Stamina: Do You Want It?
Written by Editor on August 7th, 2006 in exercise.
<br></a><br>One <a href=”http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=stamina”>definition</a> of Stamina is:<br> <blockquote>Enduring strength and energy</blockquote> <br>That is something that I would like to have - but severely lack. For that I will blame my conventional weight training routines over the last few years.<br> <br>Most personal trainers and fitness advisors have a standard rep (repetition) range that they will prescribe. It goes something like this:<br> <ul> <li>< 6 reps per set: Strength training</li> <li>6-12 reps per set: Hypertrophy (i.e. get bigger muscles)</li> <li>> 12 reps: Endurance training.</li> </ul> Of course there are dozens of differing ideas about training, and it all depends on your goals.<br> <br> <span style=”font-weight: bold;”>What‘s Disappointing</span> <br>When I changed my style of working out I discovered that I was very weak in the area of stamina. I would find 20 repetitions of an <a href=’ http://www.personaltraineredmonton.com’>exercise</a> both mentally and physically challenging.<br> <br>If your goal is simply to build big muscles, then endurance or stamina is not necessarily an issue. But, if, like me, your goal is <a href=”http://www.naturalphysiques.com/blog/2006/06/functional-fitness.html”>functional fitness</a> - then it‘s time to shake things up a bit.<br> <br>I‘m so used to pumping out 8 reps of an <a href=’ http://www.personaltraineredmonton.com’>exercise</a>, then resting, then eventually pushing out another 6-8 reps. Nowadays (thanks to Crossfit) there are a few larger sets getting thrown in the mix. Of course, I am hopeless with these large sets (20 reps or more), and they always end up “broken“ (i.e. instead of 20 reps at once, they end up something like 10 then 6 then 4).<br> <br>Here‘s hoping I will grow some stamina...<br>