What is strength endurance?

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2013-11-10

Let's consider a fairly common case in the gym. Two guys are training. Both are pressing 80 kg for 10 repetitions. One of them is a newbie but, damn it, he's strong. The other has been training for 3 years and has only now reached a press of 80 kg for ten repetitions.

So, the newbie presses those 80 kg for 10 reps in the first set with great difficulty. In the second set, he does not manage to get 10 or even 9 repetitions, but only 6. In the third set – 4 repetitions.

Meanwhile, the experienced athlete also presses 80 kg in the first set, also for 10 reps and with all his might. But in both the second and third sets, he still manages to press 10 reps! Familiar picture? )) This example clearly illustrates the manifestation of strength endurance.

Strength endurance is the ability of muscles to exert maximum effort over an extended period of time without a substantial loss in the strength of muscle contractions.

From this definition, it is clear that strength endurance manifests itself only in cases with heavy weights and significant force muscle contractions. If the weights are small and the muscles are not contracting at full capacity, it is more appropriate to speak of general endurance. But that's a completely different story.

I think you now have a general understanding of what strength endurance is. It represents a simultaneous manifestation of such physical qualities as strength and endurance. Now we need to figure out why some have more of it while others have less.

I did not randomly choose a newbie and an experienced athlete as examples. The fact is that strength endurance directly depends on the training experience. More precisely, it is influenced by the factors that limit it.

Factors Affecting Strength Endurance

1. The reserve of creatine phosphate in the muscles. This is perhaps the most important factor. For it is from whether there is creatine phosphate left in your muscles or not that it depends – whether you can make another repetition. The body gradually starts to increase its creatine reserves in response to physical loads. Additionally, you can increase the creatine reserves in the muscles by using a supplement such as creatine monohydrate.

2. The rate of recovery of creatine phosphate reserves. The thing is, the more trained the body is, the more creatine phosphate the muscles store and the faster they restore those reserves. This adaptation is a response of the body to systematic strength training. The rate of recovery of creatine phosphate directly influences how many repetitions you will be able to perform in the next set. More details in the article What does muscle recovery consist of?.

3. Intermuscular coordination. In experienced athletes, it is higher. That is, the more coordinated your muscle work is during the exercise, the less energy you expend. This means you will be able to perform more repetitions and recover faster. Such muscle coordination is also developed over the years.

4. Muscle innervation. Muscle innervation is the network of motor neurons that envelop your muscles and transmit signals from the brain to them. The better and stronger the innervation, the stronger and longer the muscles can contract, as brain impulses are better transmitted. I may be oversimplifying, but the essence is about this (forgive me physiologists). Muscle innervation also develops with increased training and is a response of the body to physical loads.

As you can see, all the factors determining the level of strength endurance directly depend on your training experience. Just train, and over time you will develop it.

Can Strength Endurance Be Developed Specifically?

Yes, it can. To do this, you need to perform exercises with a number of repetitions that lie between pure strength work and endurance work. Pure strength work is about up to 6 repetitions. Pure endurance work is about more than 50 repetitions. Thus, by working in the range of 10 to 40 repetitions, you will actively develop strength endurance.

In general, standard training often includes 10 - 20 repetitions. Therefore, I don’t see any sense in specifically stressing this. As a rule, strength endurance grows on its own with an increase in training experience. However, it happens more slowly than strength growth. Usually, strength endurance is trained specifically by those who compete in kettlebell sport or Russian bench press.