How should I lift for endurance?

[saechaka]

I"ve been on the Stronglift 5x5 program for about 2 months. I was looking to get strength gains equal to my bodyweight while eating a caloric deficit. I'm 5'7 and about 155lbs now, w/still small gut. I've hit my goal of major compounds around my body weight. The results are: bench 165, squat 165, deadlift 175lbs, OH 90lbs, Rows 130lbs. I can do 3 sets 10 dips w/extra 35lbs and 10/6/5 for pull ups and chin ups. I'm satisfied so I want to build endurance. I was wondering if I should just lower the amount of sets to 3 and up the reps to 10x. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

3x10. Or circuit training.

 

[presidentender]

Yep, lower weight, more reps. I do 4x12 for endurance, but that results in a long time in the gym.

 

[saechaka]

do you guys recommend sticking to the stronglift routine but just adding more reps? I"m hoping to keep the weight the same but increasing my reps from here on out. I'm pretty sure I can crank out 3 sets of 8 for the major body parts. 12 will be pushing it and might be a good number to work up to as i progress. I was thinking about switching back to my old routine of 4 days w/2 days dedicated to legs and 1 day chest and 1 day back, but i really like keeping it to 3 days a week. any good routines is welcomed. thx

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Why do you want to lift for endurance? What's the point of this? Is there a specific goal in mind?

 

[saechaka]

well strength wise, in terms of lifting my own bodyweight, i have met my goal. i'd like to change it up and go for endurance. it really is as simple as that.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

You could try a routine like this one day a week using dumbells

shoulder press
lunges
chest press
chestfly
bicep curl

do like 12 or 15 reps of each in a row for 15 minutes nonstop. Granted you don't have to do exactly that, and the weights you'll be using will be much lower, but it will build endurance and also add a little cardio in there.

It's actually a lot harder then it seems.

Dropsets would be a good thing too, a good way to "spend them all." Of course I dunno how great dropsets would work with a lot of compound exercises.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: saechaka
well strength wise, in terms of lifting my own bodyweight, i have met my goal. i'd like to change it up and go for endurance. it really is as simple as that.

Well, I'm confused as to where these goals came from. Endurance is good, but perhaps you could do both strength gaining and endurance gaining. Say, for example, you had workout A and workout B. On 2 days out of the week you do workout A and B for high weight, low reps. On 2 days staggered with the other days, you could do workout A and B for low weight, high reps. This will make you, perhaps, more versatile and will allow you to gain endurance and strength.

I say this because once you plateau with endurance, you're going to have to do strength training to push yourself past it anyways. I figure it just pushes the plateau further back for longer.

 

[skace]

Do the same workout, increase reps instead of weight, increase weight when reps become too high to be considered anaerobic. Lower down time. Run.

 

[Koing]

Cut down on the recovery between sets also. Hammer this down to 30-60seconds and this will really smash your endurance.

Koing

 

[brikis98]

if you want a strength training routine that includes a LOT of endurance, check out crossfit. Instead of focusing on just brute strength, crossfit workouts are designed to develop "proficiency in each of 10 fitness domains: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy." The workouts are usually done "for time" (ie, as fast as you can with minimal rest), often include lots of reps (e.g. 3 sets with reps 21, 15, 9) and sometimes mix in cardio with resistance training (3 sets of run 400m, deadlift, pull-ups). If there is one near you, you can join a crossfit gym. Otherwise, you can just go to the website and do the workout of the day they post.

 

[Deeko]

Don't do 10 reps, that's almost useless....it's in between endurance and strength training so it doesn't really hit either. Do actual high reps - like 12-20, and a lot of cardio. Like Koing set, cut down on recovery time between sets. That alone is a big one, and hard to get used to. Also, do supersetting.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: brikis98
if you want a strength training routine that includes a LOT of endurance, check out crossfit. Instead of focusing on just brute strength, crossfit workouts are designed to develop "proficiency in each of 10 fitness domains: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy." The workouts are usually done "for time" (ie, as fast as you can with minimal rest), often include lots of reps (e.g. 3 sets with reps 21, 15, 9) and sometimes mix in cardio with resistance training (3 sets of run 400m, deadlift, pull-ups). If there is one near you, you can join a crossfit gym. Otherwise, you can just go to the website and do the workout of the day they post.

 

[spamsk8r]

I have had very good results with Crossfit in terms of strength, flexibility, speed, and endurance. I can do workouts now that would have crushed me 3 months ago. I believe it to be the most effective program for overall fitness there is. Check it out, seriously.

 

[gramboh]

I tried my first Murph yesterday (Crossfit workout), except we pussified it with modified pulls instead of true pull-ups (since we haven't mastered kipping yet). Absolutely BRUTAL. Highly recommend Crossfit for endurance/cardio.

 

[saechaka]

thx guys. i had already included front squats and about to include barbell bench press to change things up. i think i'll use Mon and Fri. to do workout A and B w/1min. rest . I was able to do 165lbs on squats pretty easily w/1min rest but I need 2min rest w/benching at 165lbs and rows w/135lbs. I'll use my weds. to do some type of crossfit routine. Hopefully this will keep me entertained for another year of workout. By the way, this is going to be my 3rd year of working out consistently. I started at 190lbs and lost a bit over 1lb a month w/no workout buddy.