Leg endurance for lunges and wall balls

What leg endurance actually is

Leg endurance is the ability of your leg muscles to keep producing a good amount of force, repeatedly, while fatigued. It is partly about your muscles' capacity to keep working through the burn, and partly about how strong you are to begin with.

That second part is often overlooked. If a lunge with the sandbag takes 30 percent of your leg strength, you can do many more reps than if it takes 60 percent. Stronger legs make every rep relatively easier, so they fatigue more slowly. That is why the strength base comes first.

There is a mental element too. Leg endurance work is uncomfortable, and part of what training does is teach you that the burning sensation is manageable and that you can keep moving through it. People who have regularly trained through that feeling handle it far better on race day than those meeting it for the first time.

Step one: build the strength base

Two lower body strength sessions a week, focused on moderate to heavy loads and lower reps, form the foundation. Include:

• A squat pattern: back squat, front squat or goblet squat, 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 8.
• A single leg pattern: Bulgarian split squat, reverse lunge or step-up, 3 sets of 6 to 10 per leg.
• A hinge: Romanian deadlift or trap bar deadlift, for the glutes and hamstrings that drive every lunge.
• Calf work: calf raises, for running and for the push-off on each lunge.

Single leg training deserves special attention, because lunges and running are single leg activities. The guide to unilateral training explains why it transfers so well.

Step two: add endurance work

Once the strength work is established, usually after four to six weeks, start adding higher-rep leg work. Useful options:

• High-rep goblet squats: 3 sets of 20 to 30 with strict depth.
• Walking lunges: 3 to 4 sets of 20 to 40 steps, building from bodyweight to race load.
• Step-ups: 3 sets of 15 to 20 per leg, controlled.
• Tempo squats: 3 sets of 10 with a slow three-second descent, to build tolerance to the burn.
• Wall sits: 3 x 45 to 90 seconds, a simple way to add quad endurance at the end of a session.

Keep one heavier lift in each session so you do not lose strength as you add endurance work.

Step three: pair the stations

In the final two months, the most specific training is to do lunges straight into wall balls, just as in the race. A simple progression over eight weeks:

1. Weeks 1 and 2: 3 rounds of 25 m lunges and 20 wall balls, 2 minutes rest.
2. Weeks 3 and 4: 3 rounds of 33 m lunges and 30 wall balls.
3. Weeks 5 and 6: 50 m lunges, 400 m run, 50 wall balls, twice through with full rest.
4. Weeks 7 and 8: 100 m lunges, 1 km run, 100 wall balls, once, at race load and race standard.

Treat the final session as a rehearsal of the last part of the race. Use your planned wall ball sets and lunge pacing, and time the run between them. The technique guides for sandbag lunges and wall balls cover how to pace each station.

Saving your legs on race day

Training builds capacity, but race tactics protect it. The biggest factor is what you do earlier in the race. Sprinting the sleds, jumping huge distances on the burpee broad jumps and pushing the row all spend the leg endurance you need at the end.

On the stations themselves, use a moderate lunge step, a steady rhythm and planned wall ball sets with short rests. Continuous, slightly slower movement nearly always beats fast bursts followed by long stops.

Fuelling plays a part as well. Legs that have run low on carbohydrate fatigue sooner, so a proper breakfast and, for longer races, a little carbohydrate partway through can help the final stations feel less grim.

Protecting your knees

High volumes of lunges, squats and jumps can irritate the knees, particularly the patellar tendon just below the kneecap. The usual cause is doing too much too soon, so build lunge and wall ball volume gradually, week by week.

Pain just below the kneecap that is worse after sessions or on stairs is worth taking seriously early. Reduce the aggravating volume and see the physio guide to patellar tendinopathy for what usually helps. Lycan Strength has on-site physiotherapy if it does not settle, with 20% off for members.