Michael Lloyd
Professor Klecan
HEHP 239-01
5 May 2013
Term Paper In today’s world, most people that want to get big or have that rocking summer body are un-educated and will never see the results they want. Some figure that the heavy the weight the bigger they will get and the faster they run the more fat they will burn. Then there is another group of people that will go for a walk or two a week, call it exercise, and hope that a solid six pack of abdominals will just magically show. If it were that easy there would be no disciplined people around ever! In order to see results one must educate themselves in what goals they’re after and how to achieve them. One way to get that summer body is endurance training and that is the focus of this paper. The topics of endurance training that will be covered are the mental preparation and motivation to get after it. In addition to that the physiological effects of the work put out and methods of training will be shown. Finally I will also cover ways and devices used to assess endurance fitness. Master it and become unstoppable in training, which is always the number one goal. Endurance training is the act of exercising to increase stamina and endurance. Zafari (2012) stated: “The term endurance training generally refers to working out the aerobic system as opposed to the anaerobic system.” (P. 676). Rather than having just power, working out aerobically helps cardio and works the length of a muscle The need for endurance in sports is often predicated as the need of cardiovascular and simple muscular endurance, but the issue is much more complex. Endurance can be divided into two categories: general endurance and specific endurance. General endurance is when someone wants to just tone the body as a whole, doing it for the health part and positive physical outlook. Specific endurance training is more for athletes that are looking to improve what they can already do. Strength and endurance are different and why endurance may be more important than a high level of strength, presuming that one have an adequate strength. The main difference between training for strength and training for endurance is the level of tension in the muscle and, consequently, the resistance used and number of repetitions possible. Sharkey and Gaskill (2012) stated: “Lighter weights don’t provide much stimulus for strength development, but if one does enough repetitions, they will develop muscular endurance.” (P.180). This means that with the right weight acquired and reps performed, someone who endurance trains at a top level can outlast a juice head that thinks he/she is strong because they can throw up 300lbs on the bench for a rep.
Sports such as soccer, basketball, track, and cross-country are considered endurance sports. Activities like swimming; running, cycling, and etc. all work out the cardiovascular system and would also be put in that endurance category. In the area of weight lifting, when training for stamina one would want to stay away from heavy weight, while going for high repetition and light weight. How does one become motivated to attack the task at hand though?
The great part about endurance training is that the improvements come a little bit easier! Although going from a heavy dead lift two to four times is difficult going from twenty to forty pushups is much easier. Sharkey and Gaskill (2012) stated: “when one has sufficient strength for the task, gains in endurance and lasting comes with relative ease.” (P.182). This should be motivation for everyone because it is proven to be easier than thought! We see athletes as just strength monsters, but their stamina levels are almost just as high as strength. Endurance exercise tends to be more popular with non-athletes for the purpose of increasing genera fitness or burning excess calories to increase fat loss potential so let that be the reason to get back into shape!
Once a person gets back into the