Regular endurance training allows us to resist fatigue during physical activity. Endurance people are able to perform many more sets and repetitions of a given exercise without becoming so exhausted that they quit. That is, the level of endurance is determined by the time period during which our body can cope with a particular task without loss of efficiency.
What types of endurance exist?
Endurance is usually divided into two types:
- Cardiovascular - ensuring long-term functioning of the heart and vascular system during high physical activity. Which is also often called general. To train this type of endurance, you need to include cardio exercises in your training program: running, walking, jumping rope, cycling.
- Muscular, the level of which is directly affected by the number of muscle contractions. Such training consists of repeated repetitions of different types of exercises: pull-ups, squats, push-ups, twisting, etc.
To figure out how to train endurance, you need to know about a number of features of the human body:
- Our body is characterized by the absorption of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide. This property depends on the rate of gas exchange and the total volume of the lungs.
- Each person has individual characteristics of the circulatory system. Amount of blood, hemoglobin level, blood flow speed.
- It is the circulatory system that is responsible for removing carbon dioxide from the body (including muscles).
How to Increase Endurance with Rehabilitation Treatments
Post-workout recovery is extremely important if you are looking for ways to improve your endurance during exercise. Thanks to proper recovery, the athlete’s ability to quickly prepare for new competitions increases. Needless to say, this is how increased endurance is formed. Passively waiting for the muscles to return to working capacity is not the best option. There are many great ways to get active:
- massage,
- bath;
- cold and hot shower;
- jogging;
- relaxation and self-hypnosis;
What types of exercises help build endurance?
To make your body resistant to physical activity, you need to choose a suitable set of exercises aimed at developing endurance:
- Aerobic exercise. Such loads are a good way to develop the muscles of the heart, strengthen the vascular system, get rid of excess weight and normalize the functioning of the respiratory organs. Swimming and running are widely used as aerobic exercise.
- Speed training involves performing certain exercises as quickly as possible.
- Circuit training is suitable for training not only in the gym, but also at home. They involve performing several cycles of exercises at once. Depending on your physical fitness, you should do from 4 to 8 laps in one workout. The intensity of training increases gradually.
- Special loads are aimed at developing certain muscle groups. As a rule, they are included in the training program by athletes involved in sports at a professional level. This type of training is focused on increasing the endurance of specific muscles.
Workouts for different genders
It’s no wonder that men and women need different types of exercise.
Therefore, their endurance training program will also differ. This happened on the basis of hormonal and anatomical differences between the sexes. Androgens in men have a catabolic effect on lipid metabolism. But at the same time, testosterone and its derivatives enhance the formation of muscle tissue.
There are two types of muscle fibers:
- white (slow);
- red (fast).
The number and ratio of these types of fibers is determined genetically.
Men who have more red muscle fibers are called sprinters. They are capable of high speed over short distances. Those with more white fibers are stayers. It is for them that endurance training will be the most effective. Completely different processes occur in the body of women. In the first half of the cycle, there is more estrogen in their blood. Secondly, progesterone. Therefore, before ovulation, a woman’s body works like a sprinter, and after it, like a stayer. Accordingly, the most favorable time for endurance training is the second half of the cycle.
The best exercises for endurance are: swimming, running, cycling (for women there is an interesting type of exercise in fitness centers - cycling). All these sports are collected in triathlon. These methods of endurance training have proven themselves to be the best.
In order for training to be successful and not have a detrimental effect on the body, it should last about 40-45 minutes. To this should be added time for warming up and a few minutes after training for a “cool down”. Your workout should consist of about 85% active time and 15% rest.
It has a positive effect if you add running for 30-45 minutes twice a week to your usual training routine (depending on your level of fitness). In one of the articles we looked at the question of how to run correctly to lose weight.
How and to whom are endurance exercises beneficial?
It is necessary to train endurance not only for professional athletes, but also for ordinary people. After all, a resilient person is primarily distinguished by good health. When performing a set of aerobic exercises, the body is saturated with oxygen, which stimulates intensive breakdown of carbohydrates and, as a result, excess weight loss. And extra pounds are one of the main problems that contribute to the emergence of numerous diseases.
In addition, thanks to systematic loads aimed at increasing endurance:
- In the human body, the number of capillaries through which blood flows to the muscles increases.
- The heart is strengthened, the intensity of blood flow increases, due to which the muscles receive significantly more oxygen.
- The growth of mitochondria, which are a kind of muscle cell factories in the human body, is activated.
- The functioning of the respiratory organs is normalized.
- The level of lactic acid in muscle tissue decreases. It is because of the large amount of this substance in the muscles that pain occurs during sports.
- The active development of red muscles is stimulated (these are slow fibers of small diameter that use the oxidation of carbohydrates and fatty acids to produce energy).
When performing any exercise, a person expends energy. By properly combining endurance training with proper nutrition, you can achieve impressive results: make your body fit, get rid of extra pounds. Selecting a suitable training program depends on your own preferences and physical capabilities.
Nutrition for athletes
Before endurance training, it is important for the athlete to ensure an energy reserve for the entire duration of the training.
To do this, the last meal should be 1.5-2 hours before the start. It is desirable that the food contains a lot of carbohydrates and is light. The optimal nutritional solution is to consume a vitamin-carbohydrate cocktail. If you do not eat food shortly before training, a person loses not only adipose tissue, glycogen, reserve carbohydrates, but also precious tissue proteins. After an active workout, special recovery is necessary, and read about how to recover after training with the help of proper nutrition in other articles on our site.
We asked nutritionist Natalya Nefedova, an expert in the BODYCAMP system with a Canadian medical education, how to eat properly when doing endurance training, or before any serious competition.
» Firstly, with any sporting event, it is important that physical preparation is carried out well before the start of the competition. This means that losing or gaining weight should already be completed by then. Thus, the body will not be in a transient period of adaptation and, as a result, the athlete can count on the maximum amount of energy during a race, race, swim, etc. Secondly, the diet must be complete, not only regarding macro and microelements, but also calories. This task is especially difficult for non-professional athletes who, in addition to training, have other daily tasks and responsibilities.
Naturally, any nutritional recommendations should be made according to the individual characteristics of each athlete, his height, weight, etc. However, there are general principles of nutrition for endurance activities such as cycling, marathons, long distance swims, etc. As already mentioned, nutrition must be complete, which means it must include all macro and microelements in the required quantities.
Since we are talking about endurance loads, the most important source of energy here is the glycogen reserves in the muscle and liver. Therefore, it is important that 60-70% (from 7-10g/kg/day) of an athlete’s daily diet be carbohydrates. Otherwise, the reserves will be quickly used up and the athlete will have to greatly reduce speed or interrupt the race. Exhaustion can also be gradual, so you should stick to a high-carbohydrate diet (up to 70%) during the preparation for the competition, where proteins should not exceed more than 2g/kg (from 10-20% of the diet), and fats should not fall below 15% of the diet. On the day of the competition, you need to eat, preferably 3-4 hours before the start of the race. This meal should be relatively low in fat (20-25%) and should provide between 200-300g of carbohydrates. "
Contraindications
This type of training involves serious stress, so it is not suitable for everyone. So, people with heart and vascular diseases will have to refuse them in order to avoid worsening health problems. In addition, when an athlete pushes himself to the limit, his blood pressure increases greatly. Because of this, it may be unsafe for athletes suffering from hypertension or hypertension to set the maximum load on the body. They are also contraindicated in overly intense cardio training. For example, in order not to harm the body, it is better to replace sprint races with regular jogging.
Those who train endurance using barbell squats or deadlifts must strictly follow the technique of performing the exercise and monitor their breathing. Otherwise, problems will not be long in coming. Intraocular and intracranial pressure, increased load on the spine and various injuries due to poor technique are real consequences that can permanently disable an athlete.
Beginning athletes who plan to train resistance to physical stress must act according to a strictly defined scheme. To compile it, it is best to seek advice from a professional trainer. After all, the main thing is not only to achieve the desired results, but also not to harm yourself in the process.
Before starting endurance exercise, you should consult your doctor:
- anyone who has previously suffered a stroke or heart attack;
- people with joint diseases;
- patients with diabetes mellitus;
- cancer patients;
- obese.
Time to workout matters
According to Russian mountain running champion A. Bolkhovitin, it is extremely important to choose the right time for training. Morning exercise builds increased endurance. This is a great opportunity to gain an advantage during competition. It will be difficult at first, but if you endure, the result will not be long in coming.
Avoid intense workouts in the evening. At this time, the body reduces the activity of all processes. If you strain your heart at night, it will be difficult to fall asleep. As a result, performance will decrease. This rule also applies to nutrition. For normal sleep, the last meal should be no later than two hours before bedtime.
Exercises to develop endurance
Below we present the most effective exercises aimed at increasing resistance to physical activity.
Walking on a treadmill
This type of exercise is best suited for endurance training. A sports simulator makes it possible to change the angle of the track, which allows you to “go uphill”. To increase the load, it is recommended to take additional weight in your hands.
Run
In order for the body to fully recover, you should run every other day. At the beginning of the workout, you need to maintain a slow pace and increase it gradually. You should move on to longer exercises only when the body adapts to a certain load. Beginner athletes should practice fast walking before running. You can find out how to start running correctly in this article. And here you will be able to figure out what this sports discipline helps to develop.
Jumping rope
A very useful exercise for reducing muscle tension. At first, 15-minute workouts will be enough, later the duration of classes should be increased to 30 minutes. Thanks to jumping rope, you can get rid of excess weight, normalize the functioning of the heart and blood vessels, and work out the muscles of the legs, buttocks and abdomen.
Squats
Great exercise for endurance. Initially, you can train by squatting on two legs, but later you should complicate the exercise by switching to one leg (pistol squat).
Pull-ups on the horizontal bar
Another simple but very effective simulator in terms of increasing resistance to physical activity. During classes, you should do as many pull-ups as your level of training allows. Only by giving your all will you be able to achieve the required results.
When performing pull-ups, you must follow the technique exactly: pull yourself up while keeping your body straight. The legs should remain straight. You can read how to learn to do pull-ups in this article.
Pushups
To train endurance with this type of exercise, you need to do push-ups every day and be sure to follow the breathing technique. As part of the daily training program, you will do from 1 to 5 approaches. You can take the classic type of push-ups as a basis; over time, the execution should be complicated (push-ups on one hand or with weights). We wrote more about push-ups here.
Ab exercises
They are very effective in training resistance to physical stress. You can perform the exercises on the floor or a special gymnastic bench. To increase performance, you should supplement the exercise with twisting. It’s a good idea to use a medicine ball as a weight.
Burpee
This exercise, which increases endurance and the level of general physical fitness, is rightly considered one of the most effective. Essentially, it combines elements of jumping and push-ups. To perform it, you need to lie face down, resting on your hands, then do a push-up, quickly rise to your feet and jump up. The more repetitions you can complete without slowing down, the better.
Cycling
This sports discipline is accessible to almost everyone. Thanks to the ability to reduce the load on the knee joints and feet, people who are overweight can exercise on a bicycle. Cycling helps strengthen the heart muscle, increase vascular tone, lower blood cholesterol levels, thereby significantly reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Read more about the benefits of cycling here.
Swimming
Swimming improves overall health, promotes the development of the respiratory organs, and also helps train the cardiovascular system. Regular training is best done in a specially equipped pool (an open pond is not suitable due to the impossibility of using it all year round). Having set a goal to increase the endurance of your own body, you should increase the swimming distance each time.
Concept and essence
Endurance as a physical quality of a person plays an important role in his life. This concept refers to the ability to be in excellent physical shape for a long time and perform work that requires large amounts of energy.
A decrease in the efficiency of people's activities is usually due to physical or nervous exhaustion and fatigue. Only people who are intolerant get tired quickly from any type of work or sports exercise. This affects their health. Therefore, it is important to train the body to make it easier to bear possible loads.
Based on the nature of origin, experts distinguish emotional and physical endurance.
Emotional helps to endure any nervous shock without serious damage to health. And physical exercise allows you to spend less energy when performing complex exercises compared to untrained people and quickly restore your energy supply after exercise. If a person plays sports, then he needs to have this quality.
It depends on several factors:
- metabolic process occurring in the body;
- the nature of the activity of the cardiovascular system;
- functionality of the respiratory and nervous systems;
- coordination of the activities of many systems of the human body.
The degree of development of this quality depends on the level of oxygen consumption during loads of various types, as well as anaerobic productivity (the ability to perform work in the absence of oxygen).
Aerobic energy can be produced during sports, in particular when performing exercises to strengthen the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Anaerobic energy is produced using phosphates and glycogen stored in the body. But this energy is enough for short-term activity (4 minutes), after which aerobic energy comes into force.
There are 2 types of endurance: general and special. General is the healthy state of all systems of the human body. To achieve this result, you need long-term cyclic physical training. The best option would be swimming or running.
By developing general endurance, you can achieve special endurance - the ability to effectively perform exercises in a particular sport, for example, running, jumping, swimming.
Endurance training program
Below we present an approximate scheme of classes that allow you to train resistance to physical activity:
Class day | Training scheme |
1 | running - 1.5-2 km; Pull-ups on the horizontal bar - 3-4 approaches all the way; squats - 3 sets of 15-20 reps |
2 | Rest |
3 | jumping rope - 4-5 sets of 1 minute; push-ups - 3-4 sets of 10 times; Burpees – 4 sets of 20 seconds |
4 | Rest |
5 | running - 2-2.5 km; abdominal exercises - 4 sets all the way; pull-ups on the horizontal bar - 2-3 sets of 10 repetitions; Burpees - 3 repetitions of 20 seconds |
6 | Rest |
7 | walking on a treadmill - 30 minutes at a regular pace or 15 uphill; pistol squats - 3 sets of 10-15 times; push-ups - 3-4 sets of 10 reps |
With the development of modern technology, most human functions have been taken over by machines. Thanks to them, people no longer need to be strong and physically developed enough. However, a sedentary lifestyle, reluctance to spend time on sports and poor nutrition make our body weak and susceptible to various kinds of diseases.
In addition, a weakened body that does not have the opportunity to expend energy in the required quantities ceases to function properly. Because of this, problems with excess weight subsequently appear. Which again has an extremely negative impact on health. This is why playing sports is vital! To make your body strong, resistant to the external environment and always be in good physical shape.