Understand what muscle strength, power and endurance is and improve your workouts

Strength, power and muscular endurance are terms we hear about when exploring training plans. But what do these really mean? Can knowing about the differences between them help you build lean muscle in the gym?

Through the magic of exercise physiology, the answers to the questions will be revealed.

This short article will explore the concepts in the context of bodybuilding and weightlifting terminology. You'll see a basic, working definition intended to help you synthesize this material into your strength training exercises.

Muscle strength

Muscle strength can be defined as the ability of muscles to exert force.

A broad definition of muscle strength is the maximum force that a muscle or group of muscles can generate at one time.

See some concrete examples so you can understand what this is in the real world.

Let's say a person with a maximum bench press capacity of 220 LBS has twice the strength of someone who can bench press 110 LBS. Using this example, we would define strength as the maximum weight an individual can lift in a single effort. This is typically referred to as the 1 rep max or 1 RM.

muscle power

Muscle power can be defined as the rate of pre-training work, being the product of force or speed.

Let's use celebrities Chris and Liam Hemsworth as examples, who happen to be brothers. Suppose Chris and Liam are at your gym. You stop your workout for a moment to watch them do some chest exercises.

As part of your observation, you notice that both brothers can bench press at 300 LBS with the ability to move the weight the same distance from where the bar touches their chests to the full extension position. Chris, however, can do this in half the time as Liam.

What are the implications? Well, that means Chris Hemsworth is twice as powerful as his brother Liam. The time element is the key variable here, which is measured in velocity.

Do you see the difference between muscle strength and muscle power now? Think of it this way. Strength gives you the ability to lift the weight, while power gives you the ability to perform the lift quickly and continuously.

muscular endurance

When you choose a training plan, you need to incorporate the two goals of increasing strength and speed, which are best achieved through muscular endurance.

Resistance can be defined as consistency over time, that is, the ability of the muscle to exert the same force over a period of time. This means that you should choose a training plan, at least initially, that is realistic and doable in nature. Start with lighter weights and gradually increase.

Again, you're trying to build strength, which eventually builds power over time through resistance.

Many bodybuilders make the mistake of going to the gym for the sole purpose of increasing muscle size. While this is understandable (we all want to grow), this approach misses the mark. You can't increase your muscles if you don't have the stamina to complete one repetition.

What's more, you won't be able to increase muscle size unless you have the muscular endurance to continually work through repetitions as part of your set goal.

One approach that many weightlifters and bodybuilders use to help build strength, speed, and endurance is plyometric exercises. In fact, this is a core concept for people who do cross-fit exercises.

I hope you found the information helpful in understanding and improving your training plans.