Difference between Muscular Endurance and Strength Trai...

[Bonnie Bell]

Cathe--In your videos you either work muscles longer (which you call muscle endurance training) or harder (which you call strength training). What is the difference between the two methods? I am not sure I see the value in endurance training and I have never read anything that shows the particular value of doing endurance training. I thought the most effective method was to work each body part to fatigue at its max 2 to 3 times each week.

I might argue that your videos should fall somewhere between the two, since your really hard workouts (PS, especially) are in frequency and length as what bodybuilders do. I would appreciate your perspective on this. In any case, I do appreciate the fact that you target advanced exercisers, unlike other instructors who claim to.

 

[pace1987]

bumping

 

[firmbogie]

RE: Difference between Muscular Endurance and Strength ...

Here's how I understand it: Strength training enables you to lift your very heavy child. Endurance training enables you to carry that child for extended periods of time. Both are very valuable and necessary in everyday life!

 

[kathryn]

From what I've been reading lately, reps in the range of 8-12 to fatigue ("strength") engage both slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers, while higher rep schemes engage only slow twitch fibers. I'm not sure what the implications of that are, but it seems that the 8-12 rep range is best for total muscle recruitment.

"Strength" is a measure of how much you can lift, while "endurance" is a measure of how long you can perform repeated repetitions. Both have "real life" applications, so it's good to work both.

 

[cz639]

Cathe's muscle endurance workout is a form of strength training. It just uses lighter weight and more reps. This method won't cause a lot of muscle to be built, it will lean them out more. Workouts with heavier weight and less reps helps to build more muscle. I think it's a good idea to include both as a way to shock your muscles and break plateaus, such as alternating some day of endurance-type weight training with heavier-style weight training.