Many want to know how to build up endurance for exercise. I will focus primarily on walking exercises, but these endurance techniques can be applied to most cardio based exercises.
What exercises build endurance?
Let’s delve into what endurance is first. When I am speaking of endurance, I am referring to the ability to last a long time. To endure, in this sense, is to be able to remain in existence or live on. So, in reference to walking, your endurance is how far or fast you can continue walking with exhausting yourself.
Walking is a wonderful way to increase your lasting strength. Any cardio you can do over a prolonged period can be used to increase endurance.
- Walking (all varieties)
- Swimming laps
- Jogging
- Running
- Cycling
- Stair work
- Dance
- Aerobics
Those are a few of the examples of cardio exercise you can use.
How to increase your walking endurance?
There are many ways to do this. The top two I personally use I’ll describe first.
Work harder terrain. I have a variety of flats and hilly areas I can walk near me. So, one way I know that helps me be able to overall walk further, harder and faster is to walk the more hilly areas more. These more uneven areas make my body work harder and as I adjust to that level, walking on flat surfaces becomes super simple. One mile on very hilly terrain translates into1.5 miles of more flat area, possibly as much as 2.
Interval walking. Interval walking’s definition changes a fair amount depending on who is teaching it. So, if you don’t agree with how I do it, feel free to use another method of it. None are wrong. They all work to help endurance. I will do a full post of interval walking more in depth, but I’ll go into in briefly here. Basically, you will diversify your walking speeds. These times can range from 1-10 minutes depending on how able to you are to keep up the faster speed without panting.
Example: 45 minute walk.
- First 10 minutes your normal pace. (2-3mph)- warm up
- 5 minutes of the fastest you can walk without running. (4-5 mph)
- 10 minutes or normal pace. (2-3mph)
- 10 minutes faster than normal (3.5-4mph)
- 5 minutes of fastest (4-5mph)
- 5 minutes normal pace- cool down.
How do you know when you’ve improved your stamina?
No matter what exercise you choose to do building up your endurance with it will take multiple sessions. Walking likely will be the least problematic in getting to longer or faster sessions. I am not what anyone would call athletic and it was no problem for me to quadruple my mileage for walking over a few months.
How do you know when you’re ready to push further? Basically, I knew when a walk that previously left me tired no longer did I was ready to increase the distance or rough terrain. You need to be your own judge on when you should move up, but remember it’s not a race. You’re doing this for your health.
Why you should want to go further?
There are many reasons you should be working to improve your distance. The further you walk generally the more time you’re putting in. Health can be improved in as little as a 10-minute walk, but much greater benefits happen when you regularly put in 25-60 minutes in a walk. Basically, think about it as every extra 5 minutes you put in you get another boost on your health.
If you use walking as a way to complete errands, you can also extend what you can complete on foot when you can walk further. I can do my grocery shopping without a car if I choose. I can walk to the post office, comic book shop, farm goods store and much more. I’m keeping me healthy and using a car less!
Conquer the next mile
Take your endurance level day by day. As long as you are increasing over a week or over a month you’re going in the right direction. Find a location your really want to go to. Don’t let yourself go until you can get there with a walk. Whether your goal destination is ice cream, a massage or entertainment doesn’t matter.What matters is getting there. It will feel so much more a reward to know you got there with walking instead of on wheels.
Can’t wait to see you strolling along,
Kimmie