Developing muscular strength can be beneficial in lifting increased intensities of weight. It is also essential to maintaining balance between muscular groups, thus preventing overuse injuries. Lifting too much, too soon, should be avoided. It is important to lift the weight through the full range of motion, even if assistance is needed to do so. The concept of utilizing 70-75 percent allows muscles to be moderately stressed thus reducing the risk of injury.
Muscular endurance is the ability to lift mild to moderate weight many times.
Functionally, it enables an individual to perform a pattern of movement for an extended duration or time. The application of muscular endurance is demonstrated when an individual with a spinal cord injury pushes his or her wheelchair. This ability to perform multiple repetitions may be especially beneficial to quadriplegics when feeding themselves with adaptive equipment. Equipment utilized to perform strengthening can include multi-station weight machines. Easily transportable types of equipment utilized to build and maintain muscular endurance include elastic tubing, free weights and weights with Velcro attachments for wrapping around an individual s wrists or ankles.