What Does Endurance Exercise Do To Your Body?

What Is Endurance Exercise?

There are many ways to improve your health and fitness. You might perform strength training to improve your muscle strength and bone density. You might also perform mobility exercises to increase your range of motion, decrease pain, and improve flexibility.

Another type of training is called endurance training. It’s commonly used to strengthen your cardiovascular system, which includes your heart and lungs. It may be one of the better types of exercise for overall health and fitness.

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What Is Endurance Exercise?

Endurance exercise is designed to strengthen the aerobic system. Your aerobic system is the system that supplies oxygen to your muscles. This oxygen is necessary for the muscles to burn the appropriate fuels which provide your body with the energy it needs to function.

Training your aerobic system by improving your endurance helps your body become more efficient. Your heart gets stronger. Your lung capacity improves. And your entire cardiovascular system functions optimally. Additionally, endurance exercise helps optimize your metabolism, which often leads to weight loss, better sleep, and improved mood.

A heart rate monitor is commonly utilized to help exercisers stay within a predetermined heart rate zone. This zone helps to make sure you stay in your aerobic zone rather than working out too intensely and burning different types of fuel.

Types of Endurance Exercise

There are actually many different types of endurance exercise. The one that’s most common is running. However, sprinting isn’t endurance exercise. That type of high intensity effort builds muscle strength. However, long distance running is an endurance exercise. Swimming and cycling are two other common endurance exercises. And there are others. You might enjoy utilizing a rowing machine, cross-country skiing or dancing.

Endurance Fitness Programs

There are a few common endurance fitness programs to consider. They include:

Periodization

This system embraces a slow build-up of distance over time. For example, you might run one mile a day the first week, two miles a day the second week and so on, until you’re running at a moderate intensity for an hour. This type of training program is also often used for an athlete who is training for an event. For example, if you’re training for a marathon, your weekly long runs would gradually increase each week until you’re running a twenty-mile run once a week.

Intervals

Interval training combines high intensity periods with periods of low or moderate intensity. Tabata intervals are another twist on the interval training, where an athlete may actually rest between periods of high intensity effort.

Steady State

Finally there is the long slow distance approach. With this approach you would run, or bike or swim, at a low to moderate intensity level for long distances. For example, if you’re a cyclist you might ride your bike for fifty miles at a slow pace.

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If you’re seeking improved endurance and aren’t a competitive athlete, consider gradually increasing your workout time and keeping an eye on your heart rate monitor. Keep the intensity to a moderate level and focus on increasing the amount of time you’re able to work out.

Building endurance is important for athletes of all levels, because it helps you push through workouts and is good for heart health. Steady state cardio helps you increase your endurance so that you’ll be able to apply that newfound endurance to other activities and pursuits in your life.

If you haven’t exercised in a long time or you want to push your current workout routine and take it to the next level, download my free report, Top Endurance Cardio Workouts.