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The Most Effective Squat Challenge: 10 MINUTE SQUAT CHALLENGE | Phoenix Nation Hi Guys, Today’s Workout/Challenge is all about Endurance and in particular Muscular Endurance.

There are 4 types of Endurance training. ⓵ Muscular Endurance ② Long Duration Endurance ③ Anaerobic HIIT ④ Aerobic HIIT

Today’s workout will focus on building Muscular Endurance with some carryover into Long Duration Endurance. When doing this type of endurance work, usually the reason we fail is not that our heart gave out or we don’t have enough oxygen getting to the muscles, it is usually due to local failure in the muscles. Practicing this type of training will improve the ability of the mitochondria in your muscles to utilize oxygen to create energy and keep firing. Building Resilience, and the ability to keep going.

During this type of workout or anything that requires some mental resilience there are a few tips that can help you get through.

1. Have a clear goal in mind. Before the workout, I will have a clear goal in my mind of what I want to achieve. It may be to get to 100 reps without stopping. It may be to squat the entire 10 minutes without stopping. Whatever it is having it clearly set in your mind will make it easier to persist when your mind is telling you to stop.

2.Break it down. For long-duration sets like this, I definitely like to break things up when I am performing my sets. By setting smaller goals within the set I find it easier to keep my mind focused and my body moving. It may be something as simple as saying ok 5 more reps and then another 5 and then another 5. I will often break my counting up into sets of 20. And then count 5 sets to get to 100. I also like to mix up my counting by counting upwards and downwards. So I may count up to 20 and then back from 20. I find that keeping the mind engaged can prevent negative thoughts from creeping in.

3. Zoom out for perspective. Another great tool that you can use when completing challenging tasks is to zoom out and see the bigger picture. For instance, maybe you are doing this workout as a way to get fitter or lose weight. Quitting during the set may seem inconsequential but if you zoom out would you quit on your goal of getting fitter or losing weight? I heard a great interview with ultra-marathoner Zach Bitter talking about using this tactic during a race. When at the 40-mile point of a 100-mile race he starts to have thoughts about quitting. He doesn’t just think about quitting that race he zooms out and looks at the 6 months of training he has already done for the race and thinks that he has already done 99% of the work. Who would quit that close to the finish line?

Mental resilience is just like fitness it needs to be trained to be improved. It is my belief that each time we quit at something it makes it a little easier to quit at other things. The same goes for persevering. Each time we push ourselves a little further than we thought we were capable that belief crosses over to all areas of our life. Set yourself a goal of getting better at this workout. See if you can beat my score? Even better see if you can improve and beat your own score. Because in the end the race is long and it is only with yourself. 

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Let’s GO! Winter 💦💪