Part of what makes us human is the desire to be better. School, career, families, friends, and adventures can evoke good feelings, but what about the things that can help grow stamina, strength, and confidence? These are the things we need to make everything else better. Working on your endurance is a simple solution, and it costs absolutely nothing.
What Is Endurance?
Endurance, in regard to exercise, is defined as the act or ability to sustain a lengthy challenging activity. There are two types of endurance: cardiovascular and muscular.
Endurance exercises include any activity that increases your breathing and heart rate. Walking, hiking, running, swimming, biking, rope jumping, and aerobic exercise are all examples of endurance movement. Strength training can also help increase your endurance.
Benefits of Endurance
Besides improving the health of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system, working on your endurance has been proven to help build confidence. Confidence is important because it makes us healthier overall. It helps with good decision-making, makes you a better communicator, keeps you in control of your emotions, motivates you, and also helps better your relationships and resiliency.
Endurance Exercises
There’s no need to jump 10 feet in the air 20 times in under 5 seconds. Endurance can be accomplished with cardio, strength, yoga, Pilates, or daily physical labor. The best part about endurance is that you don’t need to join a gym to build it.
Walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, biking, hiking, climbing stairs, playing sports, skiing, and even yard work are all great ways to help increase your endurance. Keep in mind that the more you practice a certain activity, the better your endurance will get.
Equipment-free exercises that help boost endurance are squats, pushups, mountain climbers, burpees, jumping jacks, planks, and lunges. For muscular endurance, a set of dumbbells is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment you can use. Bicep curls, chest presses, shoulder presses, rows, and overhead extensions can all be part of your weighted endurance exercise routine.
Safety Tips
The most important rule to follow when exercising is to listen to your body. There will be days when certain exercises seem harder than others. It’s okay to take it easy for one or two days. Stretching and balancing are also great ways to increase your endurance.
Remember to inhale and exhale while exercising. It’s easy to get carried away with excitement or momentum. Stay focused and determined, but don’t forget to keep breathing.
To prevent injury, start slow and work on proper technique and use well-kept equipment. Make sure to wear appropriate clothing and correct your posture when necessary. Outside of exercise, maintain a healthy diet and balance your training with rest days.
Working with Injuries
Muscle strains, sprained ankles, joint injuries, tendinitis, or even dislocations are all injuries that can occur during any physical activity. That’s why it’s important to listen to your body and use the correct techniques. Should you find yourself suffering from an injury, remember R.I.C.E., which stands for:
Rest the injury to allow it time to heal.
Ice the injury to help with swelling and discomfort.
Apply a Compress to help with functionality, swelling, and comfort.
Elevate your injury to help reduce swelling.
A variety of exercise modifications can be incorporated into your routine to help work with injuries. Be sure you know which ones are useful and which ones you should avoid. The purpose of endurance fitness is to help improve stamina and strength, not diminish them.
Things to Consider
Endurance fitness requires more than one component for you to get the most out of it. Variety, ample sleep, plenty of water, and a balanced diet are the basic principles of fitness success. Controlling your level of stress is also vital to keeping yourself committed and accountable.
Endurance is progressive. Give yourself time to improve, as it can take 12 to 16 weeks to notice a difference.
Getting Started
The best way to get started is by working on a progressive schedule. You can begin with a 20-minute routine, three times a week, and add five minutes every week or two. You can increase intensity as you deem fit. In the beginning, you can take longer rest periods, then shorter ones as you improve.
It’s okay to take your time. Learning proper form is the best way to keep yourself safe from injury. Be patient with yourself and allow yourself to learn from everything you’re doing. Remind yourself that nothing happens overnight, and the best rewards are attained with hard work.