Purpose of test: To assess upper body muscular endurance. Test procedure: The protocols for the Maximal Push Up Test and the Modified Push Up Test are as follows: Push-Up Test (Completed with the client on their toes) • Lie on the mat, hands shoulder-width apart & fully extend the arms. • Lower the body until the elbows reach 90 degrees. • Return to the starting position with the arms fully extended. • The feet are not to be held for the client. • The push up action is to be continuous with no rest. • Complete as many press-ups as possible. • Record the total number of full body press-ups. Modified Push-Up Test (Completed with the client on their knees) • Lie on the mat, hands shoulder width apart, bent knee position & fully extend the arms. • Lower the upper body until the elbows reach 90 degrees. • Return to the starting position with the arms fully extended. • The feet are not to be held for the client. • The push up action is to be continuous with no rest. • Complete as many modified press-ups as possible. • Record the total number of modified press-ups. American College of Sports Medicine (2006) guidelines for the Push Up Test protocol are as follows: 1. With male clients, utilize the standard ‘down’ position, using the toes as the pivotal point. The hands are shoulder width apart, the back is straight, and the head is up. With female clients, use the modified ‘knee push-up’ position, with hands shoulder width apart, back straight, legs together, lower legs in contact with the mat, ankles plantar flexed and head up. 2. Have the client raise the body by straightening the arms and then return to the starting position, touching the chin to the mat. The stomach should not touch the mat at any time. 3. Instruct both men and women that the back must be straight at all times and the pushup must be to a straight-arm position. 4. Count the maximal number of push-ups performed in good form without rest. Stop the test when the client cannot maintain good form on two consecutive reps, or strains forcibly and cannot continue. Medically reviewed by Lauren Jarmusz, PT, DPT, OCS — Written by Beth Sissons on January 28, 2021 Muscular endurance refers to how long muscles can sustain exercise. Improving muscular endurance can help enhance overall health and fitness. This article explores the benefits of muscular endurance, the best training routines to enhance it, and how people can adapt these techniques into common exercises. We will also look at tips to prevent injury during training and how to design an exercise program that could lead to long-term performance and health benefits. Share on PinterestGary Yeowell/Getty Images Muscular endurance is the ability to continue contracting a muscle, or group of muscles, against resistance, such as weights or body weight, over a period of time. Increasing the performance of these muscles means they can continue to contract and work against these forces. Greater muscular endurance allows a person to complete more repetitions of an exercise, for example, pushups or squats. According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), the benefits of muscle endurance include:
Muscular endurance tests measure how many repetitions of a movement people can do before the muscles reach a state of fatigue and cannot continue the exercise. Many tests focus on measuring upper and lower body muscle endurance by measuring how many pushups, squats, or situps people can achieve. A person can work with fitness instructors to measure muscular endurance or record how many repetitions of a particular exercise they can perform before reaching the fatigue state. To increase muscular endurance, ACE recommend a combination of lower and upper body exercises, with strengthening exercises to target the whole body. Moderate resistance training, with short intervals in between for rest, creates short bursts of tension to build strength. Circuit or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can be a suitable way to combine cardio and strength training into one workout. Unless a person’s fitness goals involve training for a particular endurance-based sport, training for muscular endurance alone may not be the most appropriate strategy. The best exercise programs mix strength and muscular endurance training. Some evidence also suggests that exercise programs that people find enjoyable may be more likely to generate long-term benefits, as they may be more likely to stick with them. A 2015 study comparing HIIT and steady-state training notes: “Variety in the type of exercise is as important as the type of exercise. Particularly considering that the health benefits of exercise have to be viewed in the context of the likelihood that exercise is continued for several years, not just the weeks of a controlled study.” When training to improve muscular endurance, what matters most is not the type of exercise, but how people design their workout. People should take into consideration the following when tailoring a workout to boost muscular endurance:
According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, individuals training for muscular endurance should aim to complete three or more sets of 15 or more exercise reps with a load that is 50% or less of their one rep max (RM). A person’s one rep max is the maximum load with which a person can complete one repetition of an exercise. For example, a person may wish to use the leg press machine at the gym to build endurance in the legs. If they have an RM of 300 pounds (lbs), they should aim to perform 2–4 sets of 15 or more reps with a load of 150lbs or less, with brief rest periods between sets. As their muscular endurance for this exercise increases, they may wish to make the exercise more challenging by reducing rest times between sets, or increasing the reps per set, rather than increasing the load weight. A person can apply the same principle of high rep and set volume, low–moderate load, and short rest periods to any exercise, such as bench presses, dumbbell curls, pushups, or squats. People can choose exercises that suit their preferences and are challenging yet enjoyable enough to sustain training. Example exercisesAs we have already mentioned, there are no specific exercises that are better for training muscular endurance than others. The design of a training program makes it suitable for endurance training. However, ACE recommend the following exercises for building muscle endurance, which a person can perform at home without equipment: PushupA pushup works the triceps, chest, and shoulder muscles.
A person can also work the tricep muscles more by placing their hands close together and turn them inward, so the fingers and thumbs form a diamond shape. To make the exercise easier, a person can place their hands on a bench or other stable, raised surface. People can also modify a push up by placing the knees on the floor to make it easier, or lift one leg off the floor to make it more difficult. SquatA squat works the glutes, calves, quads, and core muscles.
Abdominal crunchAn abdominal crunch works the abdominal muscles:
Pike crunchAnother example of an abdominal crunch is the pike crunch:
A person can also hold a stability ball between their ankles during this exercise. LungeA lunge works the abs, buttocks, hips, and thighs:
PlankA plank works the core and back muscles.
A person can modify this exercise by resting on the forearms instead of the palms if they find it challenging to hold the plank position with straight arms. Tips to prevent injury during a workout include:
Muscular endurance is a muscle’s ability to continue contracting against resistance over a period of time. People can improve their muscular endurance with strength and cardiovascular training. Last medically reviewed on January 28, 2021 Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources — including studies, scientific references, and statistics — within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. |