As with practically anything which takes place in a gym, there is no shortcut to achieving peak endurance and stamina.
Rather, heightening your body’s ability to push harder, longer and faster is a slow, gut-busting process but the results will be evident and plain to see, so long as your workouts are smart, fine-tuned and specific to what it is that you want to achieve.
As pointed out on The Mac Life Health, below are four steps which you can easily adapt to your exercise regimen in order to hit your exercise potential.
Combine Strength Days With Cardio Days
It is easy to fall into a rhythm when you go to the gym. Slowly, over time, many of us can begin to ignore the exercises or techniques that we find difficult, instead focusing on those which comes easier and provide easier access to the those precious endorphins which govern so much more of our lives than we realise.
Instead of focusing on specific muscle groups, or cardio work, mix it up a little. For example, do your arms and chest and follow swiftly with a run on the treadmill, or a fifteen minute session on the rower. Slowly but surely your body will adapt and your endurance will flourish.
Choose Compound Movements Over Isolation
If you think about it, an arm curl is a very limited exercise. You’re not doing a whole lot more than straining your bicep, so a better course of action is to examine your muscle groups and, either with the help of a personal trainer or on your own, come up with an exercise plan specific to your needs. More often than not, this comes in the form of compound movements such as squats, push-ups and pull-ups.
Add Explosive Movements To Your Workout
While this is hugely draining to your energy reserve, explosive movements are one of the best ways to move your endurance to the next level — and there are numerous ways to achieve this. Burpees, box jumps and power push-ups are time honoured techniques for this very goal, and another is to alternate one minute of jogging with 10 seconds of sprints. If you’re a beginner though, be warned as this can be extremely challenging to your legs.
Also, we implore you, please purchase reputable running shoes for the sake of your knees. You’ll miss those when they’re gone.
Reduce Rest Between Sets
This is where the men get separated from the boys. Your lungs are aching, nausea is setting in and the devil on your shoulder is convincing you to quit — and someone is telling you to reduce the amount of rest time you have between reps?
As with so much of this, a lot of the ability to push through discomfort comes from the mental fortitude acquired after repeatedly demanding a great deal from your body and the knowledge that it is possible. By the end of each set your muscles should be loudly complaining to you that they’ve had enough — and this is precisely when you restrict your rest and push through again. If your muscles aren’t burning, adjust your workout and recovery time to adjust.
