Endurance

The aim of this lesson is to learn about muscular and cardiovascular endurance and how respiration affects our endurance (Equivalent to UK GCSE Physical Education)

There are two kinds of endurance:

Muscular

Your muscles can continue to exert a lot of force for a long period
The feeling of heavyness and weakness means your muscles are fatiguing
Athletes with high muscular endurance have higher proportions of slow twitch muscle fibres
Muscular endurance can be increased through weight training

Cardiovascular

Your heart and lungs can keep your muscles supplied with Oxygen throughout exercise
The harder your muscles work the more oxygen they need, so the heart and breathing rates rise
The better your CV system is, the slower your heart rate is because you pump more blood with each beat
You can improve your CV endurance through aerobic training
The graph below will help you work out what heart rate you should train at to get the best results

Heart rate graph

The aerobic zone is where you should be working if you are looking to improve your CV endurance. You can work out your maximum predicted heart rate by taking your age away from 220 (220 - your age).

Aerobic vs Anaerobic

Respiration is the way in which energy is released from the food we eat. Respiration can be either aerobic or anaerobic:

Aerobic

Means with Oxygen
Your heart and lungs supply enough Oxygen to the muscles to maintain the level of exercise
This equation explains the process of respiration:

Glucose + Oxygen = Carbon dioxide + Water + Energy

The Carbon dioxide and water are breathed out. Water is also lost through sweat
As long as you get enough Oxygen to the muscles, this can continue for long periods

Anaerobic