How to increase your endurance. I was doing one of my weekly runs, not a long one, just 5km and started thinking about the possibility of running a marathon later this year. 10km is easy enough, but this is marathon season right? That would take some training. Usually I practice sprinting since it’s good for my heart and gives me the best cardio workout, but I know that for longer runs it’s important to pace yourself. While for me the focus is running or a dance class (both cardio), the rules actually apply to any workout you might be doing.
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR ENDURANCE
Caffeine. I know, probably not what most of you were expecting, but a little bit of caffeine will go a long way to giving you the energy you need for the long haul. Remember, I’m not saying you should down a full fat gigantic coffee drink, but a few sips of coffee or green tea will help.
Eat well. This should be a given, but it still amazes me to see how many people let their diets laps or turn to fad diets when trying to improve their game. Eat healthy balanced meals and ensure that you are getting enough pre and post workout fuel to keep you going.
Active recovery and rest days. Give your body time to recover, as no one will get stronger if they are injured, but at the same time don’t spend to much time resting. It’s okay to push yourself. So don’t stop between sets, keep moving. The same goes for interval training. On rest days take it slow and steady while increasing your time. For instance, you can start by doing a slow 30 minute run on rest days while working your way up to an hour by weeks end. Or on rest days, try something completely different like cycling or swimming.
Go slow and steady. Of course you still want to do intense interval training because it will increase your cardio but you also take the opportunity to do longer and slower paced runs. Don’t fight your body, take it easy and put away the timer. I have a tendency to start talking myself out of continuing after 30-45 minutes, but if I’m not looking at my watch then I can quite comfortably go longer and before I know it, I’ve run 1 hour or more.
Combine workouts. Rather than doing one cardio day and one weight day try combining the two. It’s simple, the more muscles you use the stronger you’ll get. On that note, rather than performing isolation exercise, switch it up and do compound moves like squats or step ups.
The key to increasing your endurance is to keep challenging your muscles. This is important to stave off overuse injuries while keeping your workouts exciting and motivating!
What do you do when you want to take your workout to the next level?
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