Go Fast: Endurance weight-training workouts
By Erick Alvarez for Rocket Magazine

Just last week I came up with a new workout for Mandy, one of my editors who just started field hockey season and wants to increase her explosive power on the field. A couple of days ago I was advising Peter, my sister's boyfriend, who has been playing college football for the last two years and want to increase his muscular endurance to be ready for NFL tryouts next February.

Endurance weight-training workouts are for the most part used by athletes, but anyone wanting to increase muscular endurance and even size can benefit from them. Every muscle on your body is made up of both slow-twitch (endurance) fibers and fast-twitch (strength) fibers, so an overall strengthening workout benefits from both types of training.

Endurance weight-training workouts differ from body building ones by five factors: you do a lot more reps per set, the speed of movement is faster, the rest intervals are shorter, the weights are typically lighter, and they typically include super-sets (two or more exercises without rest in between).

Besides building speed and endurance, weight-training workouts take your metabolism from dial-up mode into DSL, helping you burn more fat and training that very important muscle-your heart-into Rocket mode. So whether you play for fun and want to kick butt for your team, or you want to go pro and play with the big boys, or you're just bored with the same routine, here's an eight-week program that's bound to make you faster and sweat like hell. Please note that this workout is not recommended for beginners.

Weight training exercises

If you're an athlete or do a lot of cardio, complete one lower body and one upper body workout per week; if you're not an athlete or don't do much cardio, alternate between lower and upper body workouts for a maximum of four workouts per week.

Speed of movement: count 2 seconds on each phase of the exercise
Rest intervals: 30 seconds except on super and triple sets, when it's up to 1 minute.
SS = Super Set
TS = Triple Set

Progression

Weeks 1-2: 2-3 sets of 15 reps
(Establish rhythm/speed of movement and adjust weights to a moderate intensity.)
Weeks 3-4: 2 sets of 20 reps
(Evaluate weight, if you can push/pull the same quantity then maintain where it is, otherwise drop the weight so you can maintain the same speed of movement.)
Weeks 5-6: 2 sets of 25 reps
(Same weight, same speed of movement: this is the peak part of this training regimen.)
Weeks 7-8: 2-3 sets of 15 reps
(Increase the weight back up and maintain the same rate of speed.)

Lower Body

1. 100 crunches: 25 basic, 50 crossovers; 25 double crunches - no more than 30 seconds rest between each set.
2. Jump rope: 1 minute slow, rest 1 minute, 1 minutes moderate, rest 1 minute, 1 minute fast. Focus on keeping your abs tight during each jumping session.
3. Isolated leg press/standing calf raises (SS)
4. Shuffling: In the aerobics room face the wall or mirror and shuffle sideways from one end to the room to another, then back 10 times; rest 1-2 minutes and repeat. As you get comfortable with the balance and shuffling, add a ball that you'll bounce and catch against the wall, then work on going faster. Abs in tight!
5. Isolated leg extension/ball crunches (SS)
6. Jumps/shuffle on box or bench (TS): stepping up and down; jumping sideways up on bench; jumping sideways up on bench and over bench to the other side.
7. Abductors/adductors (SS)
8. Isolated leg curls
9. Stretch

Upper Body

1. Rowing machine: 5 minutes (warm-up)
2. Wide cable rows/triangle pushups/ball crunches (TS)
3. Rowing machine: 4 minutes at moderate speed
4. Bench dumbbell presses/dumbbell flys/knee raises (TS)
5. Rowing 3-4 minutes: as fast as you can for 2-3 minutes then slow to cool down for 1 minute
6. Standing military press/standing bicep curls (SS)
7. Reverse lat pulldowns/upright rows (SS)
8. Hyperextensions: work your way up to 25 reps on this one. If it's not challenging at 15 reps, hold a plate to add some weight. Don't work too fast on this one-you can increase the speed of movement, but avoid momentum completely.
9. Standing T-curls/one-arm triceps pulldowns (SS)

*For exercise descriptions, visit myworkoutpartner.com

Think strong!

Note: If you have an injury or any health problems, consult with your physician before starting an exercise program or performing any of the exercises in this article.

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