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Improving Strength and Endurance with Targeted Workouts

Muscular endurance can only be improved through strength and endurance programs complemented with a sound nutrition plan. You need to add strength and cardiovascular workouts into your routine consistently for several weeks to increase muscle size and mass. The best way to increase strength quickly is to mix different sports into your training routine. Focus on improving your form on each sport and you can expect muscle gains quickly while maintaining a high level of motivation due to the variety of your activities.

Tudor Bompa and Michael Carrera, authors of the book "Periodization Training for Sports" encourage athletes to perform many repetitions against a given resistance for an extended period of time in order to increase muscular endurance. However, if your goal is to increase power and stamina, you will need to focus on explosive movements that push your muscles to their maximum potential and challenge several core muscle groups at once. The authors also encourage athletes to focus on the following key essentials for training: coordination; flexibility; agility; mobility; and aerobic endurance.

Improving agility is a task all bodybuilders should focus on because it increases the core muscle groups' range of motion and aids in building up cardiovascular endurance. Activities that improve agility include football, soccer, figure skating and gymnastics. These activities require a person to combine speed, flexibility and strength at irregular intervals, which improves the efficiency of our heart and lungs.

Increasing endurance is accomplished with exercises that require sustaining movement at a relatively high intensity. Endurance exercises include sprinting, cycling, kickboxing and rowing; these exercises also condition the heart and lungs, but require exerting a significant amount of power at regular intervals. These types of exercises can help to increase endurance in a very short period of time, and may also complement a standard weight training routine.

You need to perform intensive stretching activities using both small and large muscle groups in short spurts to increase flexibility. Many bodybuilders have poor flexibility since their primary focus is to lift weights. Flexibility training should result in an increase in the core muscle groups' range of motion. Flexibility exercises help increase strength over the long term because a flexible body will find it easier to flow energy throughout the body during workouts.

Improving coordination can be an ongoing process, and is another element of fitness that may be difficult for the average bodybuilder. While most bodybuilders have ample coordination abilities for lifting weights, they may not be as well-coordinated performing stepping routines in an aerobic workout setting or executing simple dance sequences. Improving coordination also helps with muscle flexibility, strength and agility, and taking part in activities that improve coordination can help bodybuilders incorporate a wide range of activities into their workout routine and achieve their fitness goals with ease.

If you liked reading this article, you can read more articles on fitness and nutrition, and similar topics like exercise, working out, wellness programs, and finding the best bodybuilding supplements on our fitness blog.

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Health Fitness
Health Fitness
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