SS for endurance

[Tenbagger]

Hello coach Rippetoe,
SS and PP have been very valuable in my development; an entertaining read, an inspiration and a great source of reference. Great many thanks!

I've been doing SS for several months to improve my performance in endurance sports. Soon, it will be time to switch to intermediate programming and I would like for my strength training to be as useful in endurance sports as possible.

Assuming that the repetition continuum on p. 86 in PP is relevant, I'm thinking 20(+) repetitions. Should I just start doing 20 reps and microload from there? Or should I start doing 10 reps and extend the number of reps up to 20 over some time? Also, would 1-2 sets constitute enough work?

[Mark Rippetoe]

It is important to understand that there is no type of barbell training that can be done for a specific endurance adaptation. A set of 50 reps is still not oxidative in the sense that it primarily uses fatty acids as substrate and the Krebs cycle as its primary generator of ATP. Increased strength makes each submaximal repetition easier since they now represent a smaller percentage of absolute strength, and therefore enables either more repetitions or higher intensity repetitions to be performed. But the barbell work itself cannot be made specific to the metabolic task of LSD.

[Tenbagger]

Understood. I can't rely on strength training to boost my ability to burn fat. I've done a lot of traditional, endurance training prior to SS, and alongside it. Will continue to do so.

A tangible effect of SS is an increased robustness; running speeds that used to produce leg pain post workout, are fine now. I think this may be due to increased tissue density in bone, tendons and ligaments. Thanks!

If "higher intensity repetitions" is what I aim for in my endurance performance, should it have implications for the number of repetitions in my programming at the intermediate stage?

[JLascek]

Yet there are methods that can improve the LSD performance without training in the form of LSD. Look into it.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Teabagger should do some 10s, surely, and maybe even some 20s. I just want him to understand what he's actually doing when he does them, and more importantly what he's not doing.