barbell Back Squat

3-5 reps, 4 sets. Rest :90s-2:00 minutes.

How to Improve Muscular Endurance

Just like with improving muscular strength, muscular endurance requires us to train the thing we want to improve. You can improve local muscle endurance by including exercises performed for higher reps per set. This can be done with both multi-joint or single-joint exercises.

Example:

Leg Extension Machine

12-15 reps, 3 sets, rest :30-:45s.

How to Train Both Muscular Strength and Endurance

Improving muscular strength and muscular endurance does not have to be an either-or decision. I personally train both during most of my strength training workouts.

I recommend including heavier strength work towards the beginning of your workout when you’re fresh, allowing you to keep the intensity high and perform the exercises with control. Muscular endurance work can be performed towards the end of the workout using exercises that are less technical.

Example Workout with strength emphasis towards the beginning and muscle endurance towards the end:

A1. SSB Back Squat

3-5 reps, 4 sets.

A2. Roller Single Leg Hamstring Curl

    6-8 reps, 4 sets, rest :90s-2:00 mins.

B1. Bench Press

6 reps, 4 sets.

B2. Chest Supported Dumbbell Row

4-8 reps, 4 sets, rest :60-:90s.

C1. Seated Single Leg Calf Raise

   12-15 reps, 2 sets, rest as needed.

C2. Band Triceps Extension

   12-15 reps, 2 sets, rest as needed.

C3. Weighted Forearm Plank

   :30-:45s, 2 sets, rest as needed.

 *Note: the letters indicate supersets. This involves pairing exercises back to back before resting.

Finally, what is considered “heavy” and “light” is relative to each person.

For one person, a set of 20 push-ups might look effortless while for another, performing 3 push-ups may feel like a test of maximal strength. Make sure you are using an exercise in a way that fits your experience level.

If you need help figuring out where to start with fitness, feel free to reach out here.