02 Oct Which Is More Important, Strength Or Endurance? Here’s The Answer.

Which physical quality is more important, strength or endurance?

This is not meant to be a trick question, by the way.

It’s just a question that may require a little thinking, but I’ll fully explain the answer and the rationale in this article.

Another important question is what exactly is the quality of strength endurance?

These are important questions, without a doubt.

Many people would debate the question of which is more important, strength or endurance.

The answer is actually very simple.

Let me ask you this.

Does having more endurance improve your strength?

Is an endurance athlete stronger because he or she has more endurance?

On the flip side, does having more strength improve endurance?

Will a stronger athlete athlete be a better endurance athlete?

There’s your answer.

The fact is that strength contributes significantly to endurance, however, endurance contributes nothing to strength.

This is pretty simple really.

Think about it and see if it doesn’t make sense to you.

Let’s take a runner as an example.

What happens if you take this athlete and increase their max barbell squat from 135 to 250 in 8 weeks of training?

The athlete is now significantly stronger so their work capacity will be greatly reduced by lowering the intensity of the effort required.

In other words, the athlete will be stronger to perform the task more efficiently, as compared to an athlete that is not as strong.

The key to all this is improving the function of the musculoskeletal system, which strength training specifically addresses.

Keep reading because this will all make sense in a minute.

Now, let me explain the quality of strength endurance to clear things up and sort out any further confusion.

I want you to understand why this is so valuable and why so many people completely miss the concept.

Strength endurance is a specific type of strength.

It’s a type of strength you need when performing a long activity, such as rowing, biking, or swimming.

It requires continuous muscle tension without a decrease in muscular efficiency.

There are 2 types of strength endurance, static and dynamic.

Static strength endurance examples are things like wrestling, where you need to maintain muscular contractions with varying duration and magnitude.

Another example is skating, where you need to maintain a certain posture for an extended period of time.

These are 2 examples of static strength endurance.

Dynamic strength endurance is when continuous muscular tension is required without interruption of movement, such as swimming or running.

Jumping and throwing are also examples of dynamic strength endurance, although slightly different in nature in that there are rest intervals with these activities.

It’s very important to understand the concept of strength endurance and the role it plays in physical activity.

Why?

Because we need strength endurance in almost everything.

Strength is a major component of strength endurance and this helps any kind of athlete.

As I mentioned, the stronger athlete wins every time.

Think about it.

Here’s another example of strength and endurance in day to day living.

Let’s take an 85 year old individual in this case.

Will this person benefit more from strength or endurance (or is it strength endurance)?

One of the primary problems with aging in loss of strength and loss of muscle (known as sarcopenia).

A significant decline in health occurs as a result of the loss of function that is directly associated with loss of physical strength.

It is strength, not endurance, that can be attributed to a progressive decline in health in the aging.

Yes, there is a de-conditioning component, but the quality of strength is the vital factor, much more so than endurance.

Endurance declines because of the decline in strength.

I have personally seen this when I worked as a physical therapist in the geriatric population and I can tell you, strength is most important.

So, I’ll ask you again.

Which is more important, strength or endurance?

Strength endurance is the answer.

Both qualities are important, of course, but endurance needs strength.

Strength does not need endurance.