What does Muscular Endurance Mean?

There are two types of muscle fibers - slow twitch and fast twitch. Fast twitch fibers enable swift, short movements that only last a few seconds. Slow twitch muscle fibers enable performing tedious, repetitive actions like climbing, rowing, running a marathon, etc. Muscle endurance training develops the strength and capability of slow twitch muscle fibers.

Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or a group of muscles to undergo repeated contractions against resistance for an extended period of time. It is associated with the muscle's ability to continue to perform without fatigue. Muscular endurance is related to the length of time a muscle can perform repeated actions against sub-maximal resistance.

Different levels of muscular endurance are required for different sports. There are three major categories of muscular endurance such as power endurance, short-term and long-term muscular endurance.

► Athletes such as sprinters, martial artists, baseball pitchers, fencers, wrestlers and tennis players generate powerful movements repetitively. A certain level of power endurance is needed in order to maintain the same amount of power with each effort.

► Short-term muscular endurance training is beneficial for sports and events, which consist of bouts of exercise lasting for about 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Muscular endurance training helps athletes tolerate high levels of lactic acids and cope with fatigue.

► Long-term muscular endurance is required for continuous, steady-state events such as triathlon, marathon and rowing, which last more than 2 minutes. In order to improve your muscular endurance, you must know about muscle fitness.

High muscular endurance means better ability of muscles to work longer against resistance. This translates into better stamina for strenuous activities involving repetitive movement of particular groups of muscles.

Improved stamina means you can be physically active for longer without hurting your muscles or feeling sore. This automatically means that your rate of metabolism gets better, which causes your body to burn fat and carbohydrates better and absorb dietary nutrients optimally.

Better absorption of nutrients causes you to have more strength and energy. This means that your body is not easily exhausted under moderate levels of activity. In essence, it means that you can easily recover from, say, a 6-hours long spring-cleaning session with just a couple of hours' nap!

When you have good physical stamina, you tend not to slouch or hunch, whether you're sitting, standing or walking. This makes you less prone to skeletal issues, such as neck and back problems, faced by people who have lived with bad posture for years.

Also, better muscular endurance is a result of improved muscle tone, and a good muscle tone gives better support to the skeleton. This, coupled with good posture, keeps your bones safe from injuries and unnecessary strain.