Many people join the gym to build muscle mass and maintain a strong and healthy physique. However, while you don’t need to dig too deep into the science and reasoning behind it to gain power, it’s helpful to explore the various nuances of some exercises.
A major nuance of muscle building is the difference between muscle strength and muscular endurance. What is the difference between muscle strength and muscular endurance? The difference is in understanding the difference between endurance and strength.
Endurance & Strength
So, what’s the difference between muscular endurance and strength? Well, it all comes down to how growth is measured.
Endurance
Muscle endurance is measured by time. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines endurance as “the ability to sustain effort or activity under prolonged stress.” Endurance is a way of describing how long you can stick with an activity.
So, when we talk about muscular endurance specifically, we are talking about how long a person can do muscular endurance exercises. For example, let’s say we lift a weight of ten pounds. If we have never lifted weights before, our endurance may be low, for example, we will only feel strong enough to do a set of ten curls. However, repeating this exercises over time, our stamina will increase. Soon we will be able to easily complete four or five sets without feeling overly tired or challenging.
Strength
We measure good muscular endurance exercise by time, while muscle strength is measured by weight. When we add weights to the gym, our muscle strength increases. We may not be able to do something very heavy ten times in a row, but we can increase muscle strength and make our body stronger.
The difference is in how you choose to develop and execute your workout strategy. When it comes to building muscular endurance, your workout routine will involve lighter weights and longer reps. Alternatively, focusing on muscle strength training will involve heavier weights and lower reps.
Similarities Between Muscular Endurance and Strength
There is a lot of overlap in muscle strength and endurance. Generally, when you increase muscle strength, your muscular endurance also increases, and vice versa.
When you improve your endurance by increasing the reps, your muscles are strengthened. When you build muscle strength by adding weight, so does the endurance that your body can withstand. Strength and endurance work together to help you build a stronger, more resilient body.
Ultimately, both training methods help keep your body strong and healthy, keep your body in a strong posture, and keep you capable of completing daily tasks and activities. There are countless benefits to maintaining strength in your body. As with most workouts, muscle strength and muscular endurance training naturally release endorphins throughout the body. Endorphins are neurotransmitters that reduce pain and increase feelings of pleasure and well-being. So the benefits of consistent exercise go beyond the physical, which is pretty amazing, and it’s another reason to add consistent exercise to your health routine!
Additionally, muscle strength and endurance can help you reduce your risk of injury, improve your quality of life, and keep you physically active in the future.
The Best Place to Do Muscle Strength and Muscular Endurance Exercises
The good thing about weight training is that it doesn’t require much space or equipment. There are plenty of bodyweight workouts that use gravity to build muscles, making it easy to get the workout you need by just using what you have. However, there are also machines and various devices that can help you narrow down specific muscle groups and help you achieve your goals efficiently and safely.
