Your gym experience has taught you to appreciate the sound of iron clanking together in your gym and the thrill of performing heavy triples, but sometimes your energy gets depleted and endurance training becomes necessary - but an internal voice keeps reminding you it could eat away at muscle mass and undermine strength gains.
Endurance training involves gradually building your capacity to sustain physical activity for longer. It benefits cardiovascular and respiratory fitness by increasing VO2 max - or the maximum amount of oxygen consumed during physical activity - during exercise. Marathon runners and cyclists are iconic examples of endurance athletes, but other Olympic-level competitive sports such as swimming, rowing, cross-country skiing and basketball require endurance as well.
Noncompetitive athletes also gain great benefits from long distance running, such as recreational hikers, swimmers and soccer players. Hula hoops or jump rope are an effective cardiovascular exercise option, while experienced bodybuilders utilize long distance runs to increase strength and muscle definition.
Endurance training involves performing repetitive workouts with gradually increased difficulty to increase your muscle mitochondrial density, thus increasing its ability to produce energy for movement. Lactate released during intense exercises is used as energy through a lactate shuttle system which transports it from muscle fibers with few mitochondria to those with more abundant populations, while its oxidation produces another molecule known as ATP that provides energy production for future movements.
