Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

14 Elite Physique
Endurance Strength
There are typically two ways to describe endurance. One on hand, it’s the ability
to complete an hour-long hike at a pretty good clip with your buddy. That task
requires your cardiorespiratory fitness to be up to par, which we just covered.
On the other hand, the ability to do, say, 20 squats with 50 percent of your body
weight also requires endurance. Since that type of challenge requires more
strength and doesn’t rely as heavily on cardiorespiratory fitness, it is referred
to as endurance strength or muscular endurance. For example, a guy might be
able to run three miles (4.8 km) at a 6-minute-mile pace, which would be a sign
of terrific cardiorespiratory fitness, but he might not be strong enough to carry
a 100-pound (45 kg) dumbbell in each hand for 30 seconds, indicating poor fullbody
endurance strength.
Also, it is likely you’ve had a buddy challenge you to a push-up contest at
one time or another. If he was willing enough to challenge you to this test of
endurance strength, it’s also likely he could do more than 12 of them with perfect
form. Indeed, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
recommends performing more than 12 repetitions per set to build endurance
strength. In other words, if you’re working against resistance—in the form of
either body weight or weights—it is necessary to complete at least 12 repetitions
of that load before you stop.
Here, we cover four ways to test your endurance strength, ranging from upper
body to lower body to full-body challenges.
Push-Up to Exhaustion
For this endurance strength assessment, you will perform push-ups through a full
range of motion to exhaustion. This assesses endurance strength of the pectorals,
triceps, deltoids, rotator cuff, and abdominals. The goal is to complete 40 push-ups
before failure. According to research by Harvard University, being able to perform
at least 40 push-ups is associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular
disease over the subsequent 10 years (Yang, Christophi, et al. 2019).
To perform this assessment, begin in the top position of a push-up, with your
hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and directly below your chest (see
figure 1.11a). Lower until your chest touches the ground while keeping your body
perfectly straight from neck to ankles (see figure 1.11b). Push your body up to the
starting position until your arms are completely straight. Repeat for a maximum
number of repetitions.