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How to boost your endurance?

For athletes who practice long-lasting sports, such as endurance sports, it’s essential to have energy, vigor and endurance, both muscular and cardiovascular.

In this article we will distinguish cardiovascular and muscular endurance, explain how these two types of endurance are important for endurance athletes, give you some tips to improve your endurance and advice to improve your recovery.

First of all, what is endurance?

Endurance is one of four types of exercises that exist, along with strength, flexibility and balance.

By definition, endurance is the “ability to do something difficult, unpleasant or painful during a long period of time”.

What is an endurance sport?

Endurance sports activities “(…) activities where key muscle groups are worked up to an intensity less than the maximum that the individual can perform for an extended period of time.”

Some examples are swimming, running or cycling.

What is an endurance athlete?

Usually, this concept is associated with professional athletes who are able to perform their activity effectively for long periods of time.

However, professional athletes are just one example. And attention! They are not born with this ability.

There are several ways to improve your endurance, either through small changes that you can make in your training or in your life, or through nutrition, where supplementation is also included.

Cycling is an example of an endurance sport

Importance of increased muscular and cardiovascular endurance for endurance athletes

It’s important for an endurance athlete to achieve high levels of both cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Find out why!

What is cardiovascular endurance?

Endurance or cardiovascular endurance is essential to ensure the health of our heart and can help us to realize how strong it is.

It consists of the capacity of our body’s central organs, such as the heart and lungs, to distribute energy and oxygen throughout our body (including muscle tissues) during physical exertion.

In conclusion: The higher your cardiovascular endurance, the longer you can withstand the same activity without getting too tired.

The more cardiovascular endurance you have, the longer you can withstand the exercise

What is muscular endurance?

It consists of the capacity of the muscles to perform continuous movements during long periods of time without getting tired.

Endurance athletes work large muscle groups and therefore need to have high muscular endurance to withstand the physical exertion to which they are subjected during the activity.

For example: One of the best activities that can help you to improve your muscular endurance is weight training.

One of the best activities that can help you to improve your muscular endurance is weight training

Tips to boost endurance

Even though you’re an elite endurance athlete, you may always want to improve your endurance to achieve the best results.

Assuming you have experience in running marathons, if you already did, you know that your body is capable of completing a marathon. What you’ll want in the following marathons is to improve your time and, perhaps, reach the podium.

Attention! You don’t have to be a professional athlete to want to improve your stamina. The better your stamina, the better your athletic performance.

Check out the tips that we have for you!

Nutrition to boost your endurance

  • Ensure good hydration.

It’s essential, especially in long-lasting sports. Drink water before, during and after. Attention! Another way to stay hydrated is to consume foods rich in minerals and water, such as vegetables and fruit!

  • Consume foods that help you to have more energy and to recover your body.

To do this, you have to consume carbohydrates (macronutrient responsible for giving you energy for various bodily functions) and proteins (macronutrient responsible for muscle building and repair).

Before (1h-2h) a workout or competition, consume complex carbohydrates (our body takes longer to absorb them), especially low glycemic index. They will help to regulate the levels of sugar in your blood (preventing hypoglycemia). Examples: oats, whole grain bread, beans, fruits, etc.


During
a long workout or competition, you should consume carbohydrates,  gels or bars are good choices and they help to keep you hydrated!


Post-workout/competition
, carbohydrates together with proteins will help you to recover much faster because carbohydrates will help you to absorb the protein faster.
Learn more about recovery in our blog post.

Whole grain bread is an example of a complex carbohydrate

Training tips to boost your endurance

  • Improve your speed: Sometimes, in an endurance sport, speed may not be the most important. But the speed at which you do the exercise, will decide who arrives last or first.
  • Improve your muscular endurance: An endurance athlete can’t only exercise as long as the heart and lungs hold out. As you work large muscles, the more resistance your muscles have, the longer your body can withstand exercise without faltering. An extra: it will help you to reduce the risk of injuries.

A tip: to gain muscle endurance, gradually increase the number of repetitions you do in each set!

  • Increase the duration of your trainings: As soon as you find your pace, it’s likely that workouts will start to become easier. Increase the duration of your training. For example, start with a 20 minute run, and the next day add another 5 (these numbers are an example and may vary depending on the person’s ability and the exercise).
  • Increase the frequency of your trainings: If you’re starting, it’s likely that the first few days will be more difficult. Increase the number of training sessions per week. But attention! Your body also needs to rest and it’s not healthy to exercise without breaks.
  • HIIT Training: You’ll combine low intensity with higher intensity. It will raise your heart rate and increase your stamina. Learn more about this in the article “HIIT Training”.
  • Do a warming-up: It’s important to prepare your body for physical exertion. It will activate your muscles and decrease the risk of injuries!

A warming-up will prepare you for the training

Supplements to boost endurance

There are several supplements that you can use to increase your stamina.

  • D-Ribose: A carbohydrate that’s responsible for producing ATP (molecule responsible for providing explosive force to the muscles). Quickly absorbed by the body, it will provide you with energy and enhance a better recovery.
  • Cordyceps CS-4: Mushrooms that increase the ATP production, the energy levels and the utilization of oxygen.
  • Endugen: Decreases the build-up of muscle acid during exercise, allowing you to train for longer periods of time. Helps to prevent dehydration and improves the circulation of oxygen and blood.

Recovery supplements for endurance athletes

Endurance sports, because they last longer, can be painful. A good recovery is key to improve the effects of your training and competition and to minimize the “damages”.
Supplementation, once again, is important: the best supplements for recovery will help you to:

  • Recover muscles faster.
  • Hydrate and replenish electrolytes.
  • Replenish glycogen and energy levels.
  • Minimize the feeling of fatigue.
  • They also have an antioxidant effect.

They are usually high in protein, carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.
Some examples are: Total Recovery or Fast Recovery.

Improving endurance is a gradual process. Endurance training can be quite demanding. With these tips we hope to help you to improve your endurance and your post-workout recovery faster so you can optimize the results of your effort.

And you, what are your tricks? Share with us!

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The information included in this article concerns the authors opinion only.

About Mariana Saraiva

Mariana Saraiva
Mariana is an editor at Zumub Blog. She enjoys doing outdoor exercise and researching and sharing knowledge about fitness and nutrition. When she's not writing, she likes to travel and read about people and places.

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