Definition of Muscular Endurance
And How to Safely Increase It

Marathon runners, even if it is only a 10 K, are held in awe by most of us simply because most people could not run around the block without having to stop several times to catch our breath let alone run 27 miles.

"I could never do that in a million years." I heard one lady state when the subject came up.

"They were built to be able to withstand that kind of torture." Another volunteered.

When asked if running a marathon was painful, the runner replied, "The run itself is not painful. It is the preparation beforehand that causes the pain."

Two athletes standing side by side, same height, build and age, yet one is a marathoner and the other, although a very good athlete acknowledges that he would not make it half way. What is the difference? The answer can be found inside the cells.

A little known and misunderstood organelle know as a mitochondrion, is the source of almost all energy the body needs to carry on all its many tasks of thinking a thought, producing DNA or RNA, manufacturing proteins, looking at television, digesting food, blinking and eye, wrestling, dancing and running marathons.

The mitochondria (plural) are called "powerhouses of the cell." Without them the cells would be unable to extract significant amounts of energy from the nutrients and oxygen, and as a consequence essentially all cellular functions would cease. These organelles are present in essentially all portions of the cytoplasm (fluid) inside the cell, but the number per cell varies from less than a hundred to several thousand, depending upon the amount of energy required by each cell. They also vary in size and shape; some are only a few hundred millimicrons in diameter and globular while others are as large as 1 micron in diameter and as long as 7 microns.

The mitochondria produce a high-energy substance called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is then transported out of the mitochondrion, and it diffuses throughout the cell to release its energy wherever it is needed for performing cellular functions.

So what does this information have to do with the definition of muscular endurance and more specifically, rebound exercise?

A definition of muscular endurance would be something like: the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to sustain repeated or prolonged contractions against resistance for an extended period of time. Of course, this takes energy which involves the mitochondria.

Mitochondria are self-replicative, which means that one can form a second one, a third one, and so on, whenever there is a need in the cell for increased amounts of ATP, because the mitochondria have their own DNA. That means that they can reproduce whenever and where ever needed without a message from the brain.

This is why a seasoned dancer will have the necessary muscular endurance to complete a dance, a wrestler will survive a wrestling match, but neither will be able to run a marathon.

The mitochondria are simulated to reproduce more mitochondria when all of the ATP is used up. The reproduction can happen in just 24 hours! That means that a potential marathoner must run to the point of exhaustion and do it again the next day. As the mitochondria are reproduced inside the muscle cells, the point of exhaustion will move farther and farther away from the starting line.

But what if you are a 70 year old couch potato and you want to be able to easily climb the stairs to the next floor in your house?

Age doesn't seem to matter to the mitochondria. So you begin by jogging on the ReboundAIR until your legs are tired - or have no more energy. This may take only one or two minutes. Each day you do that you will have more energy to burn - literally! You will notice that you will be able jog on the ReboundAIR longer before you fatigue. Soon you will be jogging 5 minutes, then 10, then 15 with the same ease. But what is more exciting is that you will have more energy throughout the rest of your day to think clearer thoughts, see clearer, digest your food easier, and run and not be weary and walk and not faint. And the destroying angel will pass you by simply because your immune system will have available plenty of energy it needs to fight foreign invaders.

Another benefit is that the more active mitochondria you have the more calories you will burn. And that results in greater and easier weight loss.

Let's go back to the marathoner. He told me that he works out five of the six days on the ReboundAIR and then he does his road work on Saturday. This way he eliminates much of the potential foot blisters, of shin splints, sprained ankles, torn ligaments of the knees and hip problems, which would keep him from running the next marathon.

Do you want energy to burn? You now have the formula and it's been sitting right there in front of you next to your TV. Simply step up on your ReboundAIR and do your aerobics, (walk, jog, run or dance) until you are totally spent and make up your mind that you are going to do it every day. Throw on the music, or watch the news as you rebound. But then, don't take my word for it. Just do it - grow your own new mitochondria - and prove it to yourself.

Yours for better health,

Al Carter, Founder, Author
The Cancer Answer
Rebound Exercise: The Ultimate Exercise of the New Millennium

So there you have it - the definition of muscular endurance and a good explanation of the mechanism by which it can be increased. Along with that, an exercise device that has been called the best form of exercise yet devised by man.