How To Build Strength And Endurance

Need to know how to build strength and endurance? With the increasing popularity of mixed martial arts, building strength and endurance in the gym has become a hot topic. Most non-body builders who work out want that cut, lean look. Here's how to get it.

1. HIIT training. When many think of strength and endurance training, they think of running at the same pace for long periods of time. That's not the way to do it. High intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the harder workouts you can do, but also one of the most beneficial. For HIIT, you go hard on the cardio for 30 seconds to a minute, and then you ease up for two minutes before going hard for another 30 seconds to a minute. What this training does is it increases the body's tolerance to lactic acid, and endurance training is all about preventing lactic acid build up. That's because lactic acid causes the muscles to fatigue early. HIIT training increases the muscles' tolerance to this acid, allowing you to exercise longer. One more benefit of this training: it's much shorter. Do this training for approximately 20 to 30 minutes and you'll feel the benefits.
2. Lift weights. Lift weights to build strength. Duh, right? Well, many people get it wrong because they think that lifting big, heavy weights with short repetitions and long rest periods is the way to go. The problem with this philosophy is that when the body is tested to use that strength over a longer time frame, as it often is, your body won't hold up. For example, think of MMA fighters. MMA fighters have to fight in five minute rounds, so their muscles must deal with five minutes of hard intensity. Body builders and sumo wrestlers have much shorter rounds. Which look would you rather have? It's a no brainer. Now, think about how you use your muscles in your daily life. Most tasks, such as mowing the lawn, shoveling snow or carrying groceries, take much longer than 30 seconds to complete. This is exactly why you depend more on endurance strength than you do on brute, limited strength. Now, many might think that bench pressing five-pound dumbbells is the way to build strength and endurance. It's not. All that will accomplish is wasting a good deal of valuable time. For strength and endurance, aim for a weight that is difficult to lift for approximately eight to twelve repetitions, and most importantly, limit rest periods between sets. For example, if you were able to lift 100 pounds one time, with three minutes of rest between sets, you'd be much better off trying to lift 50 pounds eight times with a minute and a half rest in between sets. By keeping rest periods to a minimum (aim for one minute), you not only work your anaerobic muscles, but you also work your cardiovascular system. Balancing heavy weights, higher volume lifting and shorter rest periods will give you that ripped look in no time.
3. Diet. Last and certainly not least is what you are putting into your body. By diet, you shouldn't take that to mean depriving yourself of the foods you love. If you want to allow yourself two "cheat" meals a week, that's alright. For the rest of your meals, however, try to load up on protein and fiber. Aim for approximately 40% of your calories to come from carbohydrates to energize your workouts, 40% from protein to rebuild muscle tissue, and 20% from fat to keep you satiated. When eating carbohydrates, aim for whole grains to be the first ingredient listed. When eating fat, aim for natural and healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts. When thinking about healthy fats, a good rule of thumb is whatever physical state the fat is at room temperature is the impact the fat will have in your body. For example, olive oil (liquid at room temperature) will not clog your arteries like shortening (solid at room temperature) will. Do this, and you'll build massive amounts of strength and endurance.

Resources:

National Institutes of Health

National Institute of Aging

Healthy People

Clinical Trials

U.S. Department of Defense