Sports That Require Muscular Endurance

Sports in general ask a great deal of the body. Whether the game requires short bursts of energy or sustained exertion, athletes work hard to stay conditioned for whatever their sport may ask of them. However, some sports by their nature demand greater muscular endurance as opposed to strength.

Endurance or strength can also be explained in terms of aerobic activity or anaerobic activity. Any type of physical training involves the principle of overload that states that any particular system must be made to work harder than it usually does for improvement to occur. This level of work can be anaerobic -- involving short bursts of intense activity that utilize muscular strength -- or aerobic -- lower intensity for a longer duration requiring muscular endurance.

According to an ESPN study conducted by scientists from the United States Olympic Committee, distance cycling ranks the highest for endurance demand. Though other sports ranked higher in overall degree of difficulty, cycling ranked highest in the endurance category. Cyclists cover distances from short sprints to epic races like the Tour de France, which covers over 3,000 miles. Since speed is of the essence, most cyclists train to perform at the highest percentage of oxygen consumption. This means pushing skeletal muscle to endurance extremes based on the nonstop, aerobic demand of the cycling motion combined with the exertion of maintaining speed and overcoming uphill obstacles.

Similar to cycling, distance running pushes the aerobic system and skeletal muscles to extreme thresholds. Unlike cycling, running is a weight-bearing activity that adds a different demand to the muscles involved. The weight-bearing and impact nature of running engages the muscles and soft tissue of the deep longitudinal subsystem. This support system is responsible for transferring force from the trunk to the ground throughout the running stride. The deep longitudinal system along with larger muscles in the quads, calves, core and upper body all withstand repeated force and require immense endurance to continue functioning optimally throughout the duration of a distance run.

Swimming demands extreme endurance by virtue of the muscles used and the aerobic capacity necessary to maintain speed over distances. The majority of swimming strokes use almost all major muscles groups in the body. Freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke emphasize endurance of the arms and legs. Butterfly is considered one of the most challenging swim strokes and requires additional endurance of the back and lower limbs based on the explosive and propulsive nature of the stroke. Performing any of these strokes for an extended distance at high speed places extreme endurance demand on the aerobic system as well as the muscles involved in each stroke.

A multitude of other sports require muscle endurance including boxing, Nordic skiing, soccer, tennis, kayaking, basketball and rowing. Different sports place demands on different sets of muscles, and choices can be made based on which muscles need to be emphasized or which sport is most enjoyable.