Where does regular sport end and endurance sport start?

The Game Room
1

Soccer isn’t considered an endurance sport and that’s a 90 minute exercise, albeit with a 15 minute break and plenty of small breaks.

I don’t think Sprint Triathlon is quite there either (about 90 mins depending on who you are, with opportunities for occasional breaks on the bike leg)

I do think a half marathon is pretty much an endurance activity but I’m kind of wondering if how you perform matters; you need to be in pretty good shape to get under 2 hours - that would be working continuously at a decent bpm yet, conversely if you jog-walk-job and get round in 2:30 then, well … probably not.

How do you see it?

2

Do the same soccer players stay in the game for all 90 minutes? I thought they swapped in and out, like most other sports.

3

In professional soccer there are only 3 substitutions per game per team. So if you exclude the goalie then 7 of the 10 players have to play all 90 minutes.

4

Depends on the league. FIFA rules (which most leagues play under) do not allow the return of a substituted player. There is also a maximum of 3 substitutes per game, but again the depends on the local rules.

5

Yes, a half marathon counts as an endurance event, no matter how fast you run it. I would think that any event that lasts an hour of constant cardio activity would qualify.

6

I don’t think there is really a bright line to distinguish endurace sports from other sports.

7

The 400/800 double is vanishingly rare at the world class level. Somewhere between :45 and 1:41, aerobic energy pathways make up the main energy source. Up to an hour, running speeds in an all out performance result in a build up of lactic acid. After that, it’s not oxygen debt but muscular fatigue that limits performance( at an even pace).
Even world class marathoners, running at below 4:45/mile, show no build up of lactic acid in their systems.

8

An endurance sport is one where the only goal is performing an activity for an extended period of time.

Soccer is not an endurance sport because the goal is to score goals. Running around is part of the sport, but not the end purpose.

Running (i.e. marathons or half marathons) is an endurance sport because all you do is run.

9

I can’t get most of this to make sense.

The goal is to perform an activity or activities until the finishing line, not for “an extended period of time”.

Nor is ‘running’ a definition of an endurance sport, anymore than cycling or swimming is.

10

Running isn’t an endurance sport by that fact alone. A marathon is because everyone is jazzed when you finish regardless of your time because finishing is the purpose. A 100m sprint isn’t an endurance sport because everyone can finish that and all that matters is your time.

The same is true for cycling or swimming events… or any other type of activity. It’s a good definition.

11

An endurance event is any one that I have to go outside of my comfort zone to complete.

12

It’s a matter of opinion, and not one that resolves into a greater understanding of anything.