Weighted Box Step Overs For Elite Muscle Endurance

A lot of people get muscle endurance and aerobic capacity confused. They are similar in the way that they are designed for long periods of performance, however they are training different systems and are not the same thing.

In order to improve one or the other you have to train them differently, but don’t focus on one and forget about the other. In the sport of Crossfit they are equally important with perhaps a slight edge to muscle endurance.

Before creating a program structured around your weaknesses in these areas you first have to know the differences between the two.

What Is Muscle Endurance?

Muscle Endurance is the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to sustain repeated contractions against a resistance for an extended period of time.

EX: 50 unbroken pushups 

What Is Aerobic Capacity?

Aerobic Capacity is the body’s ability to take in and use oxygen to sustain aerobic performance.

EX: 5k run

In this article we’re going to be looking only at how to increase our muscle endurance and we’re going to focus on a movement that isn’t necessarily new, but is rarely seen in training.

It was just recently introduced as part of the 2018 Crossfit Regionals Event 5:

 

Dumbbell weighted box step overs.

I don’t know if this sounds like an easy movement for you, but this is a movement that I have personally never seen before at my gym. The closest I have seen is just a regular weighted box step up and those are brutal if you have enough weight.

By stepping up and walking over it will likely be much worse than a regular step up.

As soon as I saw this movement and how hard it was for the pros I knew instantly that it would be an incredible builder of muscle endurance.

This movement will simultaneously blow up your legs, upper body, and core.

Benefits of Doing Dumbbell Weighted Box Step Ups For Muscle Endurance

LEGS

By performing this movement with high reps and heavy weights your legs are going to be burning like never before. Your quads and hamstrings will be pumped full of lactic acid and they’ll be begging you to stop.

Muscle endurance for legs is needed for workouts that contain any type of:

• High rep squatting (front squats, thrusters, pistols, overhead squats, snatches, cleans)
• High rep deadlifting
• High rep burpees
• High rep box jumps
• High rep lunges
• Assault bike
• Pushing (rowing, sled pushes)

By being forced to use only one leg at a time instead of the normal two you use everyday for squatting you are building unilateral strength that transfers over very well to all of the movements above.

This is the reason why lunges are often very difficult for most people, they don’t train their legs individually.

By training step overs you can also eliminate another common weakness, pistols. Besides mobility, pistols are typically difficult for most people because they don’t have the single leg strength needed to stabilize and extend.

Just imagine how much easier using two legs will feel when you’ve put yourself through the pain of strengthening each leg individually.

Added bonus: huge legs

UPPER BODY

Although your legs are taking most of the beating your upper body is working hard as well. When done correctly you should be using two dumbbells that are pretty challenging for you and holding on to that weight for long periods of time is not easy.

Step ups will work your grip, shoulders, traps, and back.

Muscle endurance for the upper body is needed for workouts that contain any type of:

• Pressing (strict press, push press, handstand pushups, bench press, pushups, ring dips)
• Pulling (pullups, muscle ups)
• Grip (anything with a barbell or bar)
• Overhead stability (snatches, overhead squats
• Handstand walking 

The whole time you hold onto the dumbbells your upper body is going to be under tension, which is a great way to build not only muscle endurance but strength as well.

The grip gains that will come from this movement will also be fantastic, holding heavy dumbbells for long periods of time will blow up your forearms and have you better prepared for your next grip intensive workout.

Lets not forget about the upper back. In high rep deadlifts and front squats you often find that the first thing to go is the upper back. As it starts to round that persons form gets worse and worse and the workout gets harder and harder.

Dumbbell Weighted Box Step Ups will strengthen those muscles of the upper back to be more resistant to rounding.

Added bonus: defined upper back

CORE

Last but certainly not least is the benefits that will come from strengthening the core.

Muscle endurance for the core is needed for workouts that contain any type of:

• Everything.

Core is used for everything and thus by building that internal weight belt you will instantly get better at everything you do.

Weighted step ups train the core because it takes a lot of stabilization to keep your torso upright when the dumbbells are trying to drag you down.

You probably won’t feel your core working all that much when you do these but thats only because your legs will be burning way too much for you to notice anything else. Regardless, this movement will provide much needed core stability training (something often overlooked).

You basically can’t go wrong by incorporating Dumbbell Weighted Box Step Ups into your programming as they will improve muscle endurance in all of the important areas. 

If you don’t have much time to train or you are confined to a hotel gym this would be a great exercise to do.

Anytime you see a professional athlete struggling with something its probably best to do whatever that is.

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