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Endurance Training for Pain & Rehab

I often need to talk to clients about switching them to endurance training at the gym. Usually, they have noticed that their usual strength training workout isn’t working: it feels too intense, it feels exhausting “and not in a good way,” they don’t seem to be making progress anyway, and they are worried that training may be a problem for a current injury or pain problem. Often, they have already stopped working out altogether. If you enjoy the gym, this is an exasperating situation. You are eager for a solution. You want to get back to work! If you don’t especially enjoy the gym — if you are only strength training for weight loss, or as part of a general fitness program that your doctor put you up to — then you are eager for an excuse to stop! What’s going on here? Why do strength training workouts sometimes seem to stop working? And how can a switch to endurance training help? Quick definitions If you’ve spent any time at the gym, you will have heard people talking about “reps” for repetitions and “loads” for the heaviness of a weight. Strength training refers to “high load, low rep” exercises — lifting weights so heavy that you can only manage a few repetitions. Endurance training is the opposite: lifting light weights lots of times. Endurance training and strength training are the top half of a spectrum of intensity in basic rehabilitation exercises:

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