Does Endurance Training Build Muscle?

What is Endurance Training?

Endurance training is a method of physical exercise that requires an extended period of time to help improve the body’s ability to sustain a prolonged effort. It typically involves activities such as running, cycling, swimming, and other aerobic exercises which require a lot of endurance and strength.

What is the Difference with Strength Training?

Strength training is another important component to consider when establishing an overall fitness routine. Strength training is a form of exercise that specifically focuses on using weights to build muscle mass and increase your strength. To do this, you can use heavier weights with fewer repetitions or lighter weights with more repetitions. Taking appropriate rest periods in between sets will help ensure adequate recovery of the muscle fibers being used in the exercise.

Does Endurance Training build Muscle?

Yes! Endurance training is an effective way of building muscle. While it may not be as efficient as weight training in a short period of time, endurance exercises can help build muscle mass over the long term with regular and consistent practice.

Muscle Strength vs Muscle Endurance

Muscular strength refers to the maximum force you are capable of exerting or the heaviest weight you can lift. On the other hand, muscular endurance measures the number of repetitions you can perform before experiencing fatigue or exhaustion.

Benefits of Muscle Endurance

There are many benefits to engaging in endurance training, such as:

  • Improved cardiovascular health
  • Increased muscle mass and strength
  • Better posture
  • Faster healing time after injuries
  • Reduced risk of injury
  • Improved overall physical fitness.

Endurance exercises also can help build mental toughness by challenging you to push yourself beyond your limits. Additionally, having higher muscular endurance helps

How to Build Muscle Quickly?

The answer is: DON’T

While it is possible to gain a significant amount of muscle quickly by intensely working out, sleeping 10-11 hours per night, using SARMs or anabolic steroids, and consuming a high amount of calories, this approach is not recommended as it can cause harm to your tendons, ligaments, and joints. Additionally, you may feel unwell most of the time.

It will take around 12-24 months if you aim to gain more than 20 pounds of muscle.

DO:

If you want to build muscle quickly, it is better to focus on improving your strength rather than increasing repetitions. This means spending more time bench pressing with heavy weights rather than light weights and lower reps.

Components of Building Muscle

There are only three factors that affect muscle growth:

  • Time under tension during training
  • Nutrition
  • Recovery

Does Drinking Water Help Build Muscle?

Water is important for building muscle because it provides the necessary materials for creating protein and glycogen structures, which are the body’s primary sources of energy. Water is fuel too, proper hydration improves flexibility and the ability to showcase muscle definition.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Building muscle takes time, effort, and dedication. It is important to understand the components of building muscle in order to achieve your desired results. Strength training with heavy weights is essential for building muscle mass quickly; however, there are other elements that should be taken into consideration such as endurance exercises, rest periods, and nutrition.

Additionally, drinking adequate amounts of water helps provide the necessary materials for creating protein and glycogen structures which are essential for energy production.

With that said, here at P1 Athlete we understand the importance of building muscle and increasing your strength over a short period of time. We recommend gradually progressing with a combination of strength training and endurance exercises to help you reach your desired goals.

PERFORMANCE COACH

Heather Berglund

Heather Berglund is a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor with over a decade of coaching experience. A former Division I soccer player at Utah State University, she understands firsthand what it takes to compete and perform at a high level. Heather specializes in youth athletic development, combining strength, speed, and confidence-building in a supportive and empowering environment. She continues to advance her education through coursework with Universal Speed Rating and Overtime Athletes, staying at the forefront of speed and agility training to help young athletes thrive—both on and off the field.

Performance Coach

Kyle Blendinger

A former standout collegiate baseball player, Kyle Blendinger brings high-level playing and coaching experience to the training floor. Drafted in 2017, Kyle was a four-year varsity starter at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and competed in the College World Series in 2018. He holds a degree in Exercise and Sport Science with a minor in Coaching and spent three years coaching at the collegiate level before transitioning into full-time performance training. Now in his fourth year as a trainer, Kyle has worked with several MLB players and numerous collegiate athletes. His approach blends firsthand athletic experience with science-based training and nutrition strategies to help athletes perform at their peak.