In any sport, endurance and stamina are very important. There is a problem, though. Many people tend to focus on cardio activities such as cycling or running. Perhaps you do this too. Yet, that is only a small part of the equation. If your aim is t improve your endurance and stamina, you also need to improve your strength. Don’t worry. We’ll help you. Below are ways to improve your endurance and stamina.
Combine Strength days with Cardio days
Yes. You need to do this. Why?
It’s a simple equation. The more muscle that you can get working; the more it will challenge your heart and your cardiovascular system. So, instead of building cardio-only workouts, which will prevent you from building endurance, make sure that you include strength days into your training. Most people reserve one day for cardio and another day for strength. However, if you want to improve your endurance and stamina, combining the two will be best.
For example, use a bench press, followed by pull ups and then run a mile as fast as you can. Repeat. Another example, jump rope for about a minute, then do squats, do an overhead press and finally sit ups. Repeat.
Reduce your amount of rest
Typically, men give themselves between 30 and 90 seconds of recovery time in between sets. If your goal is to improve endurance, be ready to sacrifice break time. By the end of your sets, your muscles should be burning. Indeed, you should be sweating and breathing heavily. Take a break only when you physically can’t continue.
For example, a series of movements of 10 pull ups, 10 squats, 10 push ups and 10 sit ups. Do three rounds of these, back to back. Try to take as minimum rest as possible.
Do fast-paced, high-intensity lifting
When you use weights at an extremely rapid pace, you’ll not only improve your strength but also carry over to improve your endurance. It’s one of the best ways to ignite your metabolism. When people do an excessive amount of endurance-only training, what they do is actually slowing down metabolism. Why? Because it begins to eat away their muscle tissue.
Compound moves, not isolation
That’s correct. Compound moves that require using more than one joint, such as push up, pull up, step up and squat, will improve your endurance more than isolated exercises. Isolated exercises like leg lifts and bicep curls aren’t enough to increase stamina.
Routine is the Enemy
Why is that? This is because switching up workout is very important when you want to build your endurance and stamina. Human body gets used to a workout after two weeks. Let’s say you’re always running. You should start doing Muay Thai instead. Or, if you’re an avid cyclist, change it up by running stairs.
The important thing is to move your muscles in a different way. This helps you avoid developing overuse. And yes, it becomes more motivating. Indeed. It’s important to keep your mind guessing.