Endurance Training: How to Increase Endurance

Endurance training describes any type of athletic training that increases your body’s cardiovascular or muscular endurance. Endurance training helps develop the body’s respiratory capabilities and muscular strength to sustain physical activity with lower injury risks for extended periods.

Cardiovascular endurance training focuses on aerobic exercise, which includes activities that improve the way your body uses its oxygen supply to give you energy for athletic performance. Muscular endurance training trains your muscles to handle increasingly strenuous use for longer periods.

There are many endurance training exercises that people looking to increase their athletic abilities can try. Athletes like distance runners or cyclists who want to improve their cardiovascular endurance can practice running intervals or Fartlek training. Strength training and resistance training are great options for increasing muscular endurance.

The key difference between endurance and stamina is the metrics they each measure. Endurance measures the maximum amount of time and distance it takes to perform a strenuous athletic task. Endurance athletes can measure their endurance using metrics like the total time it takes to perform an exercise or the total distance they travel during a workout (for areas like running or cycling).

On the other hand, stamina represents how long a person can perform an athletic task at their peak—or their aerobic or anaerobic threshold—before they experience fatigue. An athlete may use shorter intervals of intense exercise to increase their stamina and improve their maximum heart rate or capacity to use oxygen.

Here are some athletic activities that can help increase your cardiovascular and muscular endurance:

1. 1. Cycling: Cycling or biking is a typical endurance exercise that builds cardiovascular endurance and speed. It is a great low-impact endurance exercise because it poses less risk of injury to the joints than running.
2. 2. Endurance sports: Playing tennis, basketball, or soccer is a great way to build endurance because these sports require sustained cardio and muscular effort over a few hours, usually longer than your typical solo workout.
3. 3. Running: Cross-country running, jogging, and walking are common cardiovascular endurance exercises. Perform these exercises on the pavement, trails, tracks, or treadmill. Distance runners will often focus on activities that help improve their VO2 max, or the body’s maximum oxygen intake and aerobic capacity. This training also develops a person’s slow-twitch muscle fibers, assisting muscles to use oxygen more efficiently.
4. 4. Stair climbing: Climbing stairs is a great workout for lower body muscles like the calves and glutes. Using a stair-stepper machine also helps you build cardiovascular endurance if you perform the exercise for long periods.
5. 5. Swimming: This low-impact cardio endurance training exercise doubles as a full-body workout. Learn basic swimming strokes.

There are many types of endurance exercises that athletes of different levels can perform. When trying to improve your endurance, aim to sustain the activity for as long as possible. Always consult with a personal trainer or physician to determine what exercise program is right for your fitness goals. Here are five types of endurance training exercises.

1. 1. Distance training: Distance training is the most common type of training that athletes use to develop overall endurance. It requires an athlete to achieve a specific distance goal, such as running five miles or swimming one mile. Runners may choose to do this on pavement or trails, and cyclists may use treadmills or exercise bikes.
2. 2. Tempo training: Tempo training requires performing an activity at a specific pace or tempo for a certain period or distance. The goal of tempo training is to find a pace that you can sustain for long distances and times without getting fatigued. Exercise machines like treadmills can be beneficial for long-distance runners to tempo train.
3. 3. Interval training: Interval training, also known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by short periods of moderate-intensity activity or rest. Interval training improves an athlete's VO2 max or maximum oxygen intake and heart rate threshold.
4. 4. Circuit training: This workout involves performing a series of sequential exercises with no rest in between. Circuit training can alternate between cardio exercises and resistance or strength exercises, and your muscles will tire out quickly. Circuit training gives you a full-body workout routine in a relatively short time.
5. 5. Strength training: Strength training and resistance training involve lifting weights or performing bodyweight exercises to improve the performance of specific muscle groups. Endurance athletes use weight lifting to target the upper or lower body to enhance their overall physical fitness and ability. Strength training might include performing presses, dumbbell lifts, or kettlebell swings with heavy weights or light weights. Resistance training might involve push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, or exercises with resistance bands.

Rather than relying on one type of training alone, endurance athletes (and aspiring endurance athletes) can choose from many types of endurance training plans to develop overall fitness and improve muscle endurance. Overall well-being in your body will follow. No matter what exercise you choose, follow these steps to help improve your endurance over time:

1. 1. Fuel your body. Endurance training typically requires performing an exercise for a long period of time, so you must prepare your body for the task. Before starting any exercise, check in with your body and ensure that you’re not feeling hungry, thirsty, or stiff. Eat a high-protein or carbohydrate-rich snack, drink some water or a drink with electrolytes, or go on a brief walk to get your blood pumping before you get started.
2. 2. Choose the exercise. Endurance training is a type of targeted training, so choose the right exercise for your fitness goals. For instance, to increase the distance you can run from five miles to ten miles, it might not be productive to spend all of your endurance-training time increasing how much weight you can bench. Instead, choose an exercise that will directly work toward your goal—like running.
3. 3. Measure your performance. To track your progress, you’ll first need to identify your baseline. Perform the activity until you get fatigued, and then check in with your body: How fast is your heart beating? How far or long could you go before taking a break?
4. 4. Rest after training. Take a rest day after your first training day. Endurance training is a long-term training program, and you can’t increase your endurance instantly. You’ll need recovery time to help your body recharge from strenuous physical activity.
5. 5. Increase the difficulty. The next time you work out, increase the distance or total time of your exercise. Endurance training goes hand-in-hand with the principle of progressive overload, or the practice of increasing an exercise’s difficulty over time. Increase the difficulty slightly the next time around, regardless of the activity. If you’re running, that may mean increasing the distance you run. Perform this more difficult routine until you feel your body getting stronger.
6. 6. Remeasure your performance. Once you’ve finished the more difficult routine, check in with your body again. Monitor variables like your heart rate, blood pressure, fatigue level, or muscle soreness. You may find yourself able to perform for a more extended period, or the newer difficulty may reduce the distance or time you can exercise—don’t let this discourage you. Endurance training is a long-term path, so it may take days or even weeks to see results.
7. 7. Maintain consistency. Endurance-building takes time, and the key is consistency and monitoring. Ideally, as you regularly increase the difficulty of your routine, you’ll find that your body can adjust to the small changes, making previous routines easier to perform. If you find yourself plateauing, take a break and supplement your routine with another form of exercise or mindfulness training.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program. Still, you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have complete control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

Incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program to see continual progress and build body strength. Your results will ultimately be based on your ability to recover from your workouts adequately. Rest for twenty-four to forty-eight hours before training the same muscle groups to allow sufficient recovery.

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