Muscle Strength vs. Muscle Endurance

Good morning to all of you. I hope that you're waking up, evaluating this past week and thinking to yourself "I did it!!!", because you did, I know it! Kids are back(ish) in school, schedules are becoming more clear, and you hopefully still found a little time to take care of yourself.

Here's my goal check in - truth - my goal is to not drink for 3 days but I only got two in (granted, it was 1 glass of wine on Wed night) - my other goal is to run 2 days per week and I got 3 runs in (my endurance is increasing each week!!!). How did you do?

Today let's talk about muscle strength vs. muscle endurance.

How many reps? How many sets? There are two types of people who lift weights - those who want big muscles and those who want to tone and tighten up without getting bigger. The folks looking for size grab the heavy weights and do fewer reps, while the people looking to achieve a toned look reach for the lighter ones and do more reps. But let’s dive into this for a second.

Muscle Strength vs. Muscle Endurance? Plain and simple - we need both.

Muscle strength is the ability to exert a maximal amount of force for a short period of time. For example, lifting something very heavy, such as bench pressing a heavy barbell for 5-8 reps. In your real life, this may look more like moving a heavy piece of furniture or pushing your car out of a snow bank, which both require strength.

Muscle endurance is the ability to do something over and over for an extended period of time without getting tired, such as doing 50 bodyweight squats in a row (or birthday burpees). In your real life, this might look more like using your legs to push a lawn mower for an hour or carry boxes back and forth when you’re helping someone move.

In the real world, you never know whether you’ll need strength or endurance to complete everyday tasks.

Where do we go from here? My take - strength train with heavy (when I say heavy, I mean heavy for you) weights 2 days per week, do at least 150 minutes of cardio per week, and then stretch those worked muscles. Your best bet is to focus on interval training that combines cardio with muscle endurance exercises. Lastly, choose a healthy, clean diet including lots of lean protein, veggies, fruit, and complex carbs. Limit sugar, which we all know and drink a ton of water. :)

This combo not only keeps you strong but boosts your metabolism to run at a higher rate. More muscle on your body = more calories burned = a body that works well and is happy with you. Plain and simple.

SoulShine Training Schedule - please sign up for class now, no drop-ins please, limited number of participants for in person class.

Monday - HIIT on Zoom - 8:15-9:15 am

Tuesday - HIIT Yoga Fusion in person at The Little Theater and on Zoom - 8:15-9:15 am

Thursday - PiYo on Zoom - 8:15-9:15 am

Friday - HIIT in person at The Little Theater and on Zoom - 8:15-9:15 am

Hope to see you this week for some strength and endurance training,

Jode xo